Band marches have always been my favorite type of music. They are energetic, fun to play and are real crowd-pleasers. I apologize to no one for programming four or five of these musical gems every Sunday night at our concerts. If I fail to, I hear about it from my audience! I always open (and close) the concerts with a great march. It sets the mood for the evening and keeps everyone on the edge of their seats (band included). We draw a couple thousand fans to our concerts each week so we must be doing something right!
Marches should never be viewed by a director as “period music”. They are as fresh today as they were 100 years ago. If you sell that concept to your musicians and audience, then you are on the way to a rewarding and very satisfying life in your band whether it be a school, military or community band. I remember the long haired high school tenor saxophone player, who joined us many years ago, coming up to me after rehearsal exclaiming, “Hey, man, I REALLY dig that Washington Post !” He played for me for nearly 20 years before his job took him away.
Sally Russell, of ALL THINGS MUSICAL, has asked me to review a couple marches for a FORUM article. I’m honored to be invited and find it very difficult to sort through and choose which ones I wish to write about. There are 100s and 100s of excellent marches out there and they are not all confined to the pens of John Philip Sousa, Henry Fillmore, Fred Jewell and Karl L. King. With that in mind, I’ll still open my series with two great ones by Mr. Sousa.
Sousa is, indeed, the “March King”. He is so imaginative and colorful in his writings and he has so many wonderful marches to his legacy. Two real crowd-pleasers are “El Capitan” (1896 pub. John Church) and “Sabre and Spurs” (1918 pub. Sam Fox).
“El Capitan” is from Sousa’s comic operetta by the same name. According to Sousa’s biographer Paul Bierley, Sousa used this march to lead Admiral Dewey’s victory parade in New York in 1899 following the Spanish-American War. I program it annually and the audience truly looks forward to the familiar strains of “El Cap”.
Keyed in B flat and E flat (at the trio) this exciting march is not of great difficultly to perform for a good high school band and one which a good community band can easily master on that Tuesday night practice before the Sunday concert. The high range for the solo cornet is “A” first line above the staff. The entire cornet/trumpet choir is important to utilize with excellent trumpeting passages in the 2nd and 3rd cornets.
Dynamics are a staple of good march performances and Sousa is no exception. The first beat of measure one of the first strain states “f” and beat two is “p” treating the listener to a most effective contrast. A fine baritone solo (my guys always correct me with euphonium) is in the repeat of the first stain. Simply beautiful. A very neat feature of “El Cap” is where the meter changes from 6/8 to 2/4 at the trio. Sousa did not always play his marches the same way and he would change dynamic markings, for example, for contrast. I like to play the final strain of this march softly the first time through, with trombones and most cornets/trumpets tacit, and loudly (but firmly under control) the final time. Dust off “El Cap” or go out and buy it. You’ll be glad you did!
“Sabre and Spurs” has always been one of my favorites. (I have lots of favorites). It was written during World War I when Sousa was leading bands as a Naval Reserve lieutenant at Great Lakes Naval Station north of Chicago. Did you know Sousa was never a commissioned officer while in the Marines? His highest rank was warrant officer. “Sabre and Spurs” is one of several fine marches Sousa composed for the war effort. It is dedicated to the officers and men of the 311th Cavalry. This march, in 6/8 style, actually makes the listener imagine a well trained formation of Cavalry soldiers on parade. The solo cornet part calls for a high “C” in the grandioso strain and here again a cornet/trumpet choir sounds great the entire march. “Sabre” builds upon itself at the trio with the cornets/trumpets playing a bugle call adding the woodwinds the second time and low brass the third time. The basses have a bouncy quarter note-eighth note-dotted quarter note rhythm during this section. It is very effective and very pleasing to listen to!
This march, starting in the key of “F” and moving into the key of “B flat” at the trio, has remained fresh and popular for bands and audiences all the way back to World War I with exciting parts for all the instruments. It is a bit more difficult to master than “El Cap” but I believe the end results justify the hard work. I like to have the cornets/trumpets lay out the first time through the grandioso and feature the trombones and euphoniums. “Sabre and Spurs” is a great one for your Veterans’ Day concert, 4th of July concert or anytime your program recognizes or honors military personnel.
About the Author— Matt Huber has written a series of articles about traditional band marches. His articles can be found below in this Musical Forum section.
Matt is director of two adult community bands, the 140+-year-old Brazil Concert Band (75 members) and the 85+-year-old Jackson Township Community Band (30 members), both of Brazil, Indiana.
He has served as band director since 1982. Both bands have performed throughout the United States. In 1998, Huber took both bands to Washington, D.C. where they performed on the steps of the Capitol Building, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the Brazilian Embassy and Congressional Cemetery where they laid a wreath at the grave of John Philip Sousa.
This summer, the Brazil Concert Band will perform at Disney’s EPCOT Center.
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