March from the Ballet "Corso Donate"
A contemporary (and, some would say, rival) of Johann Strauss I in 19th-century Vienna, Joseph Lanner was, for a time, more popular and widely performed than his associate. After a much-publicized separation of the two musical giants, Lanner was appointed to the coveted post of Musik-Direktor of the Redoutensale in the Habsburg Imperial Palace. Lanner's ballet was written in September of 1841; this superb Bourgeois edition brings the work to the wind ensemble repertoire. It is an outstanding example of the Austrian march genre.
Composer Semeon Alexanderovich Chernetsky was born in 1881 and died in 1950. A trombonist and a composition student of Alexander Glazunov, he was also a prominent military bandmaster. He was named Director of the Band of the Soviet Army in 1932, and in 1935 he founded the Band of the Ministry of Defense. He composed over 70 marches including March of the Tankmen, which he wrote in 1946, as well as other works for band. The stately manner of this stirring march displays a profound sense of loyalty and national pride that is unmistakable.
Along with the movement to Impressionism during the latter part of the 19th century, the French were caught up in the popularity of American ragtime and early jazz. Erik Satie's piano piece Le Piccadilly, composed in 1903, was his own tribute to the syncopated dancing rhythms and lively melodies that made the genre so appealing. This fine realization brings the best of the genre and the eccentricities of the composer to the capable wind ensemble. A concert treat.
Transit of Venus March was written in 1883 to celebrate the 1882 transit of Venus, a rare astronomical event when Venus passes between the sun and the earth. The work was thought to be lost for over 100 years until a piano transcription published in 1896 was found in the Library of Congress. This edition received its first performance by the United States Marine Band on June 6, 2012, which is also the date the most recent transit of Venus occurred.
One of the world's most famous marches, Semper Fidelis is the official march of the United States Marine Corps. Finally, it is available in an edition prepared by the director of the U.S. Marine Band, as actually played by that great organization.