My friend Tamara and I geeked out on band memories while chatting tonight and somehow this video came out of it. Our high school band played “Purgatorio” (Robert W. Smith) our junior year. (I found the CD and set the song to random pictures of flowers and fruit and the sky; don’t get too excited about production values.)
Purgatorio from Lindsey Turner on Vimeo.
Here‘s what this piece should sound like. I recall having several band practices where it sounded a lot like like this and less like the version above. At the spring concert, people were nervous and the French horns were honky and the oboe a little unstable and the clarinets squeaky (we trombones were perfect, natch). But I’ll be honest; I’m pretty amazed that a high school band, much less one I was a part of a decade ago, could produce anything this freaking cool. You can tell by listening to it that it was a fucking hoot to play. Coming next? The Ascension.
I totally remember being there when ya’ll played this at some concert or another. I was impressed.
Robert W. Smith is AWESOME. Although “The Ascension” is by far my favorite.