“Silverado,” Bruce Broughton’s theme from the movie western of the same name, was introduced to corps audiences just a year after the film came out. Starting out as a tender chorale, the piece soon moved into the brashly bombastic treatment for which it is best known. Another chorale saw the brass section (minus the contras) and drums form a circle around six spokes of the guard, resulting in the formation of a giant wagon wheel. This was followed by guard members high kicking during a hoedown in an extended drum break, topped off by the restatement of the horn melody. “Prayer of Thanksgiving,” a traditional hymn of Dutch origin, had been in the Troopers’ productions in 1973 and 1974, when the corps placed second and sixth at the DCI World Championships. Often known as “We Gather Together,” the piece served as a chance for the horns to relax their lips a bit before hitting Aaron Copland’s film score to “The Red Pony.” Seen in the accompanying video clip is one of the corps’ trademark guard moves, where a number of rifles would be tossed across a circle to the other side, just passing on both sides of someone in the center of the circle. But that move was nothing in Troopers’ lore compared to the sunburst, which is a lot more difficult than it may look. The reason for that is as it expands outward, as do the intervals between each of the horn players. In this case, the sunburst spread out from just over 15 yards across to 50 yards. It would be the last time we would see that famed move in the Finals until 2009. The show ended with “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” possibly the most played piece ever on the drum corps field. (Troopers themselves have played it eight times.) The tune first existed as a camp song in the mid 1850s, and although William Steffe is typically credited as composing it—a few years before Julia Ward Howe wrote the lyrics we now know—he may have simply been the first to transcribe it from the folk tradition. A lovely chorale version of the melody featured the guard on red, white and blue flags, bordering a series of long red, white and blue banners as backdrop to an American flag. Rather than moving into a march-like treatment like we typically witness, the chorale just kept getting louder and louder to the end, remaining the last Finals memory we would have of the Troopers for more than two decades. For this week only, you can save on the Legacy Collection DVD that contains this complete Troopers performance, along with all finalists from the 1986 DCI World Championships. Buy the 1986 Legacy Collection DVD. (Available this week only for $28. Regular price: $35.)
1980 Overview
Michael Boo was a member of the Cavaliers from 1975-1977. He has written about the drum corps activity for more than a quarter century and serves as a staff writer for various Drum Corps International projects. Boo has written for numerous other publications and has published an honors-winning book on the history of figure skating. As an accomplished composer, Boo holds a bachelor's degree in music education and a master's degree in music theory and composition. He resides in Chesterton, Ind.
