MARCHING WITH THE BAND. La Banda ens apropa

REPERTOIRE

Dmitri Shostakovich: March from Suite for Variety Orchestra (1956) 3’
Richard Wagner: Festive March from the Opera Tannhäuser (1845) 7’
Charles Gounod: Funeral March of a Marionette (1872) 5’
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Marche slave, Op. 31 (1892) 10’
Giuseppe Verdi: Triumphal March from the Opera Aida (1872) 6’
Edvard Grieg: “March of the Dwarfs” from the Lyric Suite (1891) 4’
Edward Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 (1901) 7’
Louis Armstrong: When the Saints Go Marching In (1938) 4’

ARTISTS

Barcelona Symphonic Band (BMB)
Rafael Agulló, conductor
Els Pirates Teatre

PROGRAMME

Marching music, generally two beats to a bar, is among the most popular and rousing rhythms. The march that opens the Suite for Variety Orchestra composed by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1956 is a fantastically festive example in a genre that can also be solemn, like the march Wagner composed for Tannhäuser, and even funereal, like Charles Gounod’s Marche funèbre d’une marionnette (Funeral March of a Marionette).

Marches such as Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slave have a magical ability to connect individuals and peoples. Meanwhile, grandiloquent or memorable marches like the triumphal march from the opera Aida, the “March of the Dwarfs” from Grieg’s Lyric Suite or the march composed by Elgar for Pomp and Circumstance have become part of the popular imaginary. The concert will conclude with When the Saints Go Marching In, a jazz perennial that will always be associated with Louis Armstrong.