Brass, Reeds, and Percussion

When Naser al-Din, the shah of Iran, visited Vienna in 1873 for the Vienna World’s Fair, the military band selected to honor the shah upon his arrival for the state visit could not acquire a copy of the Iranian national anthem. So they played the "Persian March" by Johann Strauss, Jr. This was a good substitute since its composer had dedicated the march to the shah when he wrote it.

Francois Boieldeu is sometimes called the French Mozart. He lived from 1775 to 1834 and mostly composed operas. Today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features the overture from his first big hit: The Caliph of Baghdad. It’s a comic opera that involves the caliph going about Baghdad in disguise. While in disguise, he rescues and falls in love with Zétulbé and wants to marry her. But Zétulbé’s mother won’t consent to the marriage.

The mellophone is an alto horn, pitched between the cornet and the tenor trombone. It's somewhat similar to the flugelhorn, which is pitched in B flat, whereas the mellophone is pitched in E-flat and therefore sounds a bit lower than the flugelhorn. The mellophone has a conical bore just like the cornet.

Arrangements of orchestral works for wind band are more commonly known as transcriptions. So this edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features wind-band arrangements—or transcriptions—of opera music. The practice of arranging orchestral music for wind band began as early as 1775 when opera music was arranged for the harmonie, most typically an octet of two oboes, two clarinets, two horns, and two bassoons.

Henk van Lijnschooten composed "Chorale and Rockout" in 1973. Since that time, it’s become one of the most popular and widely played wind-band compositions in all of Europe. Today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features that composition. Van Lijnschooten was born in the Hague in 1928 and attended the local music school for lessons in violin and clarinet. He also attended the Hague Royal Conservatory.

This year, Hanukkah began on Thursday, December 10, at sundown. In recognition of Hanukkah, today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion feature some Hanukkah music performed by what’s called a fluid jazz band from New Orleans. Led by Ben Schenck, it's named the Panorama Jazz Band. The tuba is played by Mark Rubin, Jew of Oklahoma. The band combines klezmer, jazz, and Dixieland music, but their repertoire is not limited to klezmer.

Brass, Reeds, and Percussion is a radio program that champions wind-band music. Although Sousa marches are often the first thing people think of when they hear wind-band music mentioned, there was a period when most popular music in America was wind-band music. So that's why today's edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion opens with a 1926 recording of Sophie Tucker singing "Some of These Days." Most of the instruments used in this recording are wind-band instruments. But there appears to be a single violin also involved.

Today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion opens with “Opening Ceremony,” composed by Richard Phillips, a British composer, conductor, pianist, and trumpeter born in 1962. Phillips first encountered music playing trumpet in the local brass band of the Salvation Army. After studying at the Royal College, he was much in demand as a pianist. Since that time, he has conducted three Salvation Army bands and currently works as a music teacher at Thomas Deacon Academy in Peterborough, one of the largest music academies in England.

To celebrate Halloween, this edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features creepy music—music that has something to do with monsters or evil or frightening things, music with perhaps a tone of the foreboding. For monster music, we’ll hear a performance of “Godzilla Eats Las Vegas” by Eric Whitaker. But we’ll open from “Nightmare” from the music and dance production called “The Lord of the Dance,” which follows the the Lord of the Dance in a fight against the evil dark lord Don Dorcha.

Prince and Madonna weren't the first popular music singers to go by a single name. In the early part of the 20th century, there was a French singer who went by the name Bach, as in Johann Sebastian Bach. His real name was Charles Joseph Pasquier, and he was what the French call a comic trooper, a singer and comedian who dressed up as a soldier and did comic routines based on the lives of soldiers.