Par MASCAGNI PIETRO. When you say Mascagni you immediately think of Cavalleria rusticana. This work brought Mascagni overnight fame after his wife - without him knowing - entered the score in a composition contest and it won first prize. Cavalleria rusticana became an incredible success, overshadowing the premiere of his next opera, L’Amico Fritz. L’Amico Fritz can still be considered a successful opera, with its highlights being the ‘Cherry Duet’ and this intermezzo, arranged by the Japanese Kimura. / Niveau : 5 / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie

Par VAN DER ROOST JAN. This major concert work cosists o five movements. 1st movement: La Laguna del ShimbeSituated high up in the Andes mountains in Northern Peru are the Huaringas, a group of lagoons in isolated and mysterious surroundings. The water has healing powersand for centuries traditional healers have settled there in small villages. From far the sick come to the Huaringas to be treated in nightly rituals, in which the hallucinating juice of the San Pedro cactus gives the prophet a look inside hispatient. The biggest lagoon is the “Laguna del Shimbe”, one of the countless wells of the immense Amazon stream. 2nd movement: Los AguarunasFurther downstream in Northern Peru we come across the rain tribe of Los Aguarunas. It’s a proud, beautiful andindependent race, which has never succumbed to domination, not even from the Incas. They live from everything the forest has to offer: fish, fruit, plants, . . . . They also grow some crops and live as semi-nomads. They take their fate into their ownhands and after having made contact with modern civilisation, they have integrated new elements into their lives without betraying their own ways. 3rd movement: MekaronMekaron is an Indian word meaning “picture”, “soul”, “essence”. The Indians are theorigina inhabitants of the Amazon region. They either live in one place as a group or move around a large region. They all have their own political system, their own language and an intense social life. At the same time they are master of music andmedicine. “Everywhere the white man goes, he leaves a wilderness behind him”, wrote the North American Indian leader Seatl in 1885. As a result of these contacts with the whites, the disruption of most Indian societies began. (In this century alone, 80 tribes have vanished completely). 4th movement: KêêtuajêThis is the name of the initiating ceremony of the Krahô tribe in the Brazilian state of Goias, in which young boys and girls enter adult life. They are cleansed with water, painted with redpaint and covered with feathers, after which the ritual dance holds the entire tribe spell-bound. 5th movement: Paulino FaiakanIn 1988 the Indian chiefs Faiakan and Raoni Kaiapo came to Europe to protest against the building of the Altamira dam inBrazil. As a result of the dam the Indians would be driven from their traditional land and enormous artificial would be created. The project was supported financially by, amongst others, the European Community. In February 1989 the Indian tribesaround Altamira held a protest march for the first time in their history together. Amongst other things they paid tribute tot Chico Mendez, who, murdered in 1988, was the leader of the rubber syndicate and a fierce opponent of the destruction of theBrazilian rain forest. Brazilian and world opinion was awakened. The building of the dam was -albeit temporarily - stopped. / Niveau : 6 / Pièce de concert / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie

Music from the last movement of the Ninth Symphony. Par BEETHOVEN LUDWIG VAN. The European Hymn is the hymn not only of the European Union but of Europe in a broader sense. The melody has been taken from the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven from 1823. In the last movement of this symphony Beethoven set music to the 'Ode to Joy' by Friedrich von Schiller from 1785. This poem sprang from Schiller's idealistic vision of men who become brothers – a vision Beethoven shared with him. In 1972 the Council of Europe adopted Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' as its anthem. The well-known conductor Herbert von Karajan was commissioned to arrange three instrumental versions – for solo piano, wind orchestra and symphony orchestra. Without words, in the universal language of music, the anthem is an expression of the idealistic values of freedom, peace and solidarity which Europe stands for. In 1985 the heads of state and government adopted the hymn as the EU's official anthem. It does not replace the national anthems of the member states, but rather celebrates common values as well as unity in diversity. The score of this offical anthem is exclusively available from the Schott publishing house./ Répertoire / Concert Band/Harmonie