John Philip SOUSA (1854-1932)
Music For Wind Band - Volume 17
The American Maid- Suite (1913) [10:33]
The Smugglers- Quintet (1882) [4:07]
The Salute of the Nations to the Columbian Exposition (1893) [12:37]
Humoresque: A Mingling of the Wets and Drys (1922) [9:55]
March of the Pan Americans - Part 1 (1915) [18:54]
Guildhall Symphonic Wind Band/Keith Brion
Rec. January 2016 at Milton Court Concert Hall, The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London
NAXOS 8.559811 [56:06]
John Philip Sousa was one of the foremost band conductors and composers of the last century. He began his music career at an early age, and at 13 announced his decision to run away from home to play the violin in a circus band. His father promptly responded and enlisted him as an apprentice musician in the U.S. Marine Band. Sousa rose to became the Marine Bandmaster in 1880, and finally resigned from the Marines in 1892 to start his own band. This disc features the 51-piece Guildhall Symphonic Wind Band led by well-known guest conductor Keith Brion, performing a varied collection of Sousa compositions.
The Smugglers was the first of Sousa’s operettas to be produced, and made its premier on stage in 1882. The Quintet on this disc is a beautiful song from the operetta, and originally known as Ah, Love, Kind Love!. The song appears here, beautifully performed by brass ensemble in a gentle and reflective arrangement for quintet. The Salute of the Nations to the Columbian Exposition was composed for the Columbian Exposition of 1893, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair. The Salute is an intriguing medley of patriotic melodies paying homage to nations represented at the Exposition: Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, France, England, Scotland, and the U.S., mixed together with a variety of American folk melodies. The piece features a fine collection of instrumental delights, including trumpet fanfares, rolling drums, and a version of Yankee Doodle with an assortment of instrumental countermelodies, all expertly performed.
Sousa wrote the operetta The American Maid in 1909, and borrowed You Do Not Need A Doctor and Dream Picture from it to create his Suite. He completed the three-part Suite by adding the festive Dance Hilarious, a wild march led by trumpets, clashing cymbals and ringing bells. March of the Pan-Americans was composed in 1915 at the request of the Pan-American Union and the second Pan-American Scientific Congress. The March is a stirring and spirited medley, a salute to the national anthems of 21 Latin American countries. Twelve of the anthems are included here in Part 1 of the March.
In 1922 Sousa composed music for a humoresque called “The Wets” which was intended to lampoon Prohibition. The music evolved into the 1926 composition A Mingling of the Wets and Drys, a medley of 19 drinking songs. The medley is one of my favorite numbers on this disc, and includes Tea for Two, We Won’t Go Home Until Morning, and Soldier’s Chorus from Faust, finishing up with Auld Lang Syne and the happy sounds of popping corks and fireworks.
Bruce McCollum
