SCORE STUDY EPISODE #6: ROCKY POINT HOLIDAY
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- čas přidán 8. 09. 2024
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composed by Ron Nelson (1969)
published by Boosey & Hawkes
reduction and analysis by Anthony O'Toole
performed by the Dallas Wind Symphony
conducted by Jerry Junkin
Rocky Point Holiday was composed by Ron Nelson in 1968 and 69’ with most of the work being done while on vacation at Rocky Point located in Warwick Neck, Rhode Island. The piece was commissioned by the University of Minnesota band and their conductor, Frank Bencriscutto, who was also a composer and arranger for the wind band. Bencriscutto had heard Nelson’s orchestral overture ‘Savannah River Holiday’ and wanted to have him compose an overture in that style for his band’s upcoming tour of Russia.
Nelson had previously utilized the band in an unpublished Piano Concerto written in 1948 and a piece in 1958 titled ‘Mayflower Overture’. When Bencriscutto contacted Nelson and discussed the commission the composer asked him if there were any limitations in writing for the ensemble and Bencriscutto told him there were none. Nelson replied by informing him that he would write a tremendously difficult piece, and he was right. By any year or standard Rocky Point Holiday is an extremely challenging piece, with advanced technical and range demands on virtually every player in every section of the band. But the result is a virtuosic work with abundance of timbral color, infectious melodies and musical drama. Rocky Point Holiday became Nelson’s first great work for band, and the first of many musical ‘holidays’.
-Program Notes by Anthony O’Toole
2:24 I can't get over that Lydian scale pattern "throwaway" line in the clarinets and saxes. It's just disgusting and I love it.
I can't get enough of this piece!
yeah amazing to hear but a bitch to play
I need to join a community band somewhere that can play this
This is pretty much the hardest marimba part in any ensemble piece ever. Without having payed much attention to the others parts, I’d wager it’s the hardest part. The F pentatonic flourishes at 6:10 are impossible at tempo
Yeah, I think the keyboard percussion and the woodwinds have the hardest parts here. The clarinet part looks straightforward until you realize that the fingerings for the notes are in a range on the instrument that makes them nearly impossible to play at tempo.
@@classicalclarinetist5415 Yup. Playing this was a fun time.
The double note figure in the B section sounds so damn cool and absolutely nightmarish.
Also love the 5 note vibraphone chords. Cuz why not...
countless hours of trying to nail down the marimba part only to have it buried in the orchestration.
i'm playing marimba in this piece in high school bruh it's painful but fun asf
These videos are really great, I hope you continue to do more wind band standards.
Thats the plan!! Thanks
I played Savannah River holiday in high school and it’s still one of my favourite band pieces till this day. I love Ron Nelson!
I remember playing this Sophomore year in my High School Honor Band
Fun and difficult piece!
Our conducter took it close to this speed as a surprise during our contest performance...that was fun
wow, a high school band playing this at tempo...WOW
Our HS band, MANY MANY moons ago (1984) played this at speed. Looking back on it, either we were very skilled or glutton for punishment! Lol. I still LOVE this song to this day ❤!!
LOL! The meme at 4:32 is hilarious!
Thanks, Dawg!
Chord-ception?
I love and hate this piece at the same time
A most instructive video. One can never stop learning. Love the mention of Stravinsky's "P" chord.
that chord got used a lot by composers in the 20th century... berstein begins his first symphony with it!
I am a band nerd and hope to compose someday, but I’ve never really taken the time to listen to this piece. I’m glad I finally did. In my opinion it honestly sounds like it could have been in Super Mario Galaxy
You've made it far man. My professor just cited this as a reference for his orchestration class.
OMG! INSANE!
Bravo!! Such a pleasure to watch and listen...
thanks, Tim -- glad you enjoy the video(s)
@@AnthonyOTooleMusic You bet! Think of doing "American Overture for Band" by Jenkins?
@@timsarsany1582 funny you say that! I have the score on my desk and it's a personal favorite of mine from way back, heard it when i was 14 and adored it. So it'll be featured soon enough! thank you so much for your patronage, Tim! just got the notification -- your support makes a big difference in the frequency AND quality of these videos
@@AnthonyOTooleMusic Great! I played it in high school and college. One of my top concert band pieces! I even did a brass band arrangement of it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this analysis! 🙏🏻
Thanks, JoAnne! Have you played this before?
@@AnthonyOTooleMusic nope! Just studying 😊
RIP Ron Nelson
Great piece!! But my favorite "arrangement" of this is 1982 or 1983 Garfield Cadets drum and bugle corps. Check it out on youtube!
I knew it sounded difficult but wow
yeah it's not playing around
I like Savannah River Holiday the best. Great uptempo piece.
Sam West i love that one and it’s a tie between that and aspen jubilee for my favorite RN piece
and my highschool wind ensemble is expected to play this in May
if you on wind instrument, FIND ALT FINGERINGS promise you do goo
@@justine5i64 nah bro im on marimba 😭 it's just as bad trust me
What style of analysis do you use for your videos? Are there any good resources on similar approaches? The in-depth approach you use is very helpful in understanding the composition.
It's my own particular style of analysis, and I get asked often about how I do it. Should do a video on it one of these days
If you haven't heard it yet, Pebble Beach Sojourn is a rework of Rocky Point Holiday for brass, percussion, and pipe organ.
czcams.com/video/7yC44utTF5U/video.html
So was this done for a thesis/dissertation? ...and what degree?
no, it was done for 'fun' and because I love the piece so much
Can you do Savannah River Holiday?
1:43 Excerpt 1
5:21 Excerpt 2
measures 344-345, if you catch my drift
dude
What a dreary piece of music. Rehearsing it was torturous. 🥱😴
'dreary'? i don't think that's the correct word to use to describe this piece. I don't think it's dull or lifeless music.
@@AnthonyOTooleMusic What word describes sitting in a car driving eastbound through the entire state of Nebraska while numbingly staring out the window?
@@ImVee10 'desolate' could describe a landscape that is bare and empty in a depressing way
@@AnthonyOTooleMusic Ah. Rocky Point Holiday is desolate. Very good. So was the Cadets’ dreary 2003 version. 🤮
I'm in the minority here, but there is VERY little I like about this piece. The main melodic material reminds me of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", and that's the only thing I enjoy about it. Other than that, I do not like it.
😮