The original arrangement was played at about 2/3 the tempo of Miller's version. It ran for more than 5 minutes; he and his collaborators sped it up for the practical reason of fitting on one side of a standard 25 cm 78 rpm disk.

I played it in high school nearly 50 years ago...great memories from the Tuba section...

The faster tempo was the way John Zdechlik had originally written the piece. However, years later a former music camp director of mine got to meet him and showed him how much more beauty and artistry there is to this piece, and according to the story as it was told to me, Mr. Zdechlik actually agreed with him! I have had the privilege of both playing and conducting this piece and I must say I tend to take some artistic liberties throughout while at the podium. Also if you trace the heritage of these songs, they aren't originally written to be performed "fast" so it is possible to remain true to the original music, and to the guidelines Mr. Zdechlik has brilliantly laid out, and come up with a beautiful performance, such as this one!

high school were playing it in 8th grade symfonic