I think our blog might be a little too sprawling but then again, I don’t necessarily consider that to be a bad thing either. But I feel entirely out of place if I don’t start bringing up classical music and jazz too – can’t ever forget about jazz. (If you ever meet anyone who tells you jazz is unimportant or inferior to classical music, please punch them in the face. Tell them I said it was OK too because they are way off base. And believe me, you will meet such purists who speak such horrible claims.)Anyway, one of my favorite classical compositions for a band, or wind ensemble if you will, is Johan de Meij’s Symphony No.1, which is also known as The Lord of the Rings Symphony. Long before the massive films took to the silver screen, de Meij would compose five movements based on the novels and scored it for a wind ensemble. They aren’t the most difficult pieces of music to perform but they are infectiously gripping. And they color the books with magnificent music that is equally melodic and harmonic, with trumpets being at the frontline, there is everything from “Gandalf”’s fierce horses to the ominous cave found in “Gollum,” to the simply titled, “Hobbits.”
If I’m not mistaken, I think all three of us were in high school when we played “Hobbits” and it was a great feeling. I remember campaigning for us to play the first movement, “Gandalf,” but it would have been too much music. Either way, the entire suite is fantastic and below is a video for that aforementioned fifth movement, “Hobbits,” check it out. – Bryan
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