Omega Lambda Chi

Charles Ives

This work bears various titles: March in F & C with "Omega Lambda Chi", March for Band, S. 53 (K. 1D6), and March: Omega Lambda Chi.

General Info

Year: 1896 / 1974
Duration: c. 3:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Associated Music Publishers
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental, for availability information, see Discussion area.

Instrumentation

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

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

March "Omega Lambda Chi" was first heard in May 1896, played at an annual event held by Yale upperclassmen in order to dupe freshmen into providing them cigars and drinks, lest they be subjected to the "Pass of Thermopylae," a backside-challenging hazing ritual staged in the pass between Dwight and Alumni Halls. Omega Lambda Chi itself was a phony fraternity created in honor of fraternal societies banned by Yale in 1880, and it would find itself banned in 1900, forever shuttering the Pass of Thermopylae.

The song Sailing, Sailing was published in 1880 -- the year the earlier fraternities were banned -- and is extensively quoted in the march, scored initially for an odd group of winds, 12 brass, and percussion. It didn't receive a formal premiere until July 13, 1965, when Keith Brion led it with the North Jersey Wind Symphony. Brion also edited March "Omega Lambda Chi" into a version for modern wind band in 1975, which has become the standard edition for concert performances. Ives also created a parallel version for solo piano, from which the band score was made; in September 2007, it remained unpublished.

- Program Note by Uncle Dave Lewis, Allmusic.com

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
Audio CD: United States Marine Band (Timothy W. Foley, conductor) - 2007

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Penn State University (University Park) Symphonic Band (Dennis Glocke, conductor) – 12 December 2019
Bowling Green (Ohio) State University Concert Band (Bruce Moss, conductor) – 7 March 2019
Culver-Stockton College (Canton, Mo.) Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band (Trent A. Hollinger, conductor) – 12 November 2017
Indiana University (Bloomington) Concert Band (Jason H. Nam, conductor) – 20 April 2017
Penn State University (University Park) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Dennis Glocke, conductor) – 16 November 2016
University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Symphonic Band (Kevin M. Geraldi, conductor) – 17 November 2015
Johansen High School (Modesto, Calif.) Symphonic Band - 6 May 2011
San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Wind Orchestra (William V. Johnson, conductor) - 9 May 2004

Works for Winds by This Composer

The Alcotts (tr. Elkus) (1920/1947)
The Alcotts (tr. Thurston) (1920/1972)
Charlie Rutlage (tr. Sinclair)
A Christmas Carol (tr. Paxton) (1922/2016)
The Circus Band (tr. Elkus)
A Concord Symphony (tr. Patterson) (1920/2010)
"Country Band" March (tr. Sinclair) (1903/1974)
Decoration Day (tr. Elkus)
Fantasia on "Jerusalem the Golden" (1888)
Finale from "Symphony No. 2" (tr. Elkus) (1907/1974)
Four Eccentric Songs (tr. Paxton) (1922/2016)
Fugue in C (arr. Sinclair) (1900/1992)
Here's to Good Ol' Yale: See: March 6: Here's to Good Ol' Yale
In the Mornin' (arr. Singleton) (1929)
Lento Maestoso and Finale from "Symphony No. 2" (tr. Elkus) (1907/1974/2001)
March 6: Here's to Good Ol' Yale (tr. Elkus) (1897/2003)
March Intercollegiate (ed. Brion) (1892(?)/1973)
Memories, Very Pleasant and and Rather Sad (arr. Elkus) (1922/2011?)
Old Fashioned Hymns (tr. Paxton) (1922/2016)
Old Home Days (arr. Elkus) (1954)
Omega Lambda Chi (ed. Brion) (1896/1974)
Overture and March "1776" (tr. Sinclair) (1904/1910)
Postlude in F (tr. Singleton) (1890-92/1991)
Ragtime Dance No. 4 (trans. Sinclair) (?/1990)
Runaway Horse on Main Street (1908)
A Son of a Gambolier (arr. Elkus) (1892/1962)
Symphony No. 2. See: Lento Maestoso and Finale from "Symphony No. 2" and Finale from "Symphony No. 2"
They are There! (arr. Sinclair)
The Unanswered Question (1908/1935/1989)
Variations on "America" (orch. Schuman, tr. Rhoads) (1891/1968)
Variations on "Jerusalem the Golden" (tr. Brion) (1900/1974)

Resources

Brinberg, Isaac. "David Wallis Reeves and John Philip Sousa’s Influence of Charles Ives’s Early Marches for Wind Band." Journal of Band Research vol. 57, no. 2, Spring 2002, pp. 37–59.
Ives, C.; Brion, K. (1974). March: Omega Lambda Chi: For Band [score]. Associated Music Publishers: New York.
"The President's Own" United States Marine Band program notes