40 Famous Marches

I am impressed most by the variety in 40 Famous Marches on 2 CDs, a Double Decca release. The performers include Philharmonic Orchestras, a Brass Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, organ, Symphony, and for nine selections, the Wiener Philharmoniker. I am not sure if the word schmaltzy ought to be applied to any of this, but the Wiener Philharmoniker often exhibits a unique sound which is not quite the same as any of the other selections. The final five selections are all performed by the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble under Elgar Howarth in ADD/DDD format in 1983 and 1985. Two of those five are rousing marches by John Philip Sousa, another called `Entry of the Gladiators' is typical of songs played by live bands at circuses, and the remaining two are from movie soundtracks. `Colonel Bogey' is famous from the movie about British prisoners of war building a railroad bridge for the Japanese in World War Two, the Bridge over the River Kwai.

The major source of variety in these 40...Read more

The eagerly anticipated reissue of some of these recordings has been well worth the wait! Decca is the only company that did them right. How? They went to the best orchestras! How appropriate that the London Philharmonic performs Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches (#1 and #4)! And who, but the Vienna Philharmonic could give Schubert's Marche Militaire such a command performance (Knappertsbusch truly was a great conductor). Of course, let's not forget all the Strauss marches in this compilation, such as the Radetzky March (by the Senior Strauss) and the Persian March (by the younger Strauss)--all performed by the Vienna Philharmonic, under the direction of Willi Boskovsky. And the playing of the Orchestra of the ROH (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden) of Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette" in this set is probably the best ever recorded! However, besides these and the many other great performances, some of the choices made in the orchestral arrangement of certain...Read more

Some of the selections which have been gleaned from various other recordings are quite good. The disappointment comes with the numerous selections performed by the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. I am sure the performers are accomplished musicians in their own right. Unfortunately, the end result is somewhat akin to listening to Wagner, Fucik, Sousa, etc. being performed by a three-piece combo who have as of late finished an eight-week engagement in the lounge of the Holiday Inn on Route 39.