Greatest Hits Marches

John Philip Sousa (Composer), John Williams (Composer, Conductor), Edward Elgar (Composer), Hector Berlioz (Composer), Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), Andrew Davis (Conductor), The Boston Pops Orchestra (Orchestra), Eastman Wind Ensemble (Orchestra), Harmony Military Band (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: The Boston Pops Orchestra, Eastman Wind Ensemble, Harmony Military Band
• Conductor: John Williams, Andrew Davis
• Composer: John Philip Sousa, John Williams, Edward Elgar, Hector Berlioz, Giuseppe Verdi
• Audio CD (May 18, 2011)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony Classical
• ASIN: B000002AW0
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,882 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #41 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Romantic (c.1820-1910) > Forms & Genres > Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music
  • #71 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Brass > Trumpet
  • #81 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music > Incidental Music

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest March Sampling Out There!, April 4, 2004

By 

K. Brown "El Rudo Lucky Pierre!" (Walnut, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Greatest Hits Marches (Audio CD)

Knowing very little about classical music, I bought several march compilations a few years back, in hopes that I could develop at least a fanboy level of appreciation. Of the compilations I picked up, this is the one that showed me the most diverse sampling of marches. If you want to become familiar with the march genre, this collection runs away with the blue ribbon, with no contendors close behind. The other compilations I came across focused strictly on the American military marches; they were all very good, but this compilation dishes up a diverse menu, from Ludwig Von Beethoven to John Williams.

This CD has a special place in my collection since it turned me on to John Philip Sousa, who has become one of my favorite composers ever. The Sousa selections on this CD are performed by The Incredible Columbia All-Star Band. I enjoyed these tunes immensely enough to buy some Sousa compilations, and found that while the All-Star Band's take on Sousa tunes is very good, I greatly prefer the releases by The United States Marine Band. The Sousa tunes on this CD are a bit rushed for my taste, while The United States Marine Band's delivery seems more pronounced and evenly paced.

My personal favorite track is Kenneth Alford's "Colonel Bogey" performed by John Williams and The Boston Pops Orchestra. They take Alford's memorable placid march, and shape it into a powerful storm-of-an-orchestral march. Absent are the keyboards prevalent in many renditions of Colonel Bogey, but beautifully replaced with a dynamic orchestra.

It's the variety of marches, however, that steal the show, especially if you are a novice like I am, and want to find out which era of marches is your cup of tea. You get a wide range, from Hector Berlioz's Racoczy March from "Damnation of Faust," to Edwin Bagley's "National Emblem March," to Victor Herbert's "March of the Toys," all the way up to the present day with John William's "The Raider's March" from "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

I am still getting my feet wet learning about marches, and this compilation has given me a great head start. No doubt I'll cringe one day if I read this clumsy description of Sousa and Alford tunes, but for the time being, I am having great fun discovering a whole new school of music. This CD is a great starting point if you want to become familiar with marches.

Just one other comment that will only further display my amateur level of classical music appreciation, but I've just got to say it: JOHN PHILIP SOUSA ROCKS!!! There are very few pieces that sound as happy and uplifting as a Sousa march. I proudly salute Mr. Sousa!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blood Pumping Music, January 29, 2001

By 

"legalalien626" (Nacogdoches, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Greatest Hits Marches (Audio CD)

This CD took me back many years. It has great music that will get your blood pumping. It is a great selection of music and should be in anyones CD collection!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Horrible sound quality, August 20, 2010

By 

Jay (Tacoma, WA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Greatest Hits Marches (Audio CD)

The music has no snap to it and tends to blend together, unlike a real marching band. Of course many of these are done by classical orchestras with their own renditions and not marching renditions and they don't have as heavy the impact of the bass drum and cymbals compared to a symphony hall. To anyone who has experienced marching in a military parade - 6,000 men in dress uniform carrying rifles on a parade field being led by a large marching band as I have (Marine Corps), they don't know what a real marching band sounds like and therefore have nothing to compare it to. The other thing that I don't like is the Colonel Bogey march - whistled, instead of the snappy marching music. I have marched to this several times in the Corps where it was played the way a march should be played. (The British had their own words to this march that couldn't be reproduced in the movie without R rating so they had them whistle it. The Marines also had a set of different verses. With those rattling in your head as you march it kicks it up a couple of notches and doesn't even begin to compare to the whistling version.) I have found that Stars and "Stripes Forever and the Greatest Marches" gets that snap going to many of the same marches so it is probably in the lack of audio quality in this one, though it too has the whistle version of Bogey.