Canon by Pachebel

[Chuck(G)]

Well, about the Canadian Brass books, I went to a local music store, and they had the advanced level, which I obviously looked at. I acctually prefer the advanced over the intermidiate, because we have some very good players, and they were requesting challeging peices, such as 4's and 5's. Dont get me wrong, I think the intermidiate level is good, but it is just not as challenging as say, the advanced level. When I looked at the advanced level, it seemed to be at just the right difficulty level I have been looking for, and its the same level that all the players can play at too. I just would choose the advanced book, because we are at a higher level of playing, then the intermidiate book. As far as Canon goes, I forgot to specify, but I would like it Canon in D. I thank corbasse for showing me the score, and parts for the string instrumentation. I will keep searching however for a version, that can both be played by us, and keep the same level of sound quality maintained by the original. Thank you.

-tubachris

There are two versions for BQ on SibeliusMusic.com; use the "advanced search", select "brass quintet or quartet" for instrumentation and "Canon" as a search term. One of the versions is very lame, the other is fairly true tot he wire choir version.

FWIW

[Tom]

Well, about the Canadian Brass books...I acctually prefer the advanced over the intermidiate, because we have some very good players, and they were requesting challeging peices, such as 4's and 5's.

I think the intermidiate level is good, but it is just not as challenging as say, the advanced level. I just would choose the advanced book, because we are at a higher level of playing, then the intermidiate book.

As far as Canon goes, I forgot to specify, but I would like it Canon in D.

I will keep searching however for a version, that can both be played by us, and keep the same level of sound quality maintained by the original. Thank you.

Ok...here's the deal:

The Canon on the various Canadian Brass recordings is not the one in the intermediate book. The arrangement that they perform is very difficult. Here's the deal with their arrangements:

"This is music played, recorded, and/or highly recommended by The Canadian Brass. We are currently adding a ranking; if the number is not yet given, you should consider the music to be highest level.
Several titles are not available in a printed (engraved) version, but we offer copies from our private library (order number starting with CB0.)"

Believe me...the Canon in the intermediate book is not junk. People will recognize the tune and you'll be praised almost endlessly for playing it. Nobody will really know or care what key it's in...I don't even think you'd be able to really tell a difference between the different keys.

Don't overlook the "intermediate" books just because you don't think the music is hard enough. I'd rather hear a kick a** performance of stuff out of the "intermediate" book than a hacked through performance of the "advanced" stuff.

For the "essence of the original playable by us" I don't think you can go wrong with the intermediate book. In fact it has some really nice, playable arrangements of a lot of standards. I would start there.

[Ames0325]

Well, about the Canadian Brass books...I acctually prefer the advanced over the intermidiate, because we have some very good players, and they were requesting challeging peices, such as 4's and 5's.

I think the intermidiate level is good, but it is just not as challenging as say, the advanced level. I just would choose the advanced book, because we are at a higher level of playing, then the intermidiate book.

As far as Canon goes, I forgot to specify, but I would like it Canon in D.

I will keep searching however for a version, that can both be played by us, and keep the same level of sound quality maintained by the original. Thank you.

Ok...here's the deal:

The Canon on the various Canadian Brass recordings is not the one in the intermediate book. The arrangement that they perform is very difficult. Here's the deal with their arrangements:

"This is music played, recorded, and/or highly recommended by The Canadian Brass. We are currently adding a ranking; if the number is not yet given, you should consider the music to be highest level.
Several titles are not available in a printed (engraved) version, but we offer copies from our private library (order number starting with CB0.)"

Believe me...the Canon in the intermediate book is not junk. People will recognize the tune and you'll be praised almost endlessly for playing it. Nobody will really know or care what key it's in...I don't even think you'd be able to really tell a difference between the different keys.

Don't overlook the "intermediate" books just because you don't think the music is hard enough. I'd rather hear a kick a** performance of stuff out of the "intermediate" book than a hacked through performance of the "advanced" stuff.

For the "essence of the original playable by us" I don't think you can go wrong with the intermediate book. In fact it has some really nice, playable arrangements of a lot of standards. I would start there.

Don't get me wrong, I dont think that the selection in the intermidate book is "bad," its just the players in the group wanted to play at a higher level. And I can assure you, that the peices wont be "hacked" through, and I'll make sure of it too. Please dont take me the wrong way. I agree with you though Tom, but they told me they wil ONLY play music at their level.

-tubachris

Ok I think that there is a misconception especially among High school students that a piece is only difficult if it is in the key of F# ( some equally difficult key) and has a million notes per measure. And to me it sounds like some of the kids in your group may feel that way. There is more to the difficulty of a piece than how many notes or what key it is in. Especially in a peice like Pachabell's cannon the difficulty is in balancing teh parts and keeping together seemlessly--There also is of course the difficult upper parts but notes can be learned and good players will learn them. I would suggest, especially since you have just formed the group, you maybe obtain the intermediate version and read through it with your group and if it is obviously too easy and will provide no challenge then go ahead and return it and get the advanced version. On the other hand with a new group there are many other things you are working on such as communication and staying together w/o a conducter etc. a slightly easier peice may give you the freedom form notes etc. to concentrate on these so that your group goes from "pretty good" to kick a**.

Amy

[JayW]

Ok I think that there is a misconception especially among High school students that a piece is only difficult if it is in the key of F# ( some equally difficult key) and has a million notes per measure. And to me it sounds like some of the kids in your group may feel that way. There is more to the difficulty of a piece than how many notes or what key it is in. Especially in a peice like Pachabell's cannon the difficulty is in balancing teh parts and keeping together seemlessly--There also is of course the difficult upper parts but notes can be learned and good players will learn them. I would suggest, especially since you have just formed the group, you maybe obtain the intermediate version and read through it with your group and if it is obviously too easy and will provide no challenge then go ahead and return it and get the advanced version. On the other hand with a new group there are many other things you are working on such as communication and staying together w/o a conducter etc. a slightly easier peice may give you the freedom form notes etc. to concentrate on these so that your group goes from "pretty good" to kick a**.

Amy

I have to strongly agree with Amy. I think her point is extremely valid and well put. As well as the point that you will be praised for playing this piece as well as can gain a Tremendous amount of music out of it, if you do it the right way.

[elimia]

I third that. Whoa, slow down here. You're goal is to achieve tight and clean musicianship, not just to spit out notes at 160 bpm in cut time. Remember, just playing the notes on the page w/out building the sound and timbre isn't making music, that is just polishing technique. No offense to your other members, but as high schoolers, the most important thing is to learn how to play together well as an ensemble. Just jumping to 30 second notes in F# wouldn't be the way I would recommend (having personally gone that route in my hs brass ensemble). I wish I had listened to my peers who were giving me the same advice Tubenetters are giving you right now.

Work on sounding amazing first. Then plug in the 3 octave jumps and other stuff. And above all else, be humble and don't let anyone think they have arrived and they are above 'intermediate' literature because they are the divine gift to brass ensembles. That's silly. Get the best arrangements for the music's sake, not just the first things that says Grade 5. Start small, then work up IMO. Building an ensemble is work. It's not as simple as just throwing some folks together. It takes a lot of brass ensembles years to acheive really high quality. Get your sound down first.

This post isn't meant to be condesending whatsoever, I would just encourage you guys to get the big picture in perspective a little more.

Ryan