Complete Marches of John Philip Sousa [Box set]

John Philip Sousa | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 30, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 5
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Walking Frog
• ASIN: B00005RGK3
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #614,181 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Thunderer, march for band

2. The Gladiator, march for band

3. Harmonica Wizard, march for band

4. The Pathfinder of Panama, march for band

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. El Capitan, march for band

2. Bullets and Bayonets, march for band

3. Keeping Step with the Union, march for band

4. The National Game, march for band

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. The Washington Post, march for band

2. George Washington Bicentennial March, march for band

3. The Gridiron Club, march for band

4. The Dauntless Battalion, march for band

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Hands Across the Sea, march for band

2. A Century of Progess, march for band

3. The Federal, march for band

4. Riders for the Flag, march for band

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Disc: 5

1. Semper Fidelis, march for band

2. The Gallant Seventh, march for band

3. The Belle of Chicago, march for band

4. The Salvation Army, march for band

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Close, but not QUITE complete, October 16, 2002

By 

Michael Holbrook (Lewisville, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Marches of John Philip Sousa (Audio CD)

A very nice collection, with crisp performances. It is, however, not complete. There is at least one march, The Wedding March," missing, and it is one that is VERY hard to find. Perhaps the set should be called "The Almost, But Not Quite Complete, Sort Of, Marches....."

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good start but..., January 31, 2006

By 

Clifford P. Beede (Stuyvesant, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Marches of John Philip Sousa (Audio CD)

As other reviewers have mentioned, this isn't quite complete. All of the grand marches, dirges, and (understandably as this was recorded in the 1950s) unavailable-at-the-time marches are missing. Some non-marches have been substituted, confusing the issue. However, this is the largest and most readily available compilation that goes beyond the "greatest hits" sets that so permeate the CD bins. (There IS a truly complete set, but it's only available in Japan, and for whatever reason, it's not being mass-imported to the States at the moment. Go figure.)
For now, I would recommend this to someone who has not purchased a lot of other Sousa CDs so as to avoid the inevitable overlap. You won't have everything, but there's a lot to enjoy here.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost Complete, April 10, 2009

By 

S. P. Cooper "Lusipurr" (Rochester Hills, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Marches of John Philip Sousa (Audio CD)

As of April 2009, this is the most complete collection of Sousa marches available in America. A more complete collection is available in Japan, but it is very difficult to find and import. As such, this is the recourse most people will have for Sousa marches.

The title of this box set is misleading. Unfortunately, the collection is not complete. Neither is it limited solely to marches. Sousa wrote 136 marches; this set contains only 116 tracks. Moreover, three of the included tracks are not marches. Therefore, twenty-three marches are omitted from this collection. They are:

1. Columbia's Pride
2. Foshay Tower Washington Memorial
3. Golden Star
4. Homeward Bound
5. Honoured Dead
6. In Memoriam (Pres. Garfield's Funeral)
7. Library of Congress
8. Old Ironsides
9. Pan Americans
10. Phoenix
11. Pres. Garfield's Inauguration
12. Pride of Pittsburgh
13. Quilting Party
14. Recognition
15. Review
16. Royal Trumpets
17. Royal Welch Fusiliers No. 1 (1929) -- Not to be confused with the Royal Welch Fusiliers No. 2 (1930). The second of the two is often simply referred to as "Royal Welch Fusiliers"--though there are two such marches. This collection includes the second of the two.
18. Salutation
19. Universal Peace
20. USAAC (U.S. Army Air Corps)
21. March [Untitled, 1930]
22. Wedding
23. Wildcats (Salute to Kansas) -- Not to be confused with "The Kansas Wildcats"

As mentioned, three pieces included in this collection are not marches. They are:
1. Pushing On
2. We Are Coming
3. When the Boys Come Sailing Home

(The Amazon track list incorrectly states that this set contains "Matt Morgan's Living Pictures" instead of "Pushing On". However, the list of realaudio sample tracks is correct.)

The quality of the recordings (digitally cleaned/remastered from the original LPs) is excellent, for the most part. There are better versions of some of these marches available on CDs here and there, but for the vast majority of these marches, this collection is the best version available at the date of this review.

Listeners looking for a truly complete collection of Sousa marches will be disappointed at the missing twenty-three marches; nevertheless, the high quality and the fact that most of Sousa's marches are included here means that this collection is the best available outside of Asia. Four out of five stars.