Star Spangled Banner Arrangement

March 8, 2006 at 04:41 AM · Andrew:

I wrote an arrangement of the SSB and performed it at a White Sox vs. Yankees game back in 1990!

Somehow, it seems poetic that 5 months later I became a Marine violinist in the White House Orchestra.

Perhaps I should publish my arrangement . . .

-Peter

March 8, 2006 at 05:22 AM · Get on it, Peter. I'd buy a copy for sure!

March 8, 2006 at 05:20 AM · Mark O'Connor has published a solo arrangement for unaccompanied violin that you can purchase and download through his website:

http://www.markoconnor.com/sheet.music/titles/midnight.water.html

It's in the Midnight On The Water series. I love listening to his arrangement!

March 8, 2006 at 12:35 PM · Anyone ever thought of transcribing Hendrix's rendition from Woodstock? Best version I ever heard.

March 8, 2006 at 12:55 PM · Haaaa maybe only Great Kat could pull that off.

You owe permission to make "arrangements" of SSB to Blind Jose Feliciano, and a nationally televised baseball game in the 60s. Utterly sweet and mild by today's standards, but people were NOT happy with him for altering the melody. You had to have been there.

March 8, 2006 at 01:28 PM · JIM: Not to worry, my arrangement is nothing like Feliciano's (or Roseanne's for that matter) and has been officially endorsed by the Marine Corps and the Department of the Navy.

DAVID: The Hendrix arrangement has already been transcribed by several different violinists . . . as have most of his guitar solos!

-PW

March 8, 2006 at 01:36 PM · My point was if you're doing anything except playing it straight, you owe a debt to Jose:)

March 8, 2006 at 03:58 PM · Rachel Barton Pine plays it very virtuosic, but I don't think that she has published it yet. Has anyone else but me heard it?

March 8, 2006 at 09:16 PM · Peter, that's great. Which violinists?

March 8, 2006 at 10:08 PM · I was going to say, I thought I heard that Rachel Barton Pine played her own virtuosic arrangement of it at the 1996 (?) Democratic Convention in Chicago.

March 8, 2006 at 10:17 PM · I have heard Rachel Barton Pine's version, but that might be a little too "out there" for what I'm looking for.

March 8, 2006 at 11:42 PM · Bruce Dukov's arrangement is absolutely impeccable and can be heard here:

http://www.brucedukov.com/Music/Stars.asp

He has a duet version, which he recorded with himeself, and a version for solo violin and string orchestra (not as nice as the duet imho, the duet RULES!)

March 9, 2006 at 04:31 AM · Larry:

Thanks for that link! Wow! What an amazing arrangement & recording!

One thing, though . . . it wasn't the "Star-Spangled Banner" aka our National Anthem. Bruce Dukov's amazing arrangement is of John Philip Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever!" aka our National MARCH.

No harm no foul, just wanted to clear that up.

Best,

Peter

March 9, 2006 at 12:55 PM · Sorry, it appears that I spangled up my stars, my stripes and that bothersome banner :(