Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor Rob Barnett Editor in Chief
John Quinn Contributing Editor Ralph Moore Webmaster
David Barker Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf MusicWeb Founder Len Mullenger
John Philip
SOUSA (1854-1932) Music for Wind Band Vol. 6 Easter Monday on the White House Lawn (From Tales
of a Traveller) ed. R. Mark Rogers (1928) [2:20] The Golden Star (1919) [4:40] The Dauntless Battalion (1922) [2:51]
Sextet from The Bride Elect (Arr. Herbert L. Clarke)
(1897) [2:17] The Federal March (1910) [2:33] Three Quotations (Suite for Band) ed. R. Mark Rogers
(1895) [13:27] Liberty Bell (Arr. Brion/Schissel) (1893) [3:45] The Gridiron Club (1926) [3:21] La Reine de la Mer (1886) [7:10] The Chariot Race (1890) [5:31] The Gladiator (1886) [2:53] New Mexico March (1928) [3:06] The Picador March (1889) [3:02]
Royal Artillery
Band/Keith Brion
rec. Woolwich Town Hall, 15-16 January 2002. DDD NAXOS 8.559132 [56:56]
Nearly
three years have passed since I reviewed volume 5 of this
series (see links below). The two discs were recorded in
the same month over five years ago. Life moves on and Keith
Brion now leads the New
Sousa Band but what is happening to this series – which
I imagine has some way to go – is not obvious from either
their website or the Naxos one. A compilation box of volumes
1-5 seems to have been issued but is currently more expensive
on Amazon UK than buying the six single issues now released.
One can only admire Naxos for this kind of undertaking – of
which they have many on the go – but is there any good reason
to keep potential customers in the dark about progress?
Easter
Monday on the White House Lawn is
a light-hearted and festive opener. The Golden Star then
comes of something of a shock – it is a funeral march written
in memory of lives lost in World War I. Apart a contrasting
section which brings some hope, this is about as dark-toned
as Sousa gets. The Dauntless Battalion is a march
which returns us to a much more typical vein. The Bride
Elect is an operetta from which the liner notes tell
us Sousa made and often performed an arrangement for sextet
but the version on the disc was apparently made by Herbert
L. Clarke. In 1911 Sousa undertook a world tour and for
it he composed The Federal March which he dedicated
to the peoples of Australia and New Zealand – not that
you could tell by listening to it! The Three Quotations form
a suite with some rather disparate themes. The first is
distinctly humorous, the second reflective and third highly
syncopated.
I
was a little surprised to find Liberty Bell appearing
as late as volume 6 but the most well-known items have been
carefully spread between discs. I find it impossible to hear
this music without thinking of John Cleese and naked pianists – yes,
it’s the tune from Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Apparently
this was Sousa’s first financial success although I presume
it was out of copyright by the time it was hijacked by the
BBC. The Gridiron Club is another favourite – apparently
dedicated to a club of journalists of which Sousa was a member. La
Reine de la Mer is the earliest work here and consists
of a series of waltzes written whilst Sousa was in charge
of a marine band. The Chariot Race is a story by Lew
Wallace which was staged on Broadway the year before Sousa
produced this rather untypical piece which contains some
harmonies that might have been approved of by Charles Ives.
There are three more marches – The Gladiator and The
Picador March are fairly well-known and come from Sousa’s
youth whilst the New Mexico March was written around
four decades later. This is notable for containing an adaptation
of the state song. The Picador March was a good choice
to finish – even though its depiction of a bullfight seems
to have an intermission in the middle and is all fun rather
than blood and gore.
As
in previous reviews of the series, I only can only find positive
things to say about this well-presented and recorded disc.
My feeling about the playing of the Royal Artillery Band
is very much as last time round i.e. beautifully clean and
slightly understated – probably a good idea if you are going
to listen to large doses of Sousa. Of course, there is another,
more upfront way and Frederick Fennell on Mercury (see review)
offers such an experience in readings which sound more (and
are) American. That disc provides the obvious single disc
compilation of this composer but Sousaphiles should add this
disc to their collection and hope that they don’t have to
wait so long for the next instalment.
Patrick C Waller Links to reviews of previous
volumes in the series:
Reviews
from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the
discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin
Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to
which you refer.