Скачать или смотреть Parade of the Loons; Characteristic March (2024), composed and arranged by Michael Chisholm

This is one of two pieces I wrote in 2024. I've loved marches since I was a kid, so I thought I'd write one. :)

Though the title suggests this was written about the array of characters that can be found haunting the ragtime festivals I love to attend, it's actually inspired by the Common Loon. Northern Michigan is truly home for my Momma, for who this piece is dedicated. When I sat down to create this arrangement, I imagined all the forest creatures we see there marching along and playing the parts. Listen for the choir of loons in the second section... The piano score lacks so much because you can only play so many notes with two hands. I wanted to give this piece the face lift it needed to be worth showing off.

There are several Easter Eggs in this piece you might pick up on. Several of the movies and tv shows my Momma showed me growing up had the cutest march tracks I fell in love with. The entire arrangement is designed to sound like a merry-go-round or band organ...or straight out of Looney Tunes...

The A-theme is inspired by "Spoonful of Sugar" from Mary Poppins. (Please don't sue me, Disney...)
The B-theme is inspired by the theme from "Wallace and Gromit", one of my FAVORITE cartoons of all time (I watch "Curse of the Were Rabbit" way too often for being almost 30).
The C-theme is inspired by the theme to "Recess", one of my favorite shows to watch growing up. (Again...please don't sue me, Disney).

To date, this is the largest ensemble I've ever written for. However, because I don't play majority of the instruments here, I genuinely have no idea if it's actually playable. At least it sounds good! I also arranged this for a strange group of instruments in order to get that theater organ sound:

2 piccolos (played by chipmunks, of course!)
1 flute (played by a squirrel...if it can stop bullying the chipmunks)
4 alto flute (the choir of loons - listen for them in the second section!)
1 bass flute (also a loon...but he has a cold)
1 oboe (a li'l duck)
4 clarinets (geese that support the loons in the second section)
1 bass clarinet (a goose that got the loon's cold)
2 alto saxophones (seagulls...what are you even doing here)
1 tenor saxophone (a mountain lion's screech. Hope you never hear that in the woods alone)
1 baritone saxophone (a big moose helping the black bear carry the group)
1 bassoon (a big, ol' owl)
4 French horns (the elk's call...if you're lucky enough to see one)
2 trumpets (bald eagles - hear 'em scream!)
4 trombones (white tail deer...'cause wherever there's one there's four)
2 euphoniums (more white tail deer you didn't see at first)
1 tuba (played by a big black bear I would definitely try to hug)
snare drum (a li'l bunny playing a red ear slider like a drum)
bass drum (sasquatch makes a rare appearance)
tambourine (a li'l porcupine bouncing along to the beat of the band)
woodblocks (a red headed woodpecker who’s about to get some serious vertigo)
glockenspiel (played by the smallest field mouse you've ever seen)
xylophone (a fox playing a xylophone of Petoskey stones)
marimba (coyote playing a birch marimba)
and a partridge in a pear tree

Which brings us to a Jack Benny wind ensemble with 39 parts. I tried to post the entire ensemble score, but it would import into iMovie in a way that was readable when the music was on the screen... I'm not super tech savvy and couldn't figure it out, so I hope following along with the piano score is sufficent. :)

This is what I imagine it sounds like when the creatures of Michigan get together and play in the woods.