The Spasskaya Tower international military tattoo proved once again that language of music is understood by everyone, uniting people, nations and cultures.
Every band prepared special new programs for the festival held on Red Square on September 4-9. Some learned Russian songs, some wrote music especially for the event, some learned dances or tricks, and some even designed dresses for the event.
"What I really want to tell you, something really important that it was actually designed particularly for this festival," Bahrain Police Band's director General Mubarak Najem said. "We never wore it before," he added. "This uniform is the first time we are wearing it."
"And even the music we play here I composed by myself, I am a composer. I composed all this music especially for this show as well," he continued.
The event became a great experience not only for the audience who had the chance to learn about different cultures, customs and traditions, but also for the musicians.
"I hope that with the music we are presenting to them [the audience of the festival] they will get to know our customs and our traditions," Crossed Swords conductor David Johnston said.
The Crossed Swords Pipes and Drums Band was accompanied by the Moscow & District Pipe Band, giving musicians a chance to experience the music of both cultures.
"This is a great experience also for us to play with the Russian band together and we play in the finale of our set Amazing Grace, which is a typical Scottish hymn with the Russian band and then straight after we are going into the Russian set of music with the Russian band," Johnston said. "So we get both sides, the special Scottish side of music and also then are able to change to the Russian side."
It seems that musicians and their instruments are indivisible; they love their "tools" so much that are ready to carry them everywhere.
"The bagpipe is a wonderful instrument and I've played all around the world and all I've got to do is to take out my bagpipe and I'm automatically included in a crowd. It is a door opener. The bagpipes seem to attract people, make people love you just from the very first moment,"
Sounds of music and a real love of what you do can be an extremely strong power and these musicians know that.
"I've noticed if we just could use this power and force as one combining unit we could make a really big pipe band," David Johnston said.
About two or three decades ago such an event with the participation of bands from different corners of Earth was simply unrealistic even to imagine. Nowadays, the U.S. military band even brought its country's most popular music, Michael Jackson songs.
"I grew up in the Cold War. Anyone could not tell me when I joined the military, which was in 1984, that I would be standing on Red Square, conducting a band playing Michael Jackson," the U.S. Army Europe Band and Chorus conductor Lieutenant Colonel Beth T.M. Steele said. "It was not possible," she continued. "It is spectacular really."
"Certainly when you hear Michael Jackson you think of America, I think so," she continued. "The members of our chorus spent a lot of time designing dance moves to be just like Michael Jackson. Obviously, he was a very particular performer. And his dance moves and his music make us really showcase music and dance."
"The festival is incredible," she said. "It is great to perform 1812 [Pyotr Tchaikovsky] on Red Square," she continued. "Surely, the venue here is the most spectacular."
"This is a very useful [event], as musicians interact, share experiences, exchange discs [with their music], notes," Russian exemplary military orchestra of the Honor Guard of the Moscow Kremlin head Konstantin Petrovich said. "People look at other teams, some are a little better, some are a little worse and try to grow," he continued.
Music unites not only bands members participating in this event, and not only inside their bands, it unites people from whatever different cultures and parts of the world they are from.
When the show was over, members of Bahrain and the EU bands played music together next to the Moscow Historical Museum making people who came to watch the event dance with them to their tunes.
And when it was time to part, the conductor of the Crossed Swords Band and one of the administrative heads from the Bahrain Police Band left the festival venue together, chatting and laughing. The EU musician was wearing a garment from Bahraini festival uniform, which, apparently, he received as a souvenir from his eastern colleagues.
MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti, Ekaterina Chernyaeva)
