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 Reflections on the 1994 Marching Season
Our show for the 1994 marching season was entitled "Symphonic Music of South America". It proved to be a very rewarding show, and very fun (all 106 sets worth!). The first two-thirds of our show was a combination of two pieces which thematically returned throughout the show.
"La Fiesta Mexicana" by H. Owen Reed and "Sinfonia India" by Carlos Chavez are very reflective of the symphonic sounds of South America, and provided a great opportunity to experiment with all kinds of tone colors within the wind and percussion voices. "La Fiesta Mexicana" is a classic and a standard in the world of band literature.
The closer was from a work by Alberto Ginastera entitled "Pampeana no. 3". We used the second movement entitled 'Imperpetuosomente' (yep, that's a long one!). This piece starts with everyone facing backfield featuring a haunting melody performed by the low brass and low woodwinds. This builds into a sudden "turn around" in which the brass surprise us with a full tutti melody that is full in sound to say the least. This section then evolves though the use of multi-meter, which features the mellophone section exploring rhythmic demand through the low register of their instrument, culminating into a powerful standstill display sometimes referred as a good old fashioned "park 'n play".
The following drill takes our large band through a series of very fast reshapes, gradually compacting the band to the right side of the field. At the same time the colorguard is expanding on the left side of the field and taking over the area once occupied by the winds and percussion. This leads to the slower portion of this section, which is musically comprised of a french horn quartet, a clarinet quartet, and a flute duet. The colorguard takes over the stage with a wonderful display of choreography and color.
We pick up the pace again with a series of staggered musical and visual phrasing, which starts in a "scatter" form. This "puzzle-type" portion introduces each section one small piece at time, until all the pieces of the puzzle combine to make one large form. A truly great moment of the show. And of course, we then march to create the trademark Marian "M" set (always a crowd pleaser). We finally recap the intro of the show to create one last dynamic push to the end.
All in all, Pampeana's driving rhythm and energy combined with sudden changes of tone color provided a splendid way of ending a great show.
In retrospect, the band performed very well and enjoyed a wonderful experience which ended in Marian capturing their fifth Grand National title in 9 years. The students, parents, staff, and directors worked very hard to create a piece of art. We hope you have a chance to see it.
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