Royal Welch Fusiliers, The (No. 2)

From Wind Repertory Project
John Philip Sousa

John Philip Sousa


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General Info

Year: 1930
Duration: c. 2:35
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Theodore Presser
Cost: Score and Parts – Out of print.

For availability information, see Discussion tab, above.


Instrumentation

Full Score
D-flat Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet Solo-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 Bass Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II
B-flat Trumpet
E-flat Horn or Alto I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Harp
Percussion (3 players), including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Snare Drum


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

These two marches were composed in memory of the association of U.S. Marines with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusilier in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion in China. The occasion was the thirtieth anniversary of the battle of Tientsin. General Wendelle C. Neville, commandant of the Marine Corps, asked Sousa to composed a march, and the fact that two separate marches were composed was revealed in an exchange of letters between Sousa and Neville. Late in 1929, Sousa composed a medley-march which included World Turned Upside-Down, Hymn of the Marines, Men of Harlech, and God Bless the Prince of Wales. When he asked Neville's opinion, Neville replied that he would prefer an original Sousa composition. So Sousa composed a second march, and this is the one known today.

The Royal Welch Fusiliers (No. 2) was given its premiere in the presence of President Hoover. This took place at the annual Gridiron Club dinner in Washington at the Willard Hotel on April 26, 1930. Sousa conducted members of the Marine Band in the new march, and President Hoover spoke, giving his own personal account of the Boxer Rebellion. He had been a mining engineer in China at the time and was besieged at Tientsin, where he was in charge of civil defense. The march was given a public premiere on the White House lawn on May 12 for the benefit of newsreel companies. These newsreels provided one of the few motion pictures of Sousa which have survived, and they show Sousa conducting the Marine Band which President Hoover, the British ambassador and other dignitaries looking on.

Sousa was asked to travel to Wales with Marine Corps officers so that he could personally present his manuscript to the Fusiliers. He obliged, and on June 25 at Tidworth he conducted the band of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, in the march's first performance in Britain. He presented his original manuscript, handsomely bound, to General Charles M. Doville, commandant of the Fusilier. Today this manuscript is preserved at Caernarvon Castle.

- Program Note from John Philip Sousa: A Descriptive Catalog of His Works.


Commercial Discography


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

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Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

  • Bierley, P. (1973). John Philip Sousa: A Descriptive Catalog of His Works. University of Illinois Press; Urbana, pp. 68.
  • Sousa, J. (1930). The Royal Welch Fusiliers [score]. Theodore Presser: [s.l.].