On the Quarter Deck
General Info
Year: 1917
Duration: 3:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts - $37.18
For further availability information, see Discussion tab, above.
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
E-flat Soprano Cornet
B-flat Cornet I-II-III-IV
B-flat Trumpet I-II
E-flat Horn I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Bombardon
Percussion I-II, including:
- Bass Drum
- Side Drum
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Alford composed On the Quarter Deck March for the World War I British naval officers in 1917, the same year he wrote The Middy for the midshipmen. The quarter deck was so called because it originally was half the length of the half deck -- it became a part of the ship usually reserved for officers. In port the officer of the deck on naval vessels stood his watch on the quarter deck. It is also the area where ceremonial events take place.
Although Alford used the evenly divisible 2/4 and 2/2 meter signatures for most of his marches, his choice of 56/8 meter for this lilting sailing march seems perfectly appropriate.
- Program Note from March Music Notes
Media
- Audio CD: The Music of Kenneth Alford. The Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines (Captain JR Mason, conductor)
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of Delaware (Newark) Wind Ensemble (Lauren Reynolds, conductor) - 17 March 2022
- Indiana Wind Symphony (Carmel, Ind.) (Charles Conrad, conductor) - 22 April 2017
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Army of the Nile (1941)
- By Land and Sea (1941)
- Cavalry of the Clouds (1923)
- Colonel Bogey (1914)
- Colonel Bogey (ed. Fennell) (1914/1982)
- Colonel Bogey (arr. Glover) (1914/2000)
- Colonel Bogey (arr. Williams) (1914/2001)
- Colonel Bogey on Parade (1934)
- Dunedin (1928)
- Eagle Squadron (1942)
- Eagle Squadron (arr. Rogers) (1942/2016)
- The Great Little Army (arr. Winter) (1916)
- HM Jollies (1929)
- Holyrood (1912)
- The Lightning Switch Fantasia (1924)
- The Mad Major (ed. Fennell) (1921/1983)
- Middy, The (arr. Gore) (1917)
- A Musical Switch (1921)
- Old Panama (1929)
- On the Quarter Deck (1917)
- Standard of St George, The (1930)
- The Thin Red Line (1908/1925)
- The Vanished Army (1918)
- The Vanished Army (ed. Fennell) (1919/1986)
- The Vedette (1913)
- The Voice of the Guns (1917)
Resources
- Alford, K. (1918). On the Quarter Deck: March [score]. Hawkes & Son: London.
- Perusal Score
- Smith, Norman E. (1986). March Music Notes. Lake Charles, La.: Program Note Press, pp. 7.