#kmea

Cavetowns Cappadocia is not a well-known piece of band literature in America. (It should be.)

This piece is powerful. I get chills every single time I listen to it. (I seriously wish we could play it again this year) The story behind it is unique as well. In the early 20th century, enormous caves were discovered underneath the Anatolian Plateau in Cappadocia, Turkey. They were proven to be man-made by a Turkish archaeologist. About 20,000 people are estimated to have lived in these caves. These people are thought to be early Christians escaping from the persecution of the Roman empire. The composition follows their dangerous flight from the Roman empire to the discovery of these caves- a safe haven.

The opening immediately catches your attention with the clarinet motif and the huge brass melody. These continue until the main theme of the piece comes in played first by lower instruments and adding more until almost the entire ensemble is playing that melody. The sense of danger intensifies as more sections are added.

The instant silence with the eerie percussion effects after the low brass/reeds feature creates a feeling of uneasiness. Slowly, you start to feel a sense of relaxation and trust. As the gorgeous, sweeping melody of the middle section washes over you, you feel calm and safe.

Then the band starts singing. Kyrie Eleison- Lord have mercy. The beauty of this passage is absolutely stunning. The Kyrie Eleison motif represents the hope of a new life.

All of a sudden, that hope is crushed. The original danger theme is back, bigger and darker than before. It continues at a frantic pace until we return to the opening theme- but with a new feeling of desperation.

Finally, we return home. The Kyrie theme returns, but much more dramatically. The finale is everything you would hope it to be and more. A perfect ending.

I highly recommend this piece to any band director looking for an attention-grabbing, show-stopping “big piece” to perform. It takes a strong group- it is not an easy piece. The parts are all well-balanced, with challenges for all players (even bass clarinets!). I will say that this piece definitely has a personality- it should fit the personality of your group.

BOTH ORCHESTRAS STRESS GONE

https://www.change.org/p/scott-county-high-school-administration-bring-mr-brawner-back-to-the-band

**PLEASE READ** 

The name of this man is Thomas Brawner. He is my band director and recently we found out that he had been fired. Over the weekend our band had our yearly band assessment festival and all three of the bands under his direction recived a distinguished rating. This is not a new thing over the 19 years he has been at our high school our bands have either gotten a distinguished or profeciant rating at festival. This man is seen as one of the best band directors in the state of Kentucky and he took our band program