Customer Reviews

Great Marches 9

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On this, the ninth of ten volumes of "The Great Marches", the military style of march seems to be the only one considered "great", even more so than on some of the previous CDs in this series. Not that these selectons aren't deserving, but more variety would have been nice.

Also, the liner notes were a bit sketchy, although giving some information about the composers and their compositions, and written in a uniquely British style ("The inclusion of Foot Guards favourites never go amiss", for example.) And it would be nice to know what the initials are after the band directors' names, and what the function of some of the units are, such as "Hussars and Light Dragoons", that are unfamiliar on this side of the Atlantic.

This being said, there is at least quite a bit of variety shown within the military type of march on this album, as performed by sixteen different British military bands. About one third are written in the traditional military style, most in the traditional slow tempo of British marches (and also those of continental Europe). These are marches that are meant to be marched to, as opposed to faster-paced American marches which are played in a circus or on the concert stage. One example of this is the British military "Tattoo", which consists of massed military bands, with music and drill on a parade ground or stadium. Other types of miliary music presented on this album include three American marches (one written for a movie, "Midway March", and two in the American traditional military style, "Semper Paratus" and "The Official West Point March"), three "Irish" marches, including one complete with bagpipes ("Killaloe"), two classical marches, four written in the "modern" style, and four that include popular or traditional songs, as opposed to original themes.

The playing of the pieces is, of course, really excellent, as is expected of British military bands, which are some of the best around. As for the "best" combination of a march and the band which plays it, my vote would go to "Flying Review", by The Central Band of the Royal Air Force, with Machine Gun Guards and The Mareth Line close behind.

If you are looking for a band CD with a balanced program, this might not be for you. However, if military marches are your thing, and you are looking for something other than strictly American style, this might be right up your alley!

The only problem with this series is that all the recordings that comprise it are no longer in print. Bandleader released entire LPs and CDs of all the bands highlighted here. Now I guess they are all out of print and all you can get is the pot Porri here. I prefer hearing the original recordings and have never been a fan of great selections stuff. That being said, if you are new to military music this is probably the only opportunity you will get to hear many of these fine British regimental bands as most are gone now, and more perhaps shall join them soon.

Most of the bands are well known, and for the benefit of the listener above, the band of the Hussars and Light Dragoons heard here is one of the new bands formed from the 13th/18th Hussars; 15th/19th Hussars; The Royal Hussars, and the Queens Royal Hussars, among others, all combined sadly into one in 1994 upon the demise of the regimental band structure. This band may soon be gone with current reductions in the works as well. Enjoy while you can!