Sir Edward Elgar completed five “Pomp and Circumstance” marches. Of course, the “Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1” is the most familiar. Anyone who’s ever attended a graduation ceremony knows it. No. 4 has also enjoyed some popularity. But I find, taken as a set, all five make for a satisfying emotional journey. Judge for yourself this morning on “Sweetness and Light,” as Elgar’s marches anchor an hour in 4/4 time. That’s right, it’s our annual “March Madness” show!
As I’m sure aware if you follow this page, I’m an ardent anglophile, so you won’t be surprised to learn that I’ll also be including marches by Percy Whitlock and John Ireland. In addition, we’ll hear works by Tchaikovsky, Johan Halvorsen, and Beethoven.
These boots are made for marching on “Sweetness and Light.” The madness begins this Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT/8:00 PDT, exclusively on KWAX Classical Oregon!
Stream it, wherever you are, at the link:
https://kwax.uoregon.edu/
Tag: Marches
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March Madness on “Sweetness and Light”
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March Madness on Sweetness and Light KWAX
One could argue there’s enough madness in the world already. All the same, this week on “Sweetness and Light,” it’s our annual embrace of “march” madness.
Well hear 12 marches by nine composers – including a coronation march, an “Italian grand march” (by a Czech composer), marches for wind band, a march for brass, marches for piano, a march for chorus, a march from the movies, a march for women, and a march for… satyrs? Well, it is after all, Satyrday.
In a mad world, only the mad are sane!
Anyway, a little exercise will do you good. Embrace “March Madness” on “Sweetness and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT/8:00 EDT, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!
Stream it, wherever you are, at the link:
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March Madness Marches on KWAX Radio
Yesterday was so busy, I didn’t get around to submitting my annual “March Madness” show until this morning. The program includes 12 marches by nine composers. (And yes, John Williams is one of them.) Enjoy it on “Sweetness and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT/8:00 PDT, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon. Stream it wherever you are at the link.
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March Music Mania on KWAX Radio
An all-march hour on “Sweetness and Light?” That’s the fact, Jack!
I hope you’ll join me this morning on KWAX, when we’ll be seized with March madness.
This was always a popular theme when I explored it on other radio stations in past years. On one occasion I was able to take it to five hours! You need an expanse like that in order to get a true sense of the mania, and also the variety of marches available. Marches for band. Symphonic marches. Light music marches. Marches for piano. Marches for string quartet. Funeral marches. Coronation marches. Circus marches.
Of course, it was never all march-or-die, an incessant barrage of three-minute quick marches in 4/4 time. Some of the marches were embedded in larger works. Some of the works merely suggested marches.
Alas, in my current format, I only have an hour. Still time enough for a heart-pumping sampler of works by Sir Arthur Bliss, Marshall Ross, Mily Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky, Richard Rodgers, John Philip Sousa, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Camille Saint-Saëns.
It’s a beautiful morning for a brisk March. Join me for a good stretch of the legs, when we sound off – left, left, left, right, left – on “Sweetness and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT/8:00 PDT, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!
Stream it, wherever you are, here:
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March Madness Music on WPRB
It may be a week before Easter, but this Sunday morning on WPRB we’ll be going as mad as a March hare. It’s our second annual salute to March Madness!
That’s right – it will be an all-march morning. Marches for band. Symphonic marches. Marches for piano. Light music marches. Military marches. Funeral marches. Coronation marches. Circus marches. We’ll even have a symphony written for West Point that incorporates a marching machine.
How could we possibly sustain this over a span of three hours? Well, if we could do it last year for five hours, we can do it this year for three. We’ll be propelled by a variety of moods and timbres, with a couple of larger works (such as Joachim Raff’s Piano Concerto, with its march-like finale), to break free of obsessive 4/4 time.
We’ll have a chance to rest our legs at 9:00, when I’m joined by violinist Dan Zhu. Zhu will appear with the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University. He’ll be the soloist in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and then a traditional Chinese piece, “Morning at Miao Ling Mountain.” The program will conclude with music director Chiu-Tze Lin conducting Brahms’ Symphony No. 1. You can find out more at bravuraphil.org. We’ll ask Zhu to talk about his career, his love of music, and his passion for environmental advocacy. Zhu was the first violinist to perform in Antarctica, in 2013.
The rest of the morning will consist of mad marches. It’s the ultimate Face-Palm Sunday, from 7 to 10 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. We’ve been given our marching orders, on Classic Ross Amico.
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