Day 827: Stars and Stripes Forever

Brace yourselves everyone! Within the next few blog posts there's not one, not two, but THREE Music focused topics, and this is just the first one. You see, this week has been an absolutely stressful week filled to the brim with performances, saxophone playing, auditions and regular work. When I spend a significant amount of my time on stage or in the practice room, you can bet that my Disney references for each day probably come from a similar location, hence post after post about Disney and music. I do, however, promise that each of them will be a little different than the last, so get ready, because here we go.

The other night, in the first performance of my week, I played with that SNC Saxophone Quartet as part of the Chamber Music Concert, filled with performances by other small ensembles, including a Bell Choir, Flute Choir, Brass Trio and Piano Ensembles. I happened to be recruited to turn pages for the Piano Quartet, specifically for their arrangement of Stars and Stripes Forever. Now, this is pretty much the quintessential American March, and in yet another upset in the Marine Band March March Madness Competition, apparently it was beaten out yet again this year by the Valders March. At Disney, however, Stars and Stripes Forever appears in full force, and if you've forgotten what the original piece sounds like, here's a recording to refresh your memory before we continue forward. That way you'll have it fresh in your mind to understand where the references come into play.

The Carousel of Progress: 

You can bet that while I was sitting on stage turning pages for the Piano Quartet, there was definitely one Disney attraction that came to mind: The Carousel of Progress. I know this show pretty well, so of course I instantly thought of the portion that takes place around Fourth of July, when the music James (the son) picks for the fireworks show that evening happens to be Stars and Stripes Forever. Now I'm pretty sure that the next time I go to see The Carousel of Progress I'll think of my SNC Piano playing friends, but is that really a bad thing? 

The Main Street Electrical Parade: 

While the Electrical Parade is filled with all sorts of music, including the main theme based on Baroque Hoedown, something I'm definitely going to look into more as time goes on simply because I'm a music major and it seems like an interesting topic to take a look at, Stars and Stripes Forever does indeed make an appearance in the parade towards the end in the "Salute to America" section. If you listen to the audio, which I've included below for your to listen to, you can hear the song mixed in with the other patriotic pieces in the finale. 

The Muppets: 

Now, while Stars and Stripes Forever probably appears many more times throughout the parks (I'm looking at you, American Adventure Pavilion), I couldn't end this post without mentioning everyone's favorite Eagle, Sam, and his crazy awesome love of America. So here, to round things out, is a Muppet Rendition of Stars and Stripes Forever: 

Now...try getting that out of your head! Good luck! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on April 12 due to a busy week).