When the music teacher ascends back to his throne after the class had a sub.

When I played this piece in 8th grade district band the bass drummer hit the drum so hard the head of the mallet flew off and landed in the clarinet section at the front of the band room

I swear my band director thinks he’s a military commander when we play this song

I can just hear my band director yelling the clarinets now to stay on tempo

98% people from band 2% people knows about the Battle of Moscow from Operation Barbarossa in WW2

When you have band practice at 3:00 but you finna rush Berlin at 3:15

Low Brass shows true power in this song.

I looked threw the comments and it brings a tear to my eye because its like i found my people

Raise your hand if you always search up the song your director gives you. Just me OK then 🙌 Edit: Thanks for the likes guys ✌️

I may be a clarinet but I’m secretly in love with the trombone 😂

I like how at 2:45 it just transforms from dramatic and powerful to elevator music

We had this piece in the beginning of the year and we held a low brass/Reed sectional and I heard from one of the Altos outside "THEY ARE RESURRECTING STALIN IN THERE!"

Let’s go trombones and low brass!!!

I had the honour to play this while Brian himself was conducting us 💙

I like pieces like this that kind of tell a story

The dislikes were people that couldn't play it

i remember being the only flute that could play all the fast notes at 3:37 and it automatically got me from 5th chair to 1st chair

I was 14 when I last played this. God, sometimes I wish I could go back just to play this one more time. I think about this piece all the time because it was hell to learn but amazing to play. I'm 21 now. 🤧

This would make a great marching show.

When the bass drummer in my band entered at 3:21 They entered so loud and powerful that it made everybody in the band jump. I had toms for this piece. PERCUSSION SQUAD!

If you play first clarinet for this song you are very lucky. You get to carry the whole piece.

We did this last year for what our band teacher called “Russian Christmas” we played this and the USSR anthem, tbh the whole time I felt like a huge Russian soldier about to destroy some nazis lmao

3:20 where the flutes and the clarinets play repeated notes it sounds scary I love it

I played this in 7th grade band and 3 years later, it's still easily my favorite song from band. It has incredibly beautiful melodies, both fast parts and slow parts, sections that let each different instrument shine, and it tells a story. Really amazing song!

What kind of person would dislike a fabulous song like this?

I play the flute, and this is my most favorite song I’ve ever played

Am I the only one that appreciates the horns at 2:21. Edit: Wow, that’s a lot of likes! For all of the trombone players out there, they are also AMAZING, so don’t think that I don’t care about trombones because they are very important (in general).

I love this piece of music! Try to imagine this happening while the piece is being played: 0:00 is when the Russians are bracing for the terrible battle and the Germans are just a speck in the horizon that's getting bigger and closer... 0:54 is when the Germans arrive and Russians actually see how massive the Army was. The German army is preparing for the battle 1:42 is when both of the armies are just waiting for the tension about to happen. 2:20 is when the two armies approach. Then, cannons are released and both armies start fighting 2:46 is when the German army eliminated a big chunk of Russia's frontline (fewer gunshots because more soldiers are dead so softer dynamics) 2:59 is when the German army obliterates the Russian frontline and the second wave of Russians rapidly comes. The situation looks desperately hopeless for the Russians. 3:20 is when the Germans start commanding bombs to be dropped on Moscow 3:23 a bomb! (or the bass drum) 3:37 is when the Russians miraculously strike back! With reinforcements from Siberia and the Far East, they start squeezing the Germans away. 4:03 is when the Germans find themselves being cornered, they fight desperately to the bitter end, but they know what the result will be.

Even tho I’m a clarinet, the trombone and tenor sax parts are amazing

I played this song with my clarinet in my band and it has always given chills

As a trombone player, this is one of my favorite pieces by far. 3:22my favorite part

0:52 THE FLUTE!!! THE FLUTE!!! THE FLUTE!!!!!!! IT GIVES ME CHILLS _EVERY SINGLE TIME._

As a clarinet this is one of my favorites

2:20 that horn harmony split is what made me want to learn brass (as a clarinetist). 9 years later, got trumpet, baritone, and euphonium under my belt. Next, French horn.

Don't trust edited comments.

The counter melody with the saxes And clairents sounds so good

I remember shaking so much from how hard the drum was hit for the bomb effect and I literally stopped playing for a whole two minutes :(

Am I the only one appreciating the Trombones and Low Brass at 3:24?

LOW BRASS FOR LIFEEEEEEE!!!

Where my trombone players at!?

That's great I love how painful and emotional it sounds

Whatever band that performs this in their repertoire should have their students scream URA! In their concert

Last year I played this for concerts, probably the best classical song with an amazing background I’ve ever played

My bandmates and I have fallen so much in love with this song that we keep begging our directors to let us practice this instead of the other songs we’re playing for our concert

It all comes down to this

I’m playing this is UIL. I’m part of the clarinet section, and luckily first chair. I feel so lucky to be with this section, because even though you can barely ever get them to stop talking, they concentrate on music. The best part about it is that second chair always gets so emotional and into the music when we play this piece!! I know it’s random, but I felt like sharing it.

Alto part is so fun

I swear this is like the 800th time I've listened to it-

where’s my clarinets at??

An alto sax here doing it for both ratings and all county

This piece really transports me it paints a picture of what was going on during the war

I love how at 3:40 the trumpets just interrupt everyone

this comment is for all of the flute players who can’t find a single comment about flutes

My class playing the song normally like professionals: Me: *Vietnam flashbacks*

we are play this for competition

I just played this in my 8th grade band and I was a euphonium

Everybody revers the low brass as gods in this piece but no one except me also includes the bassoon your welcome

I play this in advanced band 7th grade we sound amazing with 1 sax 1 baritone (me) and 3 clarinets and 2 trombones. I’m a baritone but I’m secretly in love with the trumpet lol

Imagine playing the bells and then messing up on a note you would stand out so much.

I had this piece in 7th grade and I was put on chimes and loved it. This is the song that made me fall in love with playing chimes

I played this in my 2019 ccsd middle school honor band

I’m learning this song for festival

Gotta love being a percussionist sometimes

I’m turning this into a guitar hero song

This will forever be my favorite band piece, played it freshman year.

my band played this piece at a competition when i was in seventh grade and i will literally never forget it. this will forever be my favorite song i’ve ever played. i still get chills every time i listen to it.

I will play this song in my band every day!

Oh my god the percussion in this song AGHHHH. I played claves, wind chimes, and crash cymbals and omg the conductor made the calves part so fun to play and I’ve never got so worked up during a cymbal crash before

Im in highschool band now but this is always gonna be one of my favorite songs I played in middle school band.

played this song 5 years ago in 8th grade. its easily one of the best songs i have ever had the pleasure of playing! i simply dont think it can be topped

It’s sad how quiet the flutes are in this because litteraly in every piece we play, you’re guaranteed to at least hear the flute above all sections.

Because of current events my school asked our band to not play this song in our concert that’s in a week. Been working on this song since November of 2021 btw.

I remember playing this at my 8th grade graduation concert. I loved being apart of the low brass. There's so many great sections for the brass that I think are used very well for the reason this song was made.

This is one of Brian Balmages best pieces👍🏽

“If you’re not feeling the music while playing it, you’re not truly playing it.” -my band director. Idk how you can play this piece and not feel it. I’m one of the few students in my class who genuinely feels the emotions in the songs we play. Everyone else just plays it to get it over with.

My middle school band director had the best taste in music. I'm in Highschool now and I really miss songs like this. This song was the highlight of all of band for me.

i played this in 6th grade for regional band festival, I'm in 8th grade now but i still love this song along with Engines of Resistence by Larry Clark

I love the low brass part in this, especially the trombones.

Played the bass drum and clave’s part on this in 8th grade and one of my favorite pieces I ever played. The triple forte bass drum hit was like carte blanch to annihilate the bass drum head 😂😂 so fun

i always get goosebumps because of how powerful and intense this piece is

This piece sounds completely different after you listen to Kyiv, 2022. Thanks for these beautiful pieces. (P.S. I play tuba in BISFA, the school that bill hollin teaches at)

Hands up for the trumpet squad!

I cried listening to this! Bc I played it in 7th grade last year, and I was really close to my band family there, and then moved to a whole different state over summeer... 😭😭😭 I miss them so much!! 😭

Is that clarinets at the beginning? Now I’m curious as to when The altos come in.

My trombone boys, anyone else hate right before you play your part at 48 your teacher stops you.

We are playing this in the Phoenix youth symphony (I play the Euphonium). It's really fun

Anyone watching in 2020?! Anyway, I was supposed to play this for my 2nd 7th grade concert, and I play 2nd Trombone. AMAZING SONG!!

played snare drum in 5th grade for this and then timpani at another concert in 6th grade, absolutely love this song

So much appreciation for the trombone section (side note, it takes a special person to be a trombone because we are lit 24/7)

Where my saxophones at 👌👌

we got sweepstakes at UIL last night and today we got the sheet music for kyiv, 2022. so excited to play it !

I remember last year I played this piece for Disney and it was amazing. I love this piece so much.

I'm learning this for my 8th grade band class

1:17 is AWESOME!!! I LOVE THIS! I t perfectly describes how the russians probably felt when hitler invaded them

Hands down my favorite concert piece I've ever played :)

My favorite song we ever played for concert season. The memories.

To quote our baritone player, good ol' Morgan, "Wait guys, *we* are the nazis!"

I wish I could play this again. It was such an awesome piece

Im in the 8th and im in percussion and brian balmages actually came to our school and guest directed one of our whole state type concert you can find its kusd band-o-rama just wait for the 8th graders to play Moscow 1941 its either 11 minutes in or 24 i don't remember

We played this for our 8th grade honor band and when that bass drum is hit, it always sends chills down my spine. I love this song!