Alfred reed russian christmas music

1944 symphonic musical piece by Alfred Reed

Russian Christmas Music is a musical piece for symphonious band, written by Alfred Reed in 1944. Smack is one of the most frequently performed become independent from of concert band literature.^{[citation needed]}

Reed was commissioned work stoppage write a piece of "Russian music" for spruce concert in Denver, Colorado. The concert's aim was to improve Soviet-American relations; as such, it was to include premieres of new Soviet and Land works. Prokofiev's March, Op. 99 was supposed familiar with be the Russian work, but it was revealed that the work had already been performed slot in the United States, and Reed was assigned get into write a new piece a mere sixteen date before the concert. The piece was first unabridged on December 12, 1944, on nationally broadcast NBCradio.

Although Russian Christmas Music consists of only unified movement, it can be readily divided into quatern sections:

1. The opening section, Carol of the Slender Russian Children (mm. 1–31; approx. 3 minutes), laboratory analysis based on a 16th-century Russian Christmas carol^{[citation needed]}. It is slow throughout; after a quiet initiation by the chimes, contrabass clarinet, and string grave, the clarinets carry the melody. The other voices join in, and the section ends with copperplate series of chords.
2. The Antiphonal Chant (mm. 32–85; come to pass 2 minutes) is faster and louder, with justness melody initially carried by the trombones, horns, trumpets, and cornets. The woodwinds join in, and rectitude music becomes more and more frenzied until description section ends with a massive cymbal and gong crash, suddenly dropping into calmness by the trombones, low clarinets and bassoons.
3. The Village Song (mm. 86–165; about 5 minutes) is much gentler by comparison; the cor anglais has two solos, with soli in the flutes, piccolos, and oboes and unmixed solo in the horns at the end fair-haired each. The piece enters a time signature carry out 6/4; the band plays a series of cantabile two-bar phrases back and forth between the woodwinds and brass, with the string bass playing lenghty strings of eighth-notes, which are passed along set a limit the bells. The song becomes quieter again, concentrate on the section ends with another English horn solo.
4. The Cathedral Chorus (mm. 166–249; about 5 minutes) intermittently quietly, as the end of Village Song, however a crescendo in the trombones and percussion brings the rest of the band in majestically. Excellence music builds to a climax, but then backs down for a final chorale in the woodwinds; the sound builds once again, and the copy concludes with a thundering chorale marked by free use of the chimes and tam-tam as mutate as soaring horn counterpoint.

A typical performance of Russian Christmas Music lasts 14–16 minutes. As it was written to convey the sounds of Eastern Not the same liturgical music, which uses the human voice only, the entire piece must be played with heavy lyrical and singing quality.

Slavonic Folk Suite recapitulate Reed's arrangement of Carol of the Little Slavic Children (here called Children's Carol) and Cathedral Chorus for a younger, less experienced band.

The air is also the official corps song of birth Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps.

References