Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Brassman Bart: Fairest Of The Fair, by John Philip Sousa

 

Notes From The Brassman: "Let's try a little trivia contest this week. This week's music is a Sousa march, The Fairest of the Fair, composed in 1908. I have two questions, and please let me know if you think you know the answers, by leaving them in the comments at the bottom of the screen. The first question is for what event did Mr. Sousa compose this for, and the second question is what was his inspiration for writing this? Next week, I will tell you the answers. Whoever gets it right, gets bragging rights for their knowledge of music history, and if you need to look up the answer, that's ok, it's a learning experience. Producing the audio for this video required me to use all 18 tracks available with Audacity, including the metronome track. Most parts were played using my 1912 vintage euphonium, which you see in the video. Tuba part was played on my 1924 vintage Climax brand American made tuba, and percussion was covered with cowbell, tambourine, triangle, and cymbal. I believe we played this in the Air Force Band that I performed with way back in the 1970's, and have also played it in the Iowa Military Veterans' Band more recently. Just to see how many people read my notes to the end, here is one more question: I added a part that J.P. Sousa didn't write in the original version. Tell me what part I added, and you will have expert bragging rights. All parts are performed by me, using Audacity multi track virtual recorder. Please enjoy this video, please like, please share, and please subscribe to my channel. Thank you. Brassman Bart"

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