Brass, Reeds, and Percussion: May 27, 2023 (Memorial Day)

This edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion airs somber and contemplative music in recognition of Memorial Day. Featured will be three funeral marches by John Philip Sousa and a requiem by Julius Fucik.

During March, for each of the past 10 years, the U.S. Marine Band has held its own version of March Madness, called March Mania. Instead of a contest about basketball, this contest concerns the most popular march by John Philip Sousa. This year’s winner was “The Honored Dead,” composed by Sousa in 1876 and published that year as a piano arrangement. When President Ulysses S. Grant died in 1885, Sousa arranged the piece for band, apparently at the publisher’s request. The march has rarely been performed, but the U.S. Marine Band did perform the march for John Philip Sousa’s funeral procession. This composition is suitably somber and contemplative music for Memorial Day.

1. Honored Dead (1876)
   Composer:  John Philip Sousa (1854-1932)
   Performer:  U.S. Marine Band
   Album:  Sousa Military Marches, Vol. 1
     
2. In Memoriam (President Garfield's Funeral, 1881)
   Composer:  John Philip Sousa
   Performer:  U.S. Marine Band
   Album:  Sousa Military Marches, Vol. 1
     
3. Golden Star (1919)
   Composer:  John Philip Sousa
   Performer:  U.S. Marine Band
   Album:  Sousa Military Marches, Vol 5
     
4. Battle Cry of Freedom (1862)
   Composer:  George F. Root (1820-1895)
   Performer:  Gramercy Brass
   Album:  American Anthems
     
5. Lincoln Portrait
   Composer:  Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
   Performer:  U.S. Coast Guard Band, narrated by Walter Cronkite
   Album:  Americana
     
6. Requiem: Introitus
   Composer:  Julius Fucik (1872-1916)
   Performer:  Austrian Army Band Tirol
   Album:  Trauer-Trost-Hoffnung
     
7. Requiem: Dies Irae
   Composer:  Julius Fucik (1872-1916)
   Performer:  Austrian Army Band Tirol
   Album:  Trauer-Trost-Hoffnung
     
8. Requiem: Sanctus
   Composer:  Julius Fucik (1872-1916)
   Performer:  Austrian Army Band Tirol
   Album:  Trauer-Trost-Hoffnung
     
9. Requiem: Benedictus
   Composer:  Julius Fucik (1872-1916)
   Performer:  Austrian Army Band Tirol
   Album:  Trauer-Trost-Hoffnung
     
10. Requiem: Agnus Dei
    Composer:  Julius Fucik (1872-1916)
    Performer:  Austrian Army Band Tirol
    Album:  Trauer-Trost-Hoffnung
      
11. America the Beautiful
    Composer:  Samuel Augustus Ward (1848-1903), arranged by Carmen Dragon (1914-1984)
    Performer:  U.S. Coast Guard Band
    Album:  Americana