Customer Reviews

40 Famous Marches

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am impressed most by the variety in 40 Famous Marches on 2 CDs, a Double Decca release. The performers include Philharmonic Orchestras, a Brass Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, organ, Symphony, and for nine selections, the Wiener Philharmoniker. I am not sure if the word schmaltzy ought to be applied to any of this, but the Wiener Philharmoniker often exhibits a unique sound which is not quite the same as any of the other selections. The final five selections are all performed by the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble under Elgar Howarth in ADD/DDD format in 1983 and 1985. Two of those five are rousing marches by John Philip Sousa, another called `Entry of the Gladiators' is typical of songs played by live bands at circuses, and the remaining two are from movie soundtracks. `Colonel Bogey' is famous from the movie about British prisoners of war building a railroad bridge for the Japanese in World War Two, the Bridge over the River Kwai.

The major source of variety in these 40 selections is that many of them are taken from operas and even a ballet, Tchaikovsky's famous `The Nutcracker--March.' I originally found this collection when I was searching for `Funeral March of a Marionette' by Charles Gounod (1818-1893) which has a theme that is famous from its use by a television series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. If you can't remember how that goes, you ought to buy this collection and listen for it early: it is selection 4 on the first CD. The main theme was fun to play and easy to learn in a book of piano lessons, but the rest is quite whimsical and worth listening to, and people who play organ with pedal notes might still be able to find music for playing the entire arrangement, difficult though it is for someone like me, who becomes confused when too many things are going on at the same time.

There was something on this CD that sounded weird, and I had to check to see what it was, and it was just someone playing the organ, but he was trying to play `The Ruins of Athens -- Turkish March' by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).

Something by Handel sounds so much like the beginning of a movie that I expect someone to start singing, `The hills are alive with The Sound Of Music,' but this CD is something else. The first CD starts and ends with marches from `Pomp and Circumstance' by Edward Elgar, so people who have been to a lot of graduation ceremonies will be expecting plenty of familiar music. The 6:32 time is slightly longer than the Wagner's `Tannhauser -- Grand March' on the first CD, but long graduation ceremonies may play it even longer, until all the diplomas are handed out.

Verdi, Strauss, Schubert, Prokofiev, Berlioz, these famous composers might be recognized by people who know music, but the `Wedding March' by Felix Mendelssohn is famous with everybody for what it is used for. If you haven't heard it lately, maybe you should hear it a few times so you won't be so nervous the next time it comes around.

The eagerly anticipated reissue of some of these recordings has been well worth the wait! Decca is the only company that did them right. How? They went to the best orchestras! How appropriate that the London Philharmonic performs Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches (#1 and #4)! And who, but the Vienna Philharmonic could give Schubert's Marche Militaire such a command performance (Knappertsbusch truly was a great conductor). Of course, let's not forget all the Strauss marches in this compilation, such as the Radetzky March (by the Senior Strauss) and the Persian March (by the younger Strauss)--all performed by the Vienna Philharmonic, under the direction of Willi Boskovsky. And the playing of the Orchestra of the ROH (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden) of Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette" in this set is probably the best ever recorded! However, besides these and the many other great performances, some of the choices made in the orchestral arrangement of certain pieces were inappropriate. For example, Beethoven's Turkish March from the Ruins of Athens was arranged for organ instead of orchestra. Same is true in Jeremiah Clarke's "Prince of Denmark's March", which was originally arranged for the trumpet. And "Colonel Bogey" without the whistling is boring. But on the whole, this is the best compilation of marches that's out there. Not to be MISSED!

Some of the selections which have been gleaned from various other recordings are quite good. The disappointment comes with the numerous selections performed by the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. I am sure the performers are accomplished musicians in their own right. Unfortunately, the end result is somewhat akin to listening to Wagner, Fucik, Sousa, etc. being performed by a three-piece combo who have as of late finished an eight-week engagement in the lounge of the Holiday Inn on Route 39.

A mixed bag of music, 40 FAMOUS MARCHES compiles a good many marches - some not too common.

The CD has it's high points:
1. Chicago Symphony (under Solti!) playing Berlioz's Hungarian March (love that trombone excerpt - BAM!)
2. London Philharmonic playing Prokofiev's "The Love for Three Oranges" March
3. Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance No. 1 (also London Philharmonic)

BUT... There's some real stuff on here, too. I must concur with a prior reviewer: FAR TOO MUCH Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. Case in point - Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever, as played by PJBE is completely devoid of the energy and fire it needs. The trombone countermelody at the end is just NOT THERE (you'll strain to hear it). There's just no way this is right. PBJE is great in their setting, but this is just not it.

Overall, this CD might be a good compilation for the novice listener, but I would recommend the more experienced (or trombonists, like myself) purchase works by individual symphonies that include the music you desire - a more expensive, yet more expressive alternative.

This is a wonderful collection. What a wide collection of exciting pieces, all in one affordable package!! It encompasses so many composers and styles, from the majesty of Elgar and Walton, to upbeat Sousa to schmaltzy Strauss. It also includes such classic marches as Meyerbeer's Coronation, a pinnacle of the French opera style, the timeless Wedding March of Mendelssohn, and the brilliant organ piece, Marche Triomphale of Sigfrid Karg-Elert. There are also some interesting oddball selections like the mysterious Things to Come of Bliss (composed for the H.G. Wells film), the jaunty Chabrier marche, and oriental flair of Nielsen's Aladdin.
In reading some of the other criticisms, it is true that the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble perhaps is not the best or most noted ensemble. However, overall, the pieces they play are either Sousa or patriotic-sounding tunes. Their only forays into the true classical realm are the Grand Marches from Tannhauser and Aida, and they are not half bad. So don't let those pieces keep you from buying the CD - 1) because most of the songs they do play are great and 2) they only play in 1/4 of the music....

It is very difficult to find so many marches in one place, especially when you take into account that so many of them are so good. While over 40 years old, the 1960 recording of the orchestral transcription of Schubert's Marche Militaire is fantastic. Others are wonderful as well, such as Solti's versions of Pomp and Circumstance Nos. 1 and 4, Walton's majestic Crown Imperial, Berlioz's Hungarian March (here, Solti again has the magic touch), and a collection of some rarely heard, but delightful, J. Strauss marches. This is not a CD for a Sousa fan, it only has two of his marches. However, the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble is no garage band. Marches from Sousa, Fucik, Alford, etc. were meant for wind band only, and that's what the PJBA is. And they're one of the best.

There are some interesting surprises, like Purcell's march for the Funeral of Queen Mary (Kubrick fans might know that a techno version of the piece was the theme for A Clockwork Orange), but there are also a couple (not very many) very bad recordings. Beethoven's Turkish March on the organ stimulates an involuntary vomit reflex, and the tape used for Rimsky-Korsakov's Procession of the Nobles makes the voices crack noticeably.

Overall, this is a worthwhile disc for all the great on it, and it's not too hard to skip the bad.

I purchased this disc set as an introduction to famous marches, and I have been quite pleased with it. A number of marches I had heard but wasn't really familiar with are on here.

I give the set four stars because I've heard better recordings of some of the marches on other discs (Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Nos. 1 and 4, for example). However, if you want to take the broad approach to a good set of recorded marches, I think this is the way to go, and I would recommended it to anyone not looking for the best individual recording of a particular piece.

Great solid basic collection, a real bargain with mostly outstanding performances. Having played several in bands and orchestras and sung one (the Rimsky Mlada), I have a good idea how they should go. As other other commentators say, there are better individual recordings, such as anything by Fennell and the Eastman band. The organ pieces just don't do this music justice, although a real cathedral organ can come close, but that's beyond these discs. The Nielsen Aladdin March is the new one for me. Berlioz by Solti is great! Buy it!

I was actually looking for The March Of The Gladiators (he famous circus music) When I found this album, but when I read all rest of the program, I knew I had to have it.
Most of the marches are by European composers, although J.P. Sousa is included, but many of the pieces are well known to American audiences as themes from movie, radio, and television shows, even though we don't know their titles.
Together they make a fascinating, lively, and truly entertaining musical show. I love to play this disc while working. It's fun to listen to, and helps set a brisk pace. Another practical use for this disc might be for storeowners to play it in place of muzak during the last hour before closing.(It would gently encourage shoppers to shop quickly and check out.) But the best reason to buy this album is that it is, above all, great music. A quick look at the names of the composers list will tell you that.
This is a compilation disc. That is, a collection composed of selections recorded by many artists from many different albums, but it is a good one. The pieces fit together well, and each piece is a complete work of art capable of standing up on its own. There are no medleys patching together incomplete bits of unrelated themes. Each march is complete as the composer wrote it.
There are two discs,and each disc is a concert that I would gladly pay to attend if it were offered by my local symphony. If you love music, you will love this album. It's good music, it's fun, and it's good entertainment.

If you're looking for a collection of marches from classical music, this would be a fine one to get.
It contains recordings made from 1958 to 1996 by some of the world's great orchestras, plus several numbers by the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, and four arranged for organ.
The first 35 marches include many of the best-known classical marches, plus three "coronation" marches, written as far back as the end of the seventeenth century (The Prince of Denmark's March) up to 1954 (The Dam Busters). The last five pieces are "popular" marches played by the Jones Ensemble.
The liner notes give a nice history of marches, including where most of the ones in this collection fit into that scenario.
A great collection of marches by classical and popular music "masters".