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Riders for the Flag. I don't know why it is it just stirs something up in me. And that's plenty reason to name it my favorite.




Ralph

Manhattan Beach. That march has the most beautiful trio I've ever heard!

To us tuba players, Sousa isn't usually very interesting. Intense boredom sets in after 64 measures of Omm, Omm, ... A very few of his marches are really fun for the back row- Semper Fi would be high on my list. Another winner is Glory of the Yankee Navy.

Now Karl King, there was a guy who actually liked the tubas. Try March Ponderoso for example.

I'll side with the UK fans of Kenneth Alford, too. Army of the Nile is quite nice.

Bill Anderson

billeuph wrote:Now Karl King, there was a guy who actually liked the tubas. Try March Ponderoso for example.

Barnum and Bailey's Favorite is my favorite Karl King march.

As far a Sousa marches, I guess Stars and Stripes Forever; even though I've played it a zillion times and in obscene keys (e.g. D) for a march.

There are two Sousa Marches that I find particularly enjoyable:

Black Horse Troop and Who's Who in Navy Blue. I like them equally as far as the performance and the listening side of each.

B.H.T. was the first piece I conducted as a graduate student and I used a Bass Sax player in the performance. The part is exactly like the tuba part and the blend was nice. Particularly enjoyable was the fact that the 1927 King Bass Sax was restored in the my shop prior to the performance. I don't believe it had been used in several years.

The history behind the writing of B.H.T. is also an interesting one.

Perhaps I could say that I like any

original

Sousa march that hasn't been watered down or changed by F. Fennell.

Hands Across the Sea and New York Hippodrome.

I gotta join Schlep,"Stars and Stripes Forever".

billeuph wrote:Now Karl King, there was a guy who actually liked the tubas.

I have to agree. My favorite Sousa marches are all written by King.

But I do like Black Horse Troop, too.

Rick "who thinks Sousa marches seem tricky without the payoff" Denney

Can't beat The Thunderer.

The Thunderer is definitely my favorite Sousa.

Favorite march of all time: Cyrus the Great. It has one of the best low brass parts I've ever played. We all stood up when it got to the big feature in my regional band. Can't remember for the life of me who wrote it though.

Stars and Stripes Forever.... hands down Sousa had a lot of respect for low brass but if you REALLY want a low brass workout... try a few Karl King marches... starting with The Melody Shop Karl King was a true low brass man.

"Nobles of the Mystic Shrine"! It was our class A required march in 1969 and I really had fun with it. Now, however, I am hard pressed to remember the trio. I keep morphing from the A/B strain of "Nobles" to the trio from "His Honor" (FIlmore), because I haven't heard Nobles since 1969. They seen to fit together (in my mind) very well, but, of course, are of different styles and colors completely.

Stars and Stripes Forever and George Washington Bicentennial.

The former is always stirring, the latter is fun to play.

Louis

tubafour wrote:Favorite march of all time: Cyrus the Great. It has one of the best low brass parts I've ever played. We all stood up when it got to the big feature in my regional band. Can't remember for the life of me who wrote it though.

"Cyrus" has always been one of my faves as well. KL King wrote this one also. According to the Karl King Compositions Page:

Cyrus the Great

This march was written for Mr. Cy Tremain of Fort Dodge, Iowa. Mr. Tremain was a very colorful character and was once the bass drummer and publicity manager of the Fort Dodge Municipal Band. He was a personal friend of Mr. King. This march was used by the Hagenback-Wallace Circus for the grand entry. The march is in a minor key and has some interesting harmonic changes that do not occur in other Karl King marches.

GALLANT SEVENTH

Lays well on CC tuba and BBb sousaphone, and brings the thunder every time. Solid.

Hands Across The Sea for a total march, and Fairest of the Fair for the best trio.

In Storm and Sunshine (JC Heed I think) was the most difficult march I've played, due to the conductor taking it in ONE at about bar line = 104. It's in 6/8 with plenty of eighths.

The Free Lance March is my favorite, but I'll join Tom with Gallant Seventh too- there's a little F major lick in the second strain that I love.

I really like the Black Horse Troop. Our concert band just played it and something about it just grabbed me.

all of them.

Black Horse Troop, National Emblem,Semper Fidelis,Washington Post, Start and Stripes I've played. National Emblem might be a current favorite, but next month it'll change.

But, I've never played the Sousa originals, always arrangements for Wind Band, and I think simplified. I really want to play the originals, in a large group.

I always hate to be a "conformer", but I have to add my name to the list of those choosing Stars and Stripes. Sometimes you just have to admit that there is a good reason why a particular piece is so popular. (I'm also one of those whose favorite symphony is Beethoven's 5th - even without a tuba part.) I'll also join the crowd that enjoys circus marches more than Sousa (or Sousa-style) marches.

I've been in circumstances back in college when the "serious" music majors considered the march genre "less than serious." That attitude always has bothered me. I've got plenty of appreciation for Bach, Brahms, Bartok, et al. I hope I never take myself so seriously, though, that I don't enjoy a good march.

I also don't care for judging a march based on its tuba part. A good tuba player needs to appreciate the music the ensemble is creating. An unchallenging tuba part will sound very different when played by someone who is sitting there feeling sorry for himself/herself because the part is so boring, than it will when played by someone who understands the whole piece and how the tuba part fits in with that. I got into an argument with my percussionist brother on that issue once. He was complaining about the easy tympani part in Beethoven's 4th symphony. The part wasn't technically difficult, but was crucial to the form of the symphony. I told him he needed to understand the symphony and the role he played. Maybe a lot to expect of a drummer, though . . .