At 5:00 PM +0200 8/24/07, Daniel Wolf wrote:
There is a great deal of continuity between Sousa's instrumentation and that of contemporary bands, but there are couple of features worth noting. All flutes doubled on piccolo. Two oboes, 2nd doubling EH. The Bb clarinet section was large (12-27 players), with only one alto and one bass clarinet.
What?!!! You mean that Meredith Willson's story about the 2nd bass clarinetist (in his book, "And There I Stood With My Piccolo") isn't true?!!!! And I must say that I have trouble picturing a band with 27 clarinets fitting in one of the typical gazebos of the day.
The band membership also included a female vocalist, a violinist, and a harpist as soloists, with the harpist also a standard member of the full ensemble, seated front center between woodwinds and brasses.
One of the funniest musical sight-gags I've ever seen was with the Spike Jones band, with a harpist on a raised platform. As the curtain opened she was sitting there behind her harp, knitting a scarf. As the show went on she continued knitting but never played a single note, and by the end of the show the scarf was about 20 feet long!!!
Oh well; I'm easily entertained. John -- John R. Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
