March (music)

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A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John Philip Sousa and the martial hymns of the late 19th century. Examples of the varied use of the march can be found in Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, in the marches militaires of Franz Schubert, in the marche funèbre in Chopin's Sonata in B flat minor, and in the Dead March in Handel's Saul.

Marches were not notated until the late 16th century; until then, time was generally kept by percussion alone, often with improvised fife embellishment. With the extensive development of brass instruments, especially in the 19th century, marches became widely popular and were often elaborately orchestrated. Composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Gustav Mahler wrote marches, often incorporating them into their operas, sonatas, or symphonies. The later popularity of John Philip Sousa's band marches was unmatched.

Marches can be written in any time signature, but the most common time signatures are 4/4, 2/2 (alla breve [although this may refer to 4/2 time up until the time of Brahms] or cut time), and 6/8; however, some modern marches are being written in 2/4 time (although this is not always considered standard). The modern march tempo hovers around 120 beats to the minute (the standard Napoleonic march tempo); however, many funeral marches conform to the Roman standard, 60 beats to the minute.

In addition to the instrumentation, time signature and tempo, other features are characteristic of most marches (though many exceptions exist). Marches usually consist of several strains or sections, usually of 16 or 32 measures in length, and usually repeated at least once during the course of the march. Marches generally have a strong and steady percussive beat reminiscent of military field drums. Marches frequently change keys once, modulating to the subdominant (and occasionally returning to the original tonic key). Or if it begins in a minor key, it modulates to the relative major. Marches frequently counter melodies introduced during the repeat of a main melody. Marches frequently have a penultimate dogfight strain in which two groups of instruments (high/low, woodwind/brass, etc.) alternate in a statement/response format.

The march tempo was adapted by Napoleon Bonaparte so that his army could move faster. Since he planned to occupy the territory he conquered, instead of his soldiers carrying all of their provisions with them, they would live off the land and march faster.

1 American march music
2 European march music
3 See also

[edit] American march music

Main article: American march music

The true "march music era" existed from 1855 to the 1940s as it slowly became shadowed by the coming of jazz. Earlier marches, such as the ones from Ludwig Van Beethoven, Wolfgang Mozart, and George Frideric Handel tended to be part of a symphony or a movement in a suite. Despite the age of these marches, the history it holds and its performance in the United States, they are generally not thought of as "typical American march music".

American march music cannot be discussed without mentioning the "March King," John Philip Sousa. Some of his most famous marches include Semper Fidelis, The Washington Post March, The Liberty Bell, and The Stars and Stripes Forever. Another popular march composer utilized by American High schools and colleges was Karl King.

A specialized form of "typical American march music" is the circus march, typified by the marches of Henry Filmore. These marches are performed at a significantly faster tempo (140 - 200 beats per minute) and generally have an abundance of runs, fanfares and other "showy" features. Frequently the low brass has one or more strains (usually the second strain) in which they are showcased with both speed and bombast. Stylistically, many circus marches employ a lyrical final strain which (in the last time through the strain) starts out maestoso (majestically -- slower and more stately) and then in the second half of the strain speeds up to end the march faster than the original tempo.

[edit] European march music

Many European countries and cultures developed characteristic styles of marches. Some of the styles and characteristics are

[edit] British marches

British marches typically move at a more stately pace (ca. 80-100 beats per minute), have intricate countermelodies (frequently appearing only in the repeat of a strain), have a wide range of dynamics (including unusually soft sections), use full-value "stingers" at the ends of phrases (as opposed to the shorter "marcato" stinger of American marches). The final strain of a British march often has a broad lyrical quality to it. Archetypical British marches include those of Kenneth Alford, such as the well-known Colonel Bogey March.

[edit] German marches

German marches move at a very strict tempo, and have a strong "oom-pah" quality resulting from the bass drum and low-brass playing on the downbeats and alto voices such as "peck horn" and the snare drums playing on the off-beats. This provides a very "martial" quality to these marches. The low brass is often featured prominently in at least one strain of a German march. To offset the rhythmic martiality of most of the strains, the final strain ("trio") often has a lyrical (if somewhat bombastic) quality.

Notable German and Austrian march composers include Franz von Suppe, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Georg Fürst (Badenweiler Marsch), Carl Teike (Alte Kameraden), and Johann Gottfried Piefke (Preußens Gloria).

[edit] Italian marches

Italian marches have a very "light" musical feel, often having sections of fanfare or soprano obligatos performed with a light "coloratura" articulation. This "frilly" characteristic is contrasted with broad lyrical melodies reminiscent of operatic arias. It is relatively common to have one strain (often a first introduction of the final strain) that is played primarily by the higher-voiced instruments, or in the upper ranges of the instruments's compass. A typical Italian march would be "Il Bersagliere" (The Italian Riflemen) by Boccalari.

[edit] Spanish marches

The most characteristic Spanish march form is the Pasodoble. Spanish marches often have fanfares at the beginning or end of strains that are reminiscent of traditional bullfight or flamenco music. These marches often move back and forth between major and (relative) minor keys, and often show a great variation in tempo during the course of the march reminiscent of an exaggerated or prolonged Viennese rubato. A typical Spanish march would be Amaparito Roca by Jaime Texidor.