Customer Reviews

The Original All-American Sousa!

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

 

 

A fairly pedestrian but serviceable set of performances by the New Sousa Band. But the real attraction of this CD is the "Historical" section, containing selections from three sessions of the Sousa band from 1917, 1918, and 1923, as well as a short radio speech by Sousa himself from a 1929 radio broadcast. The band recordings are notable for being the only released ones with Sousa himself conducting, among the hundreds of "Sousa Band" recordings. (Arthur Pryor conducted many.) These six were acoustic recordings, of the expected quality. Unfortunately, among them are two -- tracks 16 (Nobles of the Mystic Shrine) and 17 (Dauntless Battalion) -- in which Delos inexplicably has the left and right channels out of phase. This gives a very strange effect on mono material. If you have a preamp with a left-only, right-only, or L-R mono position, use it. Otherwise turn the balance all the way left or right or reverse the leads on one speaker. I wrote Delos about this in 1990, and they said they knew about it and would fix it. I just did so again (March 2000) and it was still not fixed. They say they will fix it when they remanufacture, with no comments on when. This is a shame for such a valuable collection. Delos' enclosed notes are exemplary.

This is one of the finest recordings of Sousa marches I have ever heard. The band is technically brilliant. The balance, blend, and intonation is superb. The percussion playing, particularly the bass drum/cymbals are played with keen insight into Sousa's style. The euphonium playing is top-notch. I've heard recordings of many other bands doing Sousa projects, such as the Detroit Concert Band under Leonard Smith, the Eastman recordings with Fennell, and others. This one has the best combination of interpretive sparkle, attention to detail, and a truly fine band. The later recordings with the Royal Artillery Band, while stylistically very good, do not match the playing to be heard here. The only better band would be "The President's Own" and they don't have the advantage of Keith Brion's touch. This album is a joy to listen to. There are some historic recordings of Sousa and while interesting, really don't hold a candle to these modern recordings.

Keith Brion and his New Sousa Band are about as close as we can get to experiencing Sousa's marches the way Sousa himself performed them, with respect to tempo, dynamics, articulation, instrumentation, and phrasing. Their performances are based on meticulous research into Sousa's perfomance practices, and I feel they capture the spirit of Sousa better than any others on record. They have an elan and lift missing so often missing from performances by other bands. (Let's not even get into orchestras!) The historical performances conducted by Sousa are a real treat -- the sound quality is remarkably good for when they were recorded, and the individual parts come through amazingly well. As for the L and R channels being out of phase for a couple of the historical tracks (mentioned by another reviewer), that is definitely NOT the case with the copy I just purchased. Highly recommended, both as a day-brightener and as a lesson on how to perform these splendid marches.

What American does not know the name of John P. Sousa (Okay - maybe those over 30 years old at least) His music still fills one's chest with pride for our country and will outlast some of the modern music of today. There is something grand in his work and I am one that is happy to have purchased this CD.