A Disney Spectacular

A Disney Spectacular was written by John Moss (see below) in 1993. It is a medley of seven songs from three of Disney’s most popular full length animated feature films of the early 1990s.

The medley begins with a brief statement of Part of Your World, from 1990’s “The Little Mermaid”. It immediate transitions into the sprightly “calypso” anthem, Under the Sea, from the same film.

Slowing to a lyric pace, next is Beauty and the Beast, from the 1991 film of the same name. Staying with music from the same film, next comes the bouncy Be Our Guest.

The medley sets a mysterious Middle Eastern tone as it transitions to Arabian Nights, from 1992’s “Aladdin”. After the beautiful A Whole New World, the medley ends with a rollicking presentation of Friend Like Me, both also from Aladdin.

Arranger John Moss (1948-2010) was active nationwide as a composer, arranger, and orchestrator in a wide variety of musical styles and formats. As a composer, he had an extensive background creating original music for documentary, educational, and promotional films. As an arranger, he provided music for many live large-scale musical revues and production shows. John created the arrangements for Speak Low, a CD featuring Las Vegas trombonist John Haig with a 46-piece studio orchestra.

John's educational background included undergraduate study in instrumental music at Central Michigan University and graduate work in theory and composition at Michigan State University. He taught at both public school (band and choir) and university (theory) levels in Michigan. John's music is a major contribution to the band and orchestra catalog of educational music publisher Hal Leonard Corporation and he has several hundred published works to his credit.

He also served as arranger for the Disney educational project “Magic Music Days”, where young performing musicians are introduced to the film scoring/recording process. He accepted numerous school band and orchestra commissions, and enjoyed writing for the Detroit Symphony Pops, the Canadian Brass, and the Detroit Chamber Winds. In 2004, John and three fellow orchestrators transcribed approximately 90 minutes of orchestral music by film composer John Williams for a Kennedy Center concert featuring the United States Marine Band, with Mr. Williams conducting.

The music for A Disney Spectacular was provided for the band

by Lisa and Justin Jackson.