La Mezquita de Cordoba - Julie Giroux - Eynsford Concert Band 2016

Eynsford Concert band - A live recording from the European Championships for Wind Orchestras in Utrecht 2016
This is a fabulous piece that evokes the wonderful cathedral at Cordoba. Programme notes from Julie Giroux below:
"In 169 B.C., the Romans founded Cordoba. After the fall of Rome, it existed under the rule of the Visigoths and became the capital of Al Andalus, Muslim Spain in 716. The Moors conquered Cordoba in the 8th Century and by the tenth century the city boasted a population of 500,000, compared to about 38,000 in Paris. According to the chronicles of the day, the city had 700 mosques, some 60,000 palaces, and 70 libraries - one reportedly housing 500,000 manuscripts and employing a staff of researchers, illuminators, and book binders. Cordoba also had some 900 public baths as well as Europe's first street lights.
Reigning with wisdom and justice, the rulers of Cordoba treated Christians and Jews with tolerance. They also improved trade and agriculture, patronized the arts, made valuable contributions to science, and established Cordoba as the most sophisticated city in Europe.
When the Moors conquered Cordoba they found a Visigoth cathedral, promptly pulled it down and built a mosque complex who’s walls enclose about four acres and was over 40 years in the making. Over the centuries, the Moors roofed-over and developed more and more within this complex. Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths alike were practiced withing its walls, an unprecedented feat then and literally unheard of today.
When the Christians re-conquered Cordoba in 1236, the new rulers were so awed by its beauty that they left it standing, building their cathedral in the midst of its rows of arches and columns. Thus it is preserved to this day, fondly referred to in Spain as La Gran Mezquita.
La Mezquita contains over 500 marble, granite, and alabaster columns. Mixed into the califal styles, you can see the Byzantine and oriental influences, as well as Hispano- romanic and Visigothic elements throughout the mosque. The grandeur of La Mezquita and its colorful political and religious history has earned its place as a true wonder of the civilized world.
La Mezquita de Cordoba opens with the destruction of the original Christian church in 716 A.D. and proceeds as a musical celebration of La Mezquita and its multi-cultural, religious and artistic accomplishments."

[@imangelaithink]

i did this piece my senior year of hs and honestly it was my favorite piece we played all year

[@akmontgomery1224]

This is the most lively performance of this piece I could find on the web. Thank you for outdoing the blandness that plagues the professional recordings: you guys really put some heart into it.

[@cinnatoastycrunch1635]

I’m a freshman in high school and this piece is 6 pages long 😭 this is the hardest concert piece ive played I literally can’t double tongue

[@danielwalker2381]

1:26 rip

[@jeremymarks8228]

I see you looking at the comments. I know you expected to see me commenting on this. You were right.

[@djungelskogsn7529]

Overall impressive recording, the conductor is just taking it way too fast especially in the beginning.

[@Thunshot]

Completely agree. Excellent playing, but too fast in general!

[@calciumchloride710]

Soo... basically a drum corps piece sitting down. Their playing is great, but this piece is not very impressive.

[@ClhCgu45]

?? Really, why do you think so? This is one of my favorite pieces

[@ytsub7]

It's great for horns 😅

[@2ndRoman]

Bro you ever played it lmao or like,, even know what it’s ablut

[@robertperez2262]

Not very impressive? Excuse you!