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This is a fun take on Vivaldi. The solo line is passed around between 15 different soloists -- not all of whom are violinists. It's been arranged for full orchestra; string parts are unchanged but wind parts have been added.
One thing music nerds might appreciate: Vivaldi included a subtle reference to La Folia in the movement, and this arrangement makes the reference extremely obvious by inserting the La Folia melody (played by an oboe) on top of it. The arranger's comment: "Hahaha. This was taking Vivaldi's subtle wink/nod and turning it into 'HEY, EVERYONE, LOOK AT THIS!'"
I'm at bottom right.

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I like the comments section to the Stravinsky:
"Stravinsky: I'll break all orchestral tradition.
Melodica Men: I'll see you two melodicas and a spiked inflatable bat."
Peter
"It is vain to do with more that which can be done with less" - William of Ockham
"A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in" - Frederick the Great

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Gordon Shumway -
Don't you think Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" by the Melodica Men deserves a place of honor in the "Great Performances" thread?
...well maybe not since melodica isn't really a Fiddlershop sale item.
Pretty remarkable!
AndrewH - sorry for prolonging the deviation in your thread.
- Emily

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ELCB said
Don't you think Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" by the Melodica Men deserves a place of honor in the "Great Performances" thread?
I'd be surprised if it's not there already. I suppose it's a thread I should browse from start to finish. The only thing is, I'm usually far too impatient to sit through many videos.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!

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Gordon Shumway said
ELCB said
Don't you think Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" by the Melodica Men deserves a place of honor in the "Great Performances" thread?
I'd be surprised if it's not there already. I suppose it's a thread I should browse from start to finish. The only thing is, I'm usually far too impatient to sit through many videos.
THANKS A LOT ANDREW! I just spent (not wasted) the last hour listening to the videos on the Melodica Men's Youtube page.... I should be doing chores instead of being fascinated by these two guys!!!!
Bob in Lone Oak, Texas

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ELCB said
AndrewH -I forgot to ask you, how often will you have these virtual performances with the orchestra? Next one?
- Emily
I'm going to record another one in the next week or so, but I don't know when it'll be out. They usually come out soon after recording. The Florence Price symphony excerpt took longer than usual (I recorded it the first week of July) because, in order to get permission to use copyrighted music, we agreed to have it posted on the publisher's social media accounts. The Vivaldi took less than a week from recording to being posted.
Socially Distant Orchestra does them quite frequently, though I'm not in all of them because there are more people on the mailing list than slots in most of the recordings. There are sign-up sheets that get emailed out for two or three projects at a time, and people are asked to sign up for only one of those so that everyone can participate. The turnaround time is fast: only about one week from getting the music and click track to the recording deadline. (BTW, although this is an amateur ensemble, I looked up other string players and it appears I am the least-experienced string player in the entire group, having played for "only" 20 years.) So my guess after appearing in two videos is that I'll probably do one every 2-4 weeks.

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AndrewH - after performing Vivaldi, thought you'd like to see this.
YouTube must be spying on me, otherwise I can't explain how I happened upon this while I was searching "Irish slide - fiddle" (no, I wasn't logged in).
Interesting!
Not trying to hijack your thread (I'll delete if you want).
- Emily

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I saw this on PBS a few months ago; I saw another in the series on Bach. Really good. In this Vivaldi one, I really liked the pianist who played (on Liszt’s piano) a Vivaldi piece in the style of the various composers (~34:20)
Characterize people by their actions and you will never be fooled by their words.
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