March from "First Suite in Eb"

Gustav Holst

Subtitle: March (Third Movement)

General Info

Year: 1909 / 2015
Duration: c. 3:35
Difficulty: III-1/2 (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: C.L. Barnhouse
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $50.00 | Score Only (print) - $6.00

Instrumentation (Flexible)

Full Score
C Instruments Part 1

Flute
Piccolo
Violin

B-flat Instruments Part 1

B-flat Clarinet
B-flat Trumpet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone

E-flat Instruments Part 1

E-flat Alto Saxophone
E-flat Clarinet

C Instruments Part 2

Flute
Oboe
Violin

B-flat Instruments Part 2

B-flat Clarinet
B-flat Trumpet

E-flat Instruments Part 2

E-flat Alto Saxophone
E-flat Horn

F Horn Part 2

B-flat Instruments Part 3

B-flat Tenor Saxophone
Euphonium T.C.
B-flat Trombone T.C.
B-flat Bass Clarinet

E-flat Instruments Part 3

E-flat Alto Clarinet

8E-flat Baritone Saxophone

E-flat Horn

Bass Clef Part 3

Trombone
Euphonium B.C.
Cello
Bassoon

F Horn Part 3

Viola Part 3

B-flat Instruments Part 4

B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
Euphonium T.C.
Trombone T.C.

E-flat Instruments Part 4

E-flat Baritone Saxophone
E-flat Alto Clarinet
E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet
E-flat Tuba T.C.

Bass Clef Instruments Part 4

Trombone
Euphonium B.C.
Cello
Bassoon

Bass Part 4

String Bass
Bass Guitar
Keyboard Bass

Tuba Part 4

Keyboards

Piano
Electric Piano
Synthesizer
Accordion
Organ

Timpani

Mallet Percussion

Xylophone
Marimba
Vibraphone
Orchestra Bells

Percussion

Bass Drum
Snare Drum
Crash Cymbals
Triangle

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The First Suite in E♭ for Military Band, Op. 28, No. 1, by the British composer Gustav Holst is considered one of the cornerstone masterworks in the concert band repertoire. Officially premiered in 1920 at the Royal Military School of Music, the manuscript was originally completed in 1909. Along with the subsequent Second Suite in F for Military Band, written in 1911 and premiered in 1922, the First Suite convinced many other prominent composers that serious music could be written specifically for band.

The third movement, March, is usually played at a march tempo, although many recordings use a faster tempo. It opens with a famous bass drum solo, one of the few in the band literature. It features two primary melodies both very contrasting in style.

The first melody is featured exclusively in the brass section in a very marcato manner. The second melody in the mid and low woodwinds, and later the euphonium, baritone saxophone, and bassoon, resembles the melodies of the first two movements and is played in a very legato and lyrical style. Following the completion of the second melody, strains of the first melody and the first four bars can be heard as the movement builds up to the finale.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

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

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Chaconne from "First Suite in Eb" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2016)
Fantasia on the "Dargason" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1911/2013)
Intermezzo (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2017)
Jupiter (arr. Deterling) (Flex instrumentation) (1916/2020)
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity (Adaptable Band) (arr. Fisher) (1916/2020)
March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1911/2010)
March from "First Suite in Eb" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2015)
March from Second "Suite in F Major" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Fisher) (1911/2018)
March from "First Suite in Eb" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2015)
Mars (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vinson) (1916/2009)
A Moorside March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Wright; ed. M. Brand) (1928/2021)
Songs from the "Second Suite" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1911/2012)
Suite from "The Planets" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vinson) (1916/2018)

All Wind Music

Ave Maria (tr. Woodley) (1900)
Bach's Fugue à la Gigue (as arranger; ed. Brand). See: Fugue à la Gigue
Bach's Fugue à la Gigue (as arranger; ed. Mitchell) (1707/1928/2005)
Brook Green Suite (tr. Curnow) (1933/2006)
Capriccio (tr. Boyd) (1932/1967/1974)
Capriccio (arr. Paul Noble) (1932/1967/2019)
Chaconne from "First Suite in Eb" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2016)
Chorale from Jupiter (arr. James Curnow)
Christmas Day (arr. Daehn) (1910/2011)
Christmas Day (arr. Beringen) (1910/2010)
Country Song (arr. Klein) (1906)
Dance of the Spirits of Fire (trans. Harpham) (1918/1922/1971)
Dirge for Two Veterans
Fantasia on the "Dargason" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1911/2013)
Fantasia on the "Dargason" (arr. Story) (1911/2000)
First Suite in E-flat (1909/1921)
First Suite in E-flat (ed. Matthews) (1909/1921/1984)
First Suite in E-flat (ed. Ito) (1909/2011)
First Suite in E-flat (arr. Longfield) (1909/2006)
First Suite in E-flat for Military Band (ed. Fennell) (1909/2006)
First Suite in E-flat Themes (arr. Sweeney). See: Themes from "First Suite in E-flat"
A Fugal Concerto (arr. Brand) (1923/1993?)
A Fugal Overture (arr. Noble) (1922/2014)
A Fugal Overture (trans. Ponto) (1922)
Fugue à la Gigue (as arranger; ed. Brand) (1707/1928/2008)
Fugue à la Gigue (as arranger; ed. Mitchell). See: Bach's Fugue à la Gigue
Gustav Holst Band Classics (arr. Edwards) (2020)
Hammersmith: Prelude and Scherzo (1930)
A Holst Hymn (arr. Smith) (1921/2022)
A Holst Suite (trans. Thompson) (2018)
Hymns from the Rig Veda (tr. Windram, ed. Mitchell) (1908/1917/2017)
I Vow to Thee, My Country (setting Vaughan Williams; ed. Grechesky) (1921/1988)
I Vow to Thee, My Country (arr. Knorr) (1921/2017)
Illumination (arr. Gene Milford)
In the Bleak Midwinter. See: Winter Suite
Intermezzo (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2017)
Japanese Suite (adapt. Boyd) (1915/1982/1999)
Jupiter (arr. Deterling) (Flex instrumentation) (1916/2020)
Jupiter from "The Planets" (arr. Pay and Smith) (1916/1924)
Jupiter from "The Planets" (arr. Branchfield) (1916/2014)
Jupiter (arr. Brown) (1916)
Jupiter (tr. Curnow) (1916/1990)
Jupiter (arr Hurt) from "The Planets" (arr. Hurt) (1916)
Jupiter (arr. Owens) (1916/2006)
Jupiter Hymn (arr. de Meij) (1916/1921/1990)
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity (Adaptable Band) (arr. Fisher) (1916/2020)
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity (tr. McAlister; ed. Reed) (1916/2003)
March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1911/2010)
March from "First Suite for Military Band" (arr. Story) (2011)
March from "First Suite in Eb" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2015)
March from Second "Suite in F Major" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Fisher) (1911/2018)
Marching Song (1906/1930)
Marching Song (arr. Moss) (1906/2006)
Marching Song (ed. Reynish) (1906/1983)
Mars (arr. Bocook) (1916/1998)
Mars (arr. Owens) (1916/2009)
Mars from "The Planets" (tr. Pay and Smith) (1916/1924)
Mars, from "The Planets" (tr. Singleton) (1916/2001)
Mars (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vinson) (1916/2009)
Midwinter (arr. Phillips) (2012)
Moorside March (arr. Jacob) (1928/1960)
A Moorside March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Wright; ed. M. Brand) (1928/2021)
A Moorside Suite (arr. Wright)
Morris Dance Tunes (arr. Wagner) (1910/2010)
On This Day the Earth Shall Ring (arr. Smith) (2001)
The Perfect Fool (arr. Short) (1922/2005)
The Planets (tr. Inagaki) (1916)
The Planets (tr. Janssen) (1916/2017)
The Planets (tr. Patterson) (1916)
The Planets (arr. Schrijvers) (1916/2005)
The Planets (tr. Vives) (1916/2007?)
Planets, The (tr. Smith) (1916/1921)
Scherzo (tr. Patterson) (1933/2021)
Second Suite in F (ed. Fennell; score assembly Schissel) (1911/2006)
Second Suite in F (arr. Johnston) (1911/2011)
Second Suite in F (ed. Matthews) (1911)
Second Suite in F (ed. Neumann) (1911)
Second Suite in F (ed. Ito) (1911/1922/2012)
Second Suite in F (adapt. Longfield) (1911/2007)
A Somerset Rhapsody (tr. Clare Grundman) (1906/1927/1980)
The Song of the Blacksmith (arr. Loest) (1911/2011)
Songs from the "Second Suite" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1911/2012)
Songs of the West (arr. James Curnow) (1907/1986)
St. Paul's Suite (arr. Sparke) (1912-1913/2017)
Suite from "The Planets" (arr. Custer) (1916/1991)
Suite from "The Planets" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vinson) (1916/2018)
Themes from "First Suite in E-flat" (arr. Sweeney) (1909/2006)
Two Songs Without Words (arr. Erickson) (1906/1996)
Uranus (tr. Curnow) (1916/1991)
Winter Suite
- On This Day Earth Shall Ring (arr. Smith) (1924/2001)
- In the Bleak Midwinter (arr. Bullock) (1906/1996)
- In the Bleak Midwinter (arr. Giroux) (1906/2018)
- In the Bleak Midwinter (arr. Smith) (1906/1992)
- Old Brenton Carol (arr. Smith) (1910/2001)

Resources

First Suite in E-flat for Military Band, Wikipedia. Accessed 9 July 2020
Holst, G.; Stanton, S. (2010). March : from the Second Suite for Military Band [score]. C.L. Barnhouse: Oskaloosa, Iowa
Perusal score