March of the Belgian Parachutists

Pieter Leemans

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This work is also known as "March of the Belgian Paratroopers" and "Marche des Parachutistes Belges."

General Info

Year: 1945 / 2007
Duration: c. 2:40
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $60.00; (digital) - $60.00 | Score Only (print) - $7.50

Instrumentation

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

(percussion detail desired)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

While he was serving his year of military duty at the end of World War I, Leemans's regimental commander asked him to compose a march; it was begun but never finished. Near the end of World War II he was having dinner with a group of paratroopers and was again asked to compose a march. As the group commander, Maj. Timmerman, drove him home that night, the march theme came to mind, and he wrote out all of the parts after reaching home.

The trio of the march originated from a march written for an N.I.R. radio contest. After only winning the consolation prize, the march was abandoned and is known with the competition designation V. A quiet, unaggressive essay in the easy-paced European style, it is set in the form of a “patrol”; the music marches on from the distance, plays, and passes.

Friends told him later that they had heard the march at a circus in France, a wedding in India, and a military music pageant in the United States. The arrangement most often heard in the United States was made by Charles Wiley at the request of his Lamar University (Texas) Band students in 1975.

- Program Note from Program Notes for Band

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
Audio CD: Mabry Middle School Symphonic Band (Thomas Fraschillo, conductor) - 2007

State Ratings

Indiana: ISSMA SENIOR BAND GROUP II
Kansas: III

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Western Illinois University (Macomb) Concert Band (Chloe Sibert, conductor) - 4 May 2023
Pittsburg (Kan.) State University Wind Ensemble (Andrew Chybowski, conductor) - 22 April 2021
Antelope Crossing Middle School (Antelope, Calif.) Band (Joan Slabaugh, conductor) – 11 March 2020
Orange High School (Pepper Pike, Ohio) Wind Ensemble (Brandon DuVall, conductor) – 28 February 2020
Rancho Cordova River City Concert Band (Cordova, Calif.) (Tom Seaton, conductor) – 9 June 2019 (Golden Gate Park, San Francisco)
Graceland University (Lamoni, Iowa) Symphonic Band (Chee Weng Yim, conductor) - 11 October 2018
Itliong-Vera Cruz Middle School (Union City, Calif.) Symphonic Band (Nelson Agregado, conductor) - 17 February 2017 (2017 CASMEC Conference, San Jose)
Otterbein University (Westerville, Ohio) Wind Ensemble (James Swearingen, conductor) – 30 November 2016
Around the Sound Community Band (Seattle, Wash.) (Michael Alstad, conductor) – 1 May 2016
Mabry Middle School (Marietta, Ga.) Symphonic Band (Thomas Fraschillo, conductor) – 19 December 2007 (2007 Midwest Clinic)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

March of the Belgian Paratroopers (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (1945/2016)

All Wind Works

Atomium March (1957)
March of Old Brussels (1936)
March of the Belgian Commandos
March of the Belgian Parachutists (arr. Bourgeois) (1945/2000)
March of the Belgian Paratroopers (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (1945/2016)
March of the Belgian Parachutists (arr. Wiley) (1945/1975))
March of the Belgian Parachutists (arr. Swearingen) (1945/2007)

Resources

Leemans, P.; Swearingen, J. (2007). March of the Belgian Paratroopers = Marche des parachutistes belges [score]. Editions musicales J. Buyst: [s.l.].
Pease, Andy. "March of the Belgian Paratroopers by Pierre Leemans." Wind Band Literature, 26 October 2021. Web. Accessed 26 October 2021
Pierre Leemans, Wikipedia
Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 373.