The low brass decent at the very end always blows me away: Right before the bottom, there is the briefest silence among the entire ensemble. (6:25) It really is something. I imagine it must've taken a lot of work to make that phrase as precise as it was. Certainly the best performance of this piece I've heard.

I played under Dr. Revelli at Michigan only after his retirement. He would still appear as a guest with the Symphony Band. I invited him to my grad recital and he came -- all the usual stories aside, I knew him as a very kind man.

@davidingram8734

5 жыл бұрын

I've heard Revelli stories, but it doesn't sound any different than the most demanding band directors I've known in Texas. Kids will come back for more if they sense the pursuit of excellence is a worthwhile experience

@StocksIn60Seconds

3 жыл бұрын

@@davidingram8734 Exactly. He’s got standards. Shouldn’t we all?

I think everyone should experience having the hairs on the back of their neck stand up once a day. This clip does the trick for me.

Hearing this in person at Hill Auditorium was unforgettable! A great signature piece for the band.

In 3 weeks I will be playing this masterpiece at a Community Band Festival in Williamsport, PA under the baton of Col. Arnald Gabriel. I cannot wait

I still tear up hearing this recording. I first heard it in 1980 when my HS band director -- a Michigan alum -- played it for me. I was speechless.

I had to opportunity to play this music with Dr. Revelli conduting in 1971. A very moving experience.

You could live a thousand years and never hear a better version of this...

Outstanding. With all due respect to Frederick Fennell (two of my teachers played in the Mercury recording with the EWE), this one is a jaw-dropper. There's another terrific transcription of Elsa's Procession by the former director of the Marine Band, John Bourgeois (complete with pipe organ). It's been recorded by the Dallas Wind Symphony conducted by Jerry Junkin and is on Reference Recordings. It's worth getting as an HD download, but make sure your furniture is bolted down and your playback system is in a structurally stable dwelling -- we're talking pantleg-flapping, lease-breaking subsonic content (64' bass stops).

i had the pleasure of playing in this band with a man i came to see would be not only a great influence on my musical life but after touring all around the world , without a peer... Mark Densmore Flutist

Most beautiful piece of music I've ever had the privilege to play. Absolutely magical.

Dr. Revelli's signature piece and we loved playing it under his direction. His pacing of the gradual crescendo was flawless.

@oxonhillmsband Yes, I never tire of this piece. It is truly elevating and inspiring. Thanks for listening.

Thanks for your comments. I saw Revelli conduct Music for Prague at his last public appearance with the band at Carnegie Hall in May that year. Karel Husa was at that event and stood up after a riveting performance.

Outstanding performance. It's wonderful to be able to hear such a fantastic symphonic band. I played in very good bands myself but Dr. Revelli had a way of bringing out the best in his musicians to get great performances. This is truly a historic recording. Thanks for posting it on KZread for all to hear and enjoy.

This very well be my favorite version of this classic

As a young band musician growing up in Texas in the 50's, I first heard of William Revelli and his University of Michigan Concert Band. He and they set the standard for concert bands. My brother Marion Busby, a Texas high school band director, was a protege of Revelli and referred to him as the Toscanini of band conductors. This amazing recording confirms that claim. Brilliant and exciting. Thanks deeply for posting this recording. Gerald Busby posting.

Wow! This is an excellent rendition of "Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral." The harp part is absolutely heavenly!

Nobody could touch Revelli with this music....

Wonderful performance!! One of the very best I have heard! First horn is outstanding!! I played 1st horn in high schools when we performed Elsa and will say he/she may be the best horn I have heard so far. Absolutely OUT STANDING!! Congratulations. I will listen over and over!

Maestro, when we played this at Hobart High School in the Fall of 1961 it was the first time in my Clarinet career that I fully understood the 'open throat' concept of fine tone production. This is an outstanding arrangement, and performance. I went on to UM to study with WDR and GRC and many other luminaries of that time. Thank You!

my favorite piece we played in highschool

This made me cry.

Holy crap. If I had a kidney stone - it just turned to powder. Stunning.

I used to have this album. Probably still the best recording of Elsa.

still one of my favz

I played this piece my freshman year in the Havre High School, Montana (1963) band under the direction of C.I. Carlson, other incredibly great musician. He introduced us to all the great symphonic literature.We listened to the recordings of the Michigan Band under Revelli many times. I heard them live in 1969 playing "Music For Prague 1968" when they were on tour in California. It sent ripples down my spine. Revelli....the GREATEST!

Those French Horns from 3:10 to 3:30 give me goose bumps! Revelli was such a gifted and talented music educator!

One of my favorite pieces! SO beautifully played!

A great rendition of a beautiful piece

So beautiful.

WOW! Fantastic! This brings back fond memories of BandaRama in Kenosha...

Wonderful recording. Exceptionally musical!

This will be played for my band tomorrow morning... debating on whether or not we perform the work for state festival. What a remarkable recording!

I have played first alto on this piece in any number of bands, and I have been able to play the English horn opening (usually due to the lack of an E. horn). Four of my favorite measures ever... The transition into the middle section, with the harp arpeggios, always thrills me. Rarely will a composer move the key down a half step. It really works here.

An impressive and moving performance.

Great performance

Thanks for telling me about this one. I not sure I've heard it. Given a choice of one I suppose I'd choose 1969. But, what miraculous musicianship from band and conductor. Really stunning.

Hearing this performed in Hill Auditorium live was unforgettable! A great signature piece for the band.

Yeah, ausgezeichnet. Exquisite version

Fantastisch!!!

Yes. The best Elsa EVER!!!!

@StocksIn60Seconds

3 жыл бұрын

Nah, Baylor’s was better.

I'm glad this on KZread. I bought the album years ago and literally wore it out. Everything this band played was brilliant. I saw the band at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia in either late 1965 or early 1966. The first clarinet section played the Polacca, and as a clarinetist myself, I fell out of my chair! I also remember a fantatic Italian in Algiers. Nearly fifty years ago, and I'll never forget that concert. No adjectives can describe this marvelous band.

@BCCM152

5 жыл бұрын

I must have heard that same tour when they played this rep at Carnegie. Unforgettable.

Yes. Simple and straight.

Are you a University of Michigan grad? This performance of the Wagner is legendary in the wind world! Incredible performance, regardless of the type of ensemble. Maybe wind band will eventually find its way into the mainstream. Keep the videos coming! By the way, thanks for the nice comments about my band dong the Colgrass!! UM 1977

Everett Maxwell was our band director and as principle horn I played this my senior year in high school. Our final performance is a marker event in my life 54 years ago. Still brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. OWO

@dieseldog00

8 жыл бұрын

+walker ogden I think you and I are the same age(72). Almost my whole 3rd grade class joined the band which was starting up during the Korean War. Our first year we received 3 All-Superiors in Concert, Sight Reading and Marching at the state band contest in Jackson, Ms. I never will forget all the parents meeting us at the edge of town and escorting our buses down Main St. to the school. We score All Superior ten straight years. In our Senior year we played this aria. We all loved it for its emotional content and we all seemed to play our best with it. We received a very long standing ovation from the audience. We saw several people crying. We had come to expect big audiences at our concerts because of our extreme musical proficiency for such a small school(my class graduated just 50 students). Our senior band director went on to become the musical director for the University of Mississippi.

Absolutely transcendent! I would love to have a copy of the source file, please. Thank you for sharing this extraordinary, special memory and beautiful piece of Michigan tradition - it's remarkable.

@MikeInPlano n Yes, I posted the Weber. The record does say "entire clarinet section" but it actually is the entire FIRST clarinet section - six. There are comments regarding that on the actual posting. Thanks for taking the time to comment - stay in touch.

I would say yes most definitely that is the best I've heard very beautiful and powerful!

@Belial398

7 жыл бұрын

Like Tina Turner says ... the best.

@StocksIn60Seconds

3 жыл бұрын

Nah, Baylor’s was the best.

@BrightonRl

3 жыл бұрын

@@StocksIn60Seconds show your work

The Breathing Between Each Section I Was A Middle School BANSMASTER ,🐕🎷🔥🌈😏❤️🤩💯

Unfortunately the technology of the time doesn't give me a good sense of what it really sounded like. Some of the phrases and dynamics seem to be among the best interpretations of the piece that I have heard....

On the same album (The Michigan Band On Tour) is the Polacca from Weber's 2nd Clarinet Concerto. Ordinarily a very difficult piece for solo clarinet. Revelli gives it a slight twist - the entire clarinet section plays it...flawlessly and dramatically. I've had this album for 35 years and kept it in mint condition because it's always been one of my favorites. I just copied it to digital so I don't have to worry about losing the music.

This was our wedding march in 1972. The real thing!

@joeheid2776

5 жыл бұрын

Are you serious?

@Marcel_Audubon

5 жыл бұрын

LOL !! did you have as much trouble getting into the church as Elsa did? prolly not the ideal choice.

@claytemorgan1923

4 жыл бұрын

@@Marcel_Audubon , too funny!😊

@claytemorgan1923

4 жыл бұрын

Wow!

Absolutely unbelievable performance and to think that this was recorded in 1961 before some of the technological advances in recording quality!

wlmmm - obviously PERFORMANCE - duh.. This is a 1961 record. One has to judge a performance by the inherent qualities - intonation, tone quality, phrasing, etc. The sound is very good for the time but it gets degraded once it gets uploaded onto youtube, as you well know! This is a legendary recording in the band world. Even my snobby musician friends at Juilliard were blown away by this and many other "performances" by the group!

@dixiegirl0017 Yes, quite a sound, isn't it? Be sure to let your band director know about my channel - I have many Revelli postings. Thanks for commenting.

In-frickin'-credible...

i think the best i've heard. any chance of an mp3 from you? if not, and all the same, thank you for posting this treasure. :)

@dmcdaniel9 YEP!

I would love a copy of this recording, please!

Arranged by Lucien Cailliet?

@jimdad12 Can you relay some of those stories? It would be great if you would share them with us.

Wow! Fantastic Musicians, of course............ but if ever a Chart depended on a great Conductor, it is Elsa. Rehearsing for Elsa once, the Conductor said "We want people to know that Elsa wants to get to the Cathedral, but we don't want her to embarass herself on the way." Not just a matter of constant crescendo like Bolero- Legato- Crescendo, decrescendo, but always upward.

good to be a trombone :)

@turnersmith3402

6 жыл бұрын

[CleverUsername] I was rehearsing this in my university ensemble before our tour early last year, and our director Skip Vandelicht said to really listen to the other parts, more-so than usual. For the first time I heard the ‘bones (6:10 in this recording) and it brought tears to my eyes. Couldn’t be more honored to play with the musicians I do.

@MichaelJones-yi5ue

6 жыл бұрын

Euphoniums add the punch to the bones.

I too would like a copy of the recording

Ummm.....yeah - he pretty much knocked it out of the park.......

Does the University have chorus also? That would have made it wonderful!

Is there a cd of this recording ?

Not quite. The BEST band rendition of this piece is the 1963 recording of the Irving, Texas High School Band, under the direction of Eldon Janzen. Of Janzen, William D Revelli said, "There is NO ONE that can make a band sound like Eldon Janzen can!"

@jamesgardner6225

2 ай бұрын

LOL

@ToddWilliamWhite

2 ай бұрын

Jamesgardner - did you make your comment before or after you've listened to the Irving HS Band recording?

@jamesgardner6225

Ай бұрын

@@ToddWilliamWhite Prove it - where's the recording? Revelli was too much of a narcissist to put some other conductor above himself. The alleged comment can be interpreted two ways!