THIS IS ONE OF JOHN PHILIP SOUSA'S FINEST AND MOST RECOGNIZABLE MARCHES (1889), AND ALSO ONE OF THE EASIEST TO PLAY. THE TITLE REFERS TO A CELEBRATED ORATOR, CIRCA 1889. PERFORMED DURING MY JUNIOR YEAR IN THE TMEA ALL STATE HIGH SCHOOL CONCERT BAND.
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Contemporary band compositions, classical music arrangements, marches, jazz, symphonies, overtures. A collection from bands that I have played in throughout hi
Hello and welcome! "Symphonic Band Performances" is a compilation of recordings from several high school and college bands that I played in including the TMEA (Texas) All State Band, the TMEA Region X All Region Band, the Interlochen Arts Academy National Music Camp, the Cal Poly Tech Band, San Luis Obispo, the USAF Golden West Band, and recordings from my h.s. band, Beaumont H.S. and a few band recordings that were passed down to me. Also included are various All State groups and college and university bands. I participated and played in the large majority of these recordings. There are no professional recordings here and every recording is Public Domain. Most are available for free download. Each song has been converted from the original analog or digital source and edited with Audacity or Dak software. In the majority of these recordings, I play the tenor sax or alto sax, b flat or e flat clarinet, or directing. I was drum major for 2 years in high school, I have a BA from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where I studied music ed, composition and theory. I had about 500 more recordings I was planning to digitize and upload, but this past Nov. 20th, my home was completely destroyed by fire, and all the contents, including all my music and instruments. So, this is it. Please feel free to post a comment here or on my member page. If you like, please become a fan by clicking "I'm a fan" below.
Song Info
Genre
Classical • Ensembles
Charts
Peak #71
Peak in subgenre #8
Author
John Philip Sousa - 1889
Rights
public domain
Uploaded
January 21, 2010
Track Files
MP3
MP3 3.1 MB • 156 kbps • 2:48
Story behind the song
The origin of this march's evocative title, The Thunderer, is not clear; some have guessed that it refers to a celebrated orator of the time, circa 1889, or to the pyrotechnics of the drum and bugle effects in Sousa's score. Whatever the story behind its name, The Thunderer is one of Sousa's finest and most famous marches; it is also one of the easier Sousa marches to perform, and for this reason it was often a favorite of circus bands, who liked to take it at impressively fast tempos. Coming the same year as the Washington Post, The Thunderer finds Sousa hitting his stride in developing a distinctly American-sounding march. The contrary motion of the introduction was a prototype for hundreds of similar works, and the clipped notes of the prancing first theme are (for the time) quite novel. The regimental effects first emerge in the second theme accompanied by one of Sousa's excellent countermelodies in the repeat. The trio is songlike and lyrical, so often the case in the composer's marches. Most striking is the use of rests, which alternate with the martial fanfares in the breakstrain until the powerful reprise of the trio gives full justification of the march's title.
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