Footlifter March, The

Henry Fillmore

General Info

Year: 1928 / 1935 / 2003
Duration: c. 3:00
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Carl Fischer
Cost: Score and Parts - $90.00 | Score Only - $20.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo/Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Percussion I-II-III, including:

Bass Drum
Bells
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum

Errata

In Score and Parts

Tuba, m.17: Last note should be an E natural.

See Stith article (below) for errata in the Robert E. Foster edition of the march.

Program Notes

The Footlifter March was composed for a series of radio broadcasts sponsored by a small Cincinnati insurance agency in 1928. The company's slogan was "A penny a day" (for insurance), and the march was referred to as the "Penny-a-Day March" for the short duration of the sponsorship -- short because of the widespread depression. However, the president of the agency remarked that the piece certainly was a "footlifter," and Fillmore used the title while the work was in manuscript. During a discussion with his good friend Phil Gates at a massed band concert in Piqua, Ohio, in 1930, Fillmore remarked that the most energetic "footlifters" were the best marchers. Gates then suggested the same term for a future march title -- not realizing the coincidence -- and the name became permanent. It was published in 1935.

- Program Note from Program Notes for Band

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Syracuse (N.Y.) University Wind Ensemble (Bradley Ethington, conductor) - 15 November 2022
Aledo (Tx.) High School Wind Ensemble (Joey Paul, conductor) – 10 February 2022 (2022 TMEA Conference, San Antonio)
University of Kentucky (Lexington) Wind Symphony (John Cody Birdwell, conductor) - 3 May 2021
Pomona (Calif.) College Band (Graydon Beeks, conductor) - 2 May 2020 (scheduled but not performed)
California All-State High School Concert Band (Cody Birdwell, conductor) - 23 February 2020 (2020 CASMEC Conference, Fresno)
West Virginia University (Morgantown) Symphonic Band (Stephen Lytle, conductor) – 19 November 2019
Mannion Middle School (Henderson, Nev.) Wind Ensemble (Phillip Haines, conductor) – 12 April 2019 (2019 San Joaquin Valley (Calif.) Concert Band Invitational)
Foothill Symphonic Winds (Palo Alto, Calif.) (David Buce Adams, conductor) - 10 Jun 2018
Allan Hancock College (Santa Maria, Calif.) Concert Band (Greg Stoll, conductor) – 1 October 2016
Lexington (Mass.) Bicentennial Band (Jeffrey Leonard, conductor) – 31 January 2016
Grand View University (Des Moines, IA) Wind Ensemble (Mark A. Doerffel, conductor) - 25 October 2015
United State Air Force Band of the Golden West (Travis AFB, Calif.) (Dustin M. Doyle, conductor) - 20 May 2015
Chester County (Penn.) Concert Band (David W. Reif, conductor) - 3 May 2015
Virginia Grand Military Band (Alexandria) (Loras John Schissel, conductor) - 1 November 2014
Anderson University Community Concert Band (John Huntoon, conductor) - 20 October 2009

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Courage (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Clark) (1919/2003/2012)
His Honor March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Clark) (1934/2014)

All Wind Works

136th U.S.A. Field Artillery (arr. Foster) (2012)
Alamo March (as Will Huff) (1916)
Alamo March (arr. Miller) (1916/2016)
America Exultant (arr. Glover) (1917/2004)
Americans We (ed. Fennell) (1929/1979)
Americans We (ed. Foster) (1929/2011)
Black Mask, The (written as Al Hayes) (ed. Foster) (1914/2015)
Bones Trombone (arr. Oliver) (1922)
Bull Trombone (1924/1959)
Chimes of Iron Mountain, The (1955)
The Circus Bee (1908)
The Circus Bee (1908/2003) (ed. Foster)
The Circus Bee (arr. Custer) (1908/1994)
The Circus Bee (ed. Schissel) (1908/2007)
The Circus Bee (arr. Stevens) (1908/2013)
Courage March (2013) (arr. Contorno)
Courage (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Clark) (1919/2003/2012)
Cradle of Liberty (as Al Hayes) (arr Laferty) (2015)
The Crosley March (arr. Foster) (2001)
The Crosley March (arr. Schissel) (2023)
The Footlifter March (arr. Foster) (1935/2003)
Footlifter March, The (ed. Blatti) (1935)
Genius (arr. Clark) (1937/2005)
Gifted Leadership (ed. Foster) (1927/1959)
Go: Galop (as Will Huff) (1916)
Go: Galop (arr. Contorno) (1916/2009)
Golden Friendships (ed. Foster) (1926/2005)
Headway March (arr. Contorno) (1920/2014)
His Excellency (ed. Schissel) (1909/2006)
His Honor March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Clark) (1934/2014)
His Honor (ed. Fennell) (1934/1978)
His Honor March (arr. Foster) (1934/2000)
Hot Trombone (1921)
In Uniform (1905)
King Karl King (1957)
King Karl King (ed. Foster) (1957/2007)
Klaxon, The (1930)
The Klaxon (arr. Balent) (1930/1995)
The Klaxon (ed. Fennell) (1930/1984)
The Klaxon (arr. Foster) (1930/2014)
Lassus Trombone (1915)
Lassus Trombone (arr. Clark) (1915/1998)
Lassus Trombone (ed. Foster) (1915/2011)
Lassus Trombone (arr. Schissel) (1915/2000)
Light Cavalry Overture (as arranger; ed. Foster) (1866/2000)
Lightning Fingers (arr. Foster)
Lucky Trombone (1926)
Man of the Hour, The (1924)
(We're) Men of Florida (ed. Foster) (1949/2005)
Men of Ohio (1921)
Men of Ohio (ed. Foster) (1921/2009)
Men of Ohio (arr. Schissel) (1921/1999)
Miami (arr. Foster) (1938/2006)
Military Escort (as Harold Bennett) (arr. Balent) (1923/1990)
Military Escort (as Harold Bennett) (arr. Clark) (1923/2014)
Military Escort (as Harold Bennett) (ed. Fennell) (1923/1980)
Military Escort (as Harold Bennett) (arr. Swearingen) (1923/1998)
Military Escort in 5 Ways (1930)
Miss Trombone (arr. Contorno) (1908/2012)
Miss Trombone (1908)
Mt. Healthy (arr. Shaffer) (1916/2007)
Noble Men (arr. Foster) (1922/2001)
The Orange Bowl (ed. Foster) (1939/2004)
Our Own Red, White and Blue (arr. Foster) (1917/2015)
Playfellow (1927)
Poet, Peasant and Light Cavalryman, The ((1915/1959)
Precision (as Harold Bennett) (arr. Clark) (1926/2011)
Project (as Harold Bennett) (arr. Clark) (2002)
The President's March (ed. Foster) (1956/2008)
A Review March to the U.S. of A. Armed Forces (ed. Foster) (1942/2013)
Rolling Thunder (arr. Howell) (1916/2020)
Rolling Thunder March (1916)
Rolling Thunder (ed. Fennell) (1916/1983)
Rolling Thunder March (arr. Foster) (1916/2014)
Rolling Thunder March (arr. Foster Jr.) (1916/2015)
Rolling Thunder March (arr. Glover) (1916)
Sally Trombone (1917)
Shoutin' Liza Trombone (arr. De Meij) (1920/1991)
Shoutin' Liza Trombone (arr. Foster) (1920/2002)
Slim Trombone (arr. Contorno) (2013)
Star-Spangled Banner (as arranger) (1814/1934/1959/1973)
Success (as Harold Bennett; arr. Clark) (1912/2001)
Teddy Trombone (1911)
Teddy Trombone (arr. de Meij) (1911)
Teddy Trombone (arr. Foster) (1911/2013)
A Trombone Family Reunion (arr. Glover) (2019)
Troopers' Tribunal (1905)
Troopers' Tribunal (arr. Foster) (1905/2009)
The U.S. of A. Armed Forces (ed. Foster). See: A Review March to the U.S. of A. Armed Forces
Waves March (1943)
When the Saints Meet Lassus Trombone (arr. Brandon)
The Whistling Farmer Boy (1925)

Resources

Fillmore, H.; Foster, R. (2003). The Footlifter: March [score]. Carl Fischer: New York.
Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 204.
Stith, Gary. (2019). "The Footlifter March: An Interpretive Analysis of Henry Fillmore's Classic." The Instrumentalist 74, no. 4 (November 2019): 14-16.