This album was recorded in commemoration of the US Navy Band’s 75th anniversary. Each piece found on Mystic Chords of Memory is dedicated to all of the officers, men and women, past and present, who have contributed their time and talents to the Navy Band, earning it the title of the “World’s Finest.” The pieces on the album represent the works of some of the world’s greatest composers such as Aaron Copland and Philip Sparke. Robert Jager was commissioned to compose the title track "Mystic Chords of Memory" to celebrate the 75th anniversary. This album is a fantastic representation of the talent, dedication, and professionalism that is characteristic of the United States Navy Band in every endeavor.

SOUSA Semper Fidelis. Manhattan Beach. Comrades of the Legion. Sabre and Spurs. The Gallant Seventh. King Cotton. The Gridiron Club. Who’s Who in Navy Blue. The Invincible Eagle. The Royal Welch Fusiliers. La Reine de la Mer Waltz. Processional Polonaise. Suite: Looking Upward. The Bride Elect: Selections . Easter Morning on the White House Lawn • John Bourgeois, cond; U.S. Marine Band • ALTISSIMO 9722 (70:40)

The March King had a lifelong distrust of recordings. Of the 1,166 shellacs that the Sousa Band made for the Victor Talking Machine Co., he conducted only six. These are pored over by dedicated Sousa scholars, including a former director of the Yale Band. Their holy grail is Sousa’s “authentic” performance style. Yes, HIPness has reached the parade ground.


What makes such historical sleuthing important is that the outdoor versions of Sousa’s beloved marches are only a rough template for what he did in concert. Every piece had a “secret” arrangement, cued by hand and passed along by word of mouth, that doesn’t appear in any published edition. I served my time marching at football halftime alongside my fellow high-school clarinetists, and we did what rank-and-file players still do: We played all the time, with few rests; we maintained a slow walking pace; we were loud. But Sousa considered the march to be among the most difficult genres to perform correctly.


One reason is that he was a violinist, although he learned from boyhood onward to play every band instrument (his father enlisted him in the Marine Band at age 13 to keep his son from running away to join a circus band). He worshipped Johan Strauss II, Arthur S. Sullivan, and Jacques Offenbach. In other words, Sousa had a refined ideal in his mind of nuance and elegance, not the blaring patriotic display his marches are mostly used for. In concert, as opposed to the marching field, he preferred thinner orchestration, subtle phrasing, and varied accents. But these “secrets” can only be gleaned by interviewing surviving band members who played under him until his death in 1932, picking up the style by ear from original Sousa Band recordings, and laboriously comparing manuscripts and meager handwritten notations on the parts the band used.


Wrap up all this research with a bow, and you get the present CD from the U.S. Marine Band, which Sousa conducted for a relatively brief stint between 1880 and 1892. The extensive program notes make for fascinating reading, even if your knees can no longer contemplate marching two miles in the Easter Parade. Your ears will immediately notice how enjoyably civilized these performances are. Band director Col. John Bourgeois sets the tempo at a relaxed 118–120 beats a minute, which Sousa favored—he sped up the pace for encores, to get the audience more excited. The instrumentation is lean until the “grandioso” finish, when it’s all hands on deck.


The album’s title, Semper Fidelis , refers to the only popular march on the disc. Rather than a collection of greatest hits, the program highlights Sousa’s diversity, since he wrote songs, suites, waltzes, and operettas, none as successful as his marches. My favorite rarity here was the 18-minute suite Looking Upward , Sousa’s precursor to Holst’s The Planets , with movements titled “By the Light of the Polar Star” and “Mars and Venus.” One hears the best of Sousa’s exotic touches, actual chords for the horns and trumpets, and something forbidden in a field march, an accelerando.


The Marine Band, which produced and engineered the CD, shows off its considerable musicianship as a concert ensemble; the recorded sound is full but a bit too distant to capture much inner detail. To be candid, Sousa’s best tunes are in his two dozen or so most famous marches, but even in their absence these are eye-opening works. All his life he secretly wanted to be America’s Johan Strauss, Jr., and for once a recording comes close to fulfilling his wishes.

FANFARE: Huntley Dent

This album was created to celebrate the 190th Anniversary of the Marine Band in 1988. The Marine Band, founded by an Act of Congress on July 11, 1798, is America's oldest musical organization. The Marine Band has participated in many historic "firsts," among them being the development of sound recordings. From early cylinders, to this first Marine Band recording on compact disc, musicians and historians have an impressive chronology of the organization's repertoire and performance practice. The choice of music spanning a century reflects an important facet of the Marine Band's role in performing music that honors tradition. From Fife and Drum features historic recordings from 1890, 1898, 1914, 1927, 1954, 1974, all the way to 1988. You will hear the "Washington Post" conducted by John Philip Sousa and played by his band in 1890, a special message from President Ronald Regan, and introduction from Paul Hume, former music critic and editor for the Washington Post.

Recorded by the Air Force Band of the Golden Gate, Alla Marcia contains a series of marches for band. No other musical genre packs as much punch into a small package as does the march. The basic composition of the march is fairly simple: movement, dynamically portrayed, using the basic elements of rhythm, melody, and logical form. On Alla Marcia, Captain Chevallard and the Air Force Band of the Golden Gate illustrate these components with the power and subtlety characteristic of the march style. The tracks on this album represent eight nationalities, providing diverse music with universal appeal.

This recording offers music representative of the festival traditions of five different cultures: Russia (or more precisely, the former Soviet Union), Mexico, Poland (by way of France), Greece, and Rome. While the music certainly reveals the differences one would expect from such diverse cultures, the similarities are even more striking. The universal elements of a festival-the exuberance, the gratitude, and the reverence-are present in this music, and serve to remind US of the commonalities of human existence.

"A selection of concert recordings by The Jazz Ambassadors, an ensemble consisting of musician members of the United States Army. Includes Billie Holiday's “Fine and Mellow”, Bricusse/Newley's “Who Can I Turn To?” and concludes with the patriotic “Battle Hymn of the Republic”. What a great band! I can't imagine better ambassadors for our country. - Marvin Hamlisch"

John Philip Sousa's music lives on through this superb recording. Performed by the esteemed United States Marine Band, this is an historic compilation that includes such favorites as "The Stars and Stripes Forever," "Semper Fidelis," and "The Washington Post." Equally welcome are such lesser-known works as "The Bride Elect," "Jack Tar," and "Man Behind the Gun," which offer a glimpse into the music not so familiar to casual Sousa listeners.
Under the leadership of Colonel Albert Schoepper, the performances are detailed and filled with nuances exemplified by the clarity of "The President's Own." The musicality and responsiveness of this ensemble is extremely noteworthy, as Schoepper's renditions provide a rich, well-balanced equilibrium between the wind, brass, and percussion. The unified dynamic control of the group sounds effortless, as does their interpretation and handling of Sousa's relentless, almost whimsical phrasings. These supercharged performances truly illustrate the unparalleled tradition of the Marine Band's playing of Sousa's music. Simply put, there is no better way to experience the music of the original "March King."

The wind ensemble repertory has a rich history and a vibrant contemporary presence. Donald Grantham, for example, evokes gospel music of the 1920s and '30s in Starry Crown, which draws on the earthy vitality of call-and-response sermons. Steven Bryant's Ecstatic Waters reaches forward to present a pulsating narrative of exuberance, contradiction and subtle dialogue. Gordon Jacob wrote two series of settings of Old Wine in New Bottles in which he took old English settings and clothed them in his zesty and witty colors. To end, we have the songful lyricism of Carter Penn's Hold This Boy and Listen. Stephen L. Gage has served as instrumental music coordinator, professor of conducting, and director of bands at Youngstown State University's Dana School of Music since 1993.