2014-12-19 Live at the Grotto – Festival Brass
Leroy Anderson’s classic Christmas piece.
This one has a funny story to go along with it. When we perform this piece, we usually have a couple of audience members come up to play the sleigh bells and the whip crack. On this one, the people we got were the event organizers, I think (we were one part of a multi-night, multi-act Christmas thing). Anyway, we made a big deal about how and when you play those instruments as part of our schtick.
After that, we started the song. The guy plays the whip crack perfectly (hence the applause you hear after the first one). Of course, if you’ve heard the piece before, you know that there’s a really big one right at the end (after the horse whinny). So, the guy playing the whip turns it around thinking that he can make it louder. Unfortunately, with the way that it’s constructed, it only works in one direction. So, after playing it perfectly for the entire piece, he winds up for the crowning moment, and… nothing. Best ending ever, as everyone in the audience cracks up at his roar of frustration.