Abram's Pursuit

[Loc3Down]

It sounds....slow

[TheLiberater13]

This is very good, but seems quite slow. The hardest horn part I have had to play or even looked at. Also, more horn dangit! XD

[thenoobixcuber1]

there were no dynamics change

[vladimir425]

good job, i wonder how their tuba player felt, i have played this and by the end my face was numb and there was 2 of us.

[TimesRunningOutt]

To*

[TimesRunningOutt]

This is amazing .___.

Im in the freshman class. They gave this so the sophomore class @ Arts high school & they sound nice but you guys are amazing

[acurcuru22]

Trombone part doesnt get much more intense than that!!

[Dfireanime13]

My conductor conducted this without a score sheet, with him not having to concentrate on the pages and being more in the moment, our entire performance improved.

[brassland9]

this is A-maz-ing!

[amuikuto100]

Most schools don't play it at the right tempo but our school did .It was very challenging but it was worth it.

[LordWingDeath]

Best song our badn ever played!

[MusicIsAPassion19]

Our HS band is now playing this and i play piccolo, pretty awesome. The page turns are terrible though.

[suprakilla2JZ]

to much harmony.. not enough melody. not my favorite performance.

[JAXTRPTR]

I have a recording from my group playing at around 170-174 on my favorites with Dr. Holsinger conducting. Take a look. You'll understand how the right tempo can really help this piece flow a lot better.

[JAXTRPTR]

I've found that this piece actually plays really well at around 170-176. Helps when the percussion locks down the pulse .

[pardusian141]

hardly anyone plays it at the 176 it was written at. Holsinger is known for writing his pices at too high a tempo. We played it at 160 although ive heard it at 176 it gets crazy after 170....

[Razzbery15]

kinda slow it sounds like...maybe at like...160? instead of 176?

[smarticlegirl]

i played this in 8th and 9th grade :) saxes were a little out of tune a few times on the high note. but gorgeous job :D

[Memorex1942]

@5:15 is good to i like it all! wonderful

[Memorex1942]

@4:29

[GKSKATE4]

Our school is playing this for symphonic band, its nice to hear a good recording. I have to cover all of percussion three bass suspended cymbal crash cymbal and gong. Its a pain in the ass especially because of all the mutes on the crashes and bass at the same time. Well done though.

[pardusian141]

1:45 I began to instinctivly play the fingerings of FCC F CC FC FC FC Gb C# Gb....

[thewaterpoloplayerr1]

i played this at the opening of the memorial day concert at Carnegie Hall

exceptional piece

[fuzzywuzzyrox]

my high school band is going to try to play it for festival! Im excited!

[MsBinkies]

this was my favorite song we played in high school. i played clarinet and our part was just amazing. a lot of it was repetitive,but I loved it. this was a pretty close tie with an american in paris which i think we played the semester before this. but i kept my music and didn't give it back. lol

i also like that all the girls have matching black tops to their skirts. for symphonic, we had to wear pants and wnd we had to wear the skirt(i did both at the same time) w/the tux shirt and cumberbund

[pardusian141]

I played this pice in my freshmen year. At first it was hard. But I realy loved it. True the Oboe is a difficult instrument to play, but once you get the sound right, it is a realy awesome instrument. The rapid notes were hard to learn, but it paid off in the end.

[Sleepinglarry]

@pardusian141 I know what you mean, some of the runs had some funky transitioning. The range is a bit of a challenge to keep in tune too; but it was SO worth it.

[username9999234]

I love my euphonium part for this.

[CandiceMichelle27]

i like 4:00. Its my favorite part i really liek the trombones part

[bjbashi]

This song is awesome. :)

[ddude924]

I played this in my schools Wind Ensemble a few years back...very fun piece

[DvineCmdy]

AGGHHH!! Where's the gong at 4:01!?

[jobrosluver510]

we play this song its one of the bands favorite songs...we play it every year

[atomiceraser]

The whole song was too stiff throughout. Accents should have been addressed and it should have been more bouncy. The conductor wouldn't stop looking at his score, which is even shows him being a bad conductor with it even out there in the first place.

[LilRedHeadDrummerBoy]

sounds alot better when you dont cut the tempo in half...just cause your band couldn't handle it doesn't mean you go soft and compromise...a good band would be able to practice until they get it right at the right tempo...

[licebuddies]

lol... i play the granite blocks part on this.... only one word can describe it, FUN.

[PeskyPuma]

i love the part at 4:00

[Engler2011]

@undertaker4life43

i will admit ... there are parts in the song that i do like but i just dont like the song in general....

[Engler2011]

i just dont like the song....

[limpyclarinet]

i love this song! good job!

[MrGLENWOOD]

our school is playing this also, Miller Grove High, Ga.

Am i the only one that thinks this guys arm movement looks soooo funny

[Undertakerfan4life43]

my school is playing this song at this contest thing at six flags i cant wait

[Saviorself138]

Needs more tuba but still good playing we r playin this song and we let the bass rip it makes it sound face melting good in your pants

[pintobean62994]

The tempo's much slower than it should be. Our bands playing it much faster than this.

[melissalindsay69]

Ahh (: i love this song . i play alto in it and its amazing (:

[Engler2011]

my band is playing this and i hate it!

[TesseractDigital]

are joking?!? this is one of the BEST concert band pieces written in the last century.

Besides being extremely catchy, the technicality of it just makes it so addictive. In addition, once you guys start playing it right, you will really feel the energy of it. Once you feel that energy you'll understand whats so great about this song

If you hate it because its hard, you should change your attitude. The key to getting better is enjoying technically difficult music.

[Undertakerfan4life43]

do u just hate the song is general or is it the part that u have

[BandChoirChick09]

My band is playing this for our March concert, large group contest, and a concert at SCSU in MN. I'm so excited. It doesn't quite sound like the Horns are hitting the high G in the rips, but I could just be wrong. It sounds amazing anyway!! GREAT JOB!!!

[megapuddin]

The tempo was very lax

[CandiceMichelle27]

im playin this song for my spring concert

[mallets4life]

This whole song is amazing! I play mallets and that part gets pretty crazy toward the end...

[jt17cheer]

The flute/picc. part to this is BEAST.

[xokalezxo]

my band is playing this....wow....i wish we would sound this good!haha

[redthunda69]

@xokalezxo same with ours... youre not from georgia are you :P

[xokalezxo]

haha no im not from georgia.lol

[conor1148]

you're from georgia? what part? we're playing it too.

[redthunda69]

Roswell, GA what school u at?

[conor1148]

cass high in cartersville, GA

[LaStHoPe747]

at 1:35 the low brass hit a b flat instead of a natural -_-

[sftbldrummer784]

and for xylo it is killer

[brassland9]

Lol yeah jackie

[bfmvxzanies]

god that 3/5's section for flutes&clarinets is very irritable to play.

[sftbldrummer784]

we r doign this in our synphonic winds i playt he mallet parts they r insane

[fehresha000]

my band sight read this better.

[TheStang159]

this is our marching music for next year... im scared

[JJFLIP101]

It's not that hard, we're playing it this year at my school. It sounds hard but it's pretty easy to follow... well, the trumpet part is anyway. But the actual tempo is a lot faster.

[Kduceee]

don't be. it's an easy piece.

[hschatz13]

Our Marching Band at my school is doing this song as our opener. The color guard work is awesome and the drill is amazing. GO DUTCH!!!!!

[NoTwinkies4u]

i hate it that the conductor hasn't looked up from his score sheet.... very bad conducting..

[pardusian141]

@NoTwinkies4u actualy the conductor looked up a little past 0:50.

[TeardropMusic]

OOOOOOOO (in awe)

[Geniusmu09]

man that timpani part should have so much more life...

[budwayz]

was this a wind ensemble playing this? our symphonic band played this for festival which if you ask me is pretty awesome...well we also played it much faster

[TechBadger]

Yes it was. POOR intonation for a wind ensemble tbh though. At this pace there isn't an excuse for intonation. Although not saying it's bad or anything.

[pgbandgeek09]

I love this song sssssssssssssooooooooooo much!!!!!!!!

[imtabled3]

Yay French horns! Why are they seated so that the bells are facing the back, though? It muffled the sound a lot. :(

[coxcaleb]

cool my high school band is playing this at contest and to killersfan227 yes clarinets rule!

[immakitty]

haha it zoomed in on us at my favorite part <3

[goldnfantasy]

oh dang! johnson was right. our video is on youtube :]

but yeah, tempo was slow, but it doesn't matter. we are cool XD

[qivory]

There is not much wrong with the tempo as many here state. Much more can be done to enhance the intensity of this piece by paying attention to phrasing, articulation, changes in texture, emphasis on juxtaposing motifs, decisiveness in attack. Faster does not equal more exciting.

[madcrazy235]

i feel like this is really slow, i think i could walk to the moon faster than this piece was going

[chasebid3]

The highs are way too loud and the lows can barely be heard. Do you have any low reeds because I can't hear them.

[empires228]

I hear a really intrestign sounding bari sax

[soccergurly40]

that is the whole point of pp and ff lol

[killersfan227]

my band played it a little faster, but you guys sound good.

*clarinets rule!*

[UGAchik13579]

so does percusion! lol im actually a freshmen and learned this song this week. we are doing this as part of marching band. its awesome when the battery playes along with us.(im in pit)

[joedomaster]

yeah, were gonna be doing this in competition in DC this april. Should sound really good, even though we'll be playin it around this tempo. Well Done!

Go French Horns!

[metalfarley]

Not enough timpani or snare (most of the snare part is at least fortisimo)

The rest of the band sounds abnormally loud.

Nice horn rips around 4:03.

Overall not too shabby.

[NickyVeee]

Too much reading the actual notes, and not looking at much of anything else. Also the acoustics of the theater (which was built in the 70s) doesn't really help.

But not looking for other things in the music is a big mistake most high schools make. I've seen some of the better high school bands, not watching their director, and just playing through the music.

Rhythmically and technically speaking, the band is there. Now it's time to implement the fine print details of the music.

[metalfarley]

We were gonna play this but we didn't.

I love this song though.

I wish I could have played the snare part since it's so fun but nope dumb band director decision and not enough time to prepare it well enough.... oh well.

[dragonbgon1]

sounds liked you guys sucked lmao

[metalfarley]

lol... Mainly the lead trumpet cuz she had just recently gotten her braces done and the director didn't wanna waste more time trying to prepare something that we may end up not playing.

[slipknotslipknot666]

New Hanover High Beasted this

[Bryanaaes]

NickyVeee you have to understand that its the director's choice of how slow or how fast the song sholud go. The flutes are playing to loud to be heard and the rest of the band need to back off some. Great intonations Trumpets, but make sure that you play with fast warm are to make it sound stacato at 2:27. Melophones i love the run at 4:00 it sound really good.

[NickyVeee]

That's what I said in my original comment.

I quote, "Did it ever occur to any of you commenting on speed, that tempo is at a conductors discretion?"

The conductor being the director of the band.

[gueronva]

sounded a little slow but ok otherwise.

next time tell the conductor to drink 3 cups of coffee before you play..lol

[BRiTTN3YBABY]

Were playing this song as well.

the percussion sounds good...

were playing it a little faster though...

clarinets are really good around the middle

section i think its 120 or so!

[Indestructauble04]

it is a little slow.. but clean nonetheless

[NickyVeee]

Did it ever occur to any of you commenting on speed, that tempo is at a conductors discretion? Not at what the song is originally written at.

[alexandrealvesadm]

Very slowly and with the performance a little confusing to be dealing with the keyboards, sounding somewhat without relaying, sometimes crosses the set phrases, more luck next time ...

[NYAngel9099]

omg my band is playing this now!!!

[shortsonfire79]

ours too!

[psychicboy]

about 30 beats fastr would be better

[FlubaShawty1]

Why'd YAll Play It So Slow??

It Sounded OK Though

[elie5252]

awesome job, only thing i noticed was at the end, it sounded a bit wierd, that could be becuase of the video camera but other than that great job,especuially trumpets, cuz i kno its a dum hard part

[carnegiebassclarinet]

amazing. i played ths song at carnegie hall last year =]

[elie5252]

rly kool, our skool band is gonna play it at Avery fisher hall this yr

[carnegiebassclarinet]

oh really us too!! =] good luck (in response to elie5252)

[elie5252]

ty well need it

[Ibanez3789]

Yeah, I played this my freshman year. We played it around BPM 150, and did alright, if I do say so myself. This and "Themes from Green Bushes" by Grainger are my favorite songs ever to perform.

[JDVOYAGER91JD]

i played this in 9th grade

[NarumiKenshin]

@ 1:25 more together, @ 1:34, on the 16th descending more clarity is needed, 1:51 @ at the 5/4 better pitch needed. Bells need to mute their sound when shown to in the music. French horn @ 3:24 careful. 3:55 trumpets are sharp. 4:05, a alto sax talking and laughing in themiddle of the song??? almost there at %:32 flat a bit over all not bad ^^

[pocalujmniewdupe]

my fav :)

[Kroche929]

You think this song is good, CHECK OUT Incantation and Dance. I played it my freshman year and it owned!

[Pearl127]

We did that one too! Hahah. I liked it a lot.

[817412048]

Yeah, I've played both, but I like Abram's Pursuit beter when it's played up to speed. This video doesn't have to all the way up to 168 bpm.

[CountryFordGirl26]

@Kroche929 I played that my freshman year too!! Haha I think I'm gonna like this one better though..we're playing it this year(:

[Degaldo911]

@Kroche929 Sorry but those songs were lame compared the one we played at Festival, it was called Ride, we made all 1s by playing a level 6 music. Riverwood RULES!!! oh I am 1st horn by the way, and we played this for the festival I was beast at it but I hate it!

[dtmasta45]

@Kroche929 Its actually spelled danse haaha, yeah i played that freshman year, but its still nowhere near this difficulty

[livelovecheer1589]

thank god i finally found a good recording of this song to listen to, we're playing this in my band and jwpepper was not working out for mee ... good job !

[Pearl127]

Thanks! Good luck with it - it's an awesome song.

[SirDeed]

out of all of the other here... this is the best verison of Abram's Pursuit!

[SHIMASEIRO]

the coolest song i ever played

[aramsh]

nice job

yo dude my hs band just performed this at lincoln center. Its an awsome song.

[TehLolWutPear]

Third trombone part FTW.