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Post by Hook on May 5, 2006 21:47:48 GMT -8
It's no secret I've always had a soft spot for Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever". Regardless, broadcast companies seem to be able to get their hands on the best recordings available, leaving me with badly mixed and barely audible performances.
Do you recommend any particular recordings of this piece?
Also, can you fill me in on similar music? Here's the thing: I intend to make a short film (well, not exactly a "film" per se, but sort of my own coverage) of protests against a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. The catch? Most people have no clue of what they're talking about, let alone what they're really protesting. Naturally, I've decided to score my interviews with patriotic, pro-U.S. music mocking my interviewees' responses. I'm not exactly mocking them, it's just that the whole spectacle is asking for it.
Here's another catch: I really like the music, and if I end up not using it, I still get to have it. All I have planned for now is Stars and Stripes, the Marines Corps Hymn, and Hail to the Chief. Any ideas?
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Post by Carlton the Barbarian on May 8, 2006 17:36:41 GMT -8
Do you recommend any particular recordings of this piece? I haven't heard enough performances to recommend one. So, which performances should I stay away from? The first suggestion I could think of was the Spanish version of "The Star Spangled Banner," but I'm not sure if would produce the effects you are going for (or will it?)... You need Marches, American Marches. Sousa's "Stars and Stripes" sounds a little too British to me so, instead, I would use his "Semper Fidelis" music because it sounds much more American. It reminds me of Eisenhower, Grant, and a high class version of Old Hickory. But if you really want to convey that Patriotic American feeling you should use the traditional version of "Yankee Doodle". What could be more American... than Yankee Doodle? I was tempted to quote Apollo Creed, but the Marines Hymn is already one of your choices. Another good American choice would be Morton Gould's American Salute which quotes the popular, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" tune. Ah, I love that tune/song/nursery rhyme. It's sooo addictive. A couple of other powerful non-American pieces could work. Beethoven is always perfect and his "Turkish March" from The Ruins of Athens could work perfectly. So would Berlioz's "Rakoczy March" from The Damnation of Faust. Then there are some other Mariner's Hymn-like choices, including Alford's "Colonel Boggy." The drums, the whistles, it's mockingly proud and it should be well-suited for your short film. Gershwins, "Strike Up the Band" or Planquette's "Le Regiment de Sambre-et-Meuse" would work too. All of these suggestions and many more can be found on this cd: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000003FAW/sr=8-2/qid=1147138465/ref=sr_1_2/002-8649245-9682437?%5Fencoding=UTF8-Carlton
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Post by chollman on May 9, 2006 9:20:13 GMT -8
Whenever I hear Patriotic or American associated with 'Music' the song Esprit De Corps pops into my head. It was writted by Robert Jager. I also have a tendency to think Copland.
But you can never go wrong with Sousa; The Washington Post, Stars and Stripes, Semper Fi....but my favorite march of all time goes to Emblem of Unity. And don't forget the great National Emblem.
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Post by Yavar Moradi on May 9, 2006 13:30:06 GMT -8
Maybe my reply belongs more on the film music board but it's more of an answer/recommendation to you so here goes: I suggest you get Alfred Newman's score to Wilson. Only 31 out of 115 music are original music by him; the rest is exhaustively researched patriotic period music (something like 40 different songs), wonderfully arranged and adapted by Newman and his orchestrator, Edward B. Powell. The sound quality is vintage but fairly good for 1944 (I found it completely listenable and enjoyable). I only listened to this for the first time this morning on the way to work and I was surprised how much I liked it -- I'd been putting it off because of the low percentage of original Newman in it (I'm a Captain from Castile kind of guy), but it's actually very good and I'm glad I bought it (which was originally just because I want to be a Newman completist and it's sold down to the last several copies, limit one per customer, at SAE): screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm?ID=2650Here's an excerpt from the product description which seems to fit what you're looking for: "Filled with rousing marches, raucous campaign songs and majestic fanfares, as well as insightful accompaniment to scenes of tension and pathos, Newman's score is highly evocative of the period in which Woodrow Wilson lived, loved and earned his place in American history as one of our most influential presidents." I was familiar with most of the tunes and Newman's arrangements made me like them even more. This was one of his Oscar-nominated scores (though lots of his best scores weren't nominated of course) and it's got a HUGE orchestra for the period because it was the personal project of Darryl F. Zanuck -- 125-piece symphony orchestra and 80 member chorus at times (typical for the period was more like a 65 member orchestra or fewer). Now sound quality again is good for the time but not recent -- this may however work to your purpose (it's perfectly audible and well-mixed) since you're using it for mocking. I mean, with the music sounding old, you can make your subject of ridicule not only seem overly (blindly) patriotic, but also sort of out-of-touch with what's going on in the present day, if that makes sense. I think I get what you're going for and for me, it would actually be an asset to have 1944 recordings of the music (done during World War II) -- somehow it makes it more mocking. In fact what may be right up your alley are some fake "newsreel" cues on the CD which were used to score Fox Movietone News reels that were created for the film to cover World War I -- those are sort of that overly patriotic feel you're looking for. Anway, Tom wanted me to get back to him on how this CD was so I guess I'll copy this over to the main discussion board as well. I can recommend this CD quite highly -- it's a superb (and enjoyable) production with great notes by Jon Burlingame and I enjoyed both the original Newman material (which I expected to) and the adapted material (which I thought I'd be bored by but instead actually enjoyed). Get it if you're interested in music from the period (especially patriotic music) or if you're an Alfred Newman fan, but NOBODY get it before Captain from Castile or anything because his original scores are still worth it first and foremost. Think of it as a precursor to How the West Was Won -- that too had a great main theme by Newman (probably his greatest) mixed in with a lot of American classic songs arranged by Newman (and Ken Darby). If you enjoyed that one despite the amount of material that wasn't strictly original, you'll probably also be able to really enjoy this one. Yavar
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