Sir Edward Elgar wrote football chant along with his classical music - Telegraph Music news Sir Edward Elgar wrote football chant along with his classical music His songs are usually belted out from the plush red seats of the Royal Albert Hall, rather than the football terraces. Sir Edward Elgar was a keen supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers Photo: ALAMY By Richard Alleyne 7:00PM BST 26 Sep 2010 But it has emerged that Sir Edward Elgar, the composer of Land of Hope and Glory, penned the world's first football chant. Titled "He Banged The Leather for Goal", the theme was written more than 100 years ago in honour of his beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers. Elgar fell in love with football in February 1898, when he was in the crowd at Molineux for a game between Wolves and Stoke City, two of the founder members of the Football League. He was inspired by rugged striker Billy Malpass who was celebrated in newspaper headlines the next day. The reports told of the way he “Banged The Leather for Goal” and Elgar was so taken by it that he put the lyric to a short piece of piano music.

Related Articles Lost Elgar manuscript found in 'dusty' folder 14 Feb 2012 No one knows whether the tune was ever played during his lifetime but yesterday it got its first-ever known public performance at a charity concert in the city. The choirs of St Peter’s Collegiate Church, under the baton of Wolverhampton Symphony Orchestra conductor Peter Morris, belted out the chant at a concert to raise money for the church’s organ restoration fund. To add more nostalgia, the opera singer Rita Cullis – niece of the club’s "Iron Manager" Stan Cullis – was the featured soloist. Elgar became a Wolves fan through his friendship with Dora Penny, daughter of the Rector of St Peter’s Church in the late 19th century. The Pomp And Circumstance composer would cycle from Malvern to Wolverhampton to accompany her to Molineux, and immortalised the Midland lass with the tune Dorabella, from his famous Enigma Variations in 1899. Former England women’s cricket captain Rachel Heyhoe-Flint – now a director at Wolverhampton Wanderers – helped to organise the concert.

“Over the years we have learned more and more about Elgar’s association with the club, and we’re very proud to have counted him as a supporter,” she explained. “This was the first live rendition of He Banged The Leather For Goal. ‘‘The song was discovered by Dr Percy Young, who was the club historian back in the 1940s and 1950s, and was an expert on Elgar. “Personally I’m delighted about this, I’ve been a Wolves fan since I visited Molineux in nappies back in the 50s, so I’m very happy that we’re celebrating our heritage in this way.” While modern football fans are often associated with loutish behaviour and drunken singing, academics say that terrace songs are an important part of our history. Professor Steven Mithen, author of The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body, said: “Football chants are a very sophisticated activity. "They come from a point in our evolutionary past before language, when we used music and chanting and dance to bond as social groups.” The Wolverhampton Wanderers FC historian Graham Hughes said Elgar “loved coming” to the area.

“He used to watch the crowd going down to the match,” he said. “Then one Saturday he said he’d like to go down to the match, so he went and that’s how it started.” Composers Hall of Fame - Great Music Composers Through Time Composers Hall of Fame Explore the Brilliant Music of Great Composers From Medieval to Renaissance, from Baroque through Classic, Romantic and the Modern era, these are the composers you've grown up with. Breathtaking in their orchestration, with many songs recorded by world-class symphony orchestras and ensembles, their songs have stood the test of time. Whether you need something sublime, whimsical or grandiose, the Composers Hall of Fame at AudioSparx is perfect for any project needing brilliant music, classical or otherwise. Compositions from Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, Chopin, Tchaikovsky and over 100 other world-reknowned composers are presented here, including works from contemporary composers such George Gershwin, Gilbert and Sullivan and others. This is the music you've been looking for, here now for your immediate listening pleasure!

Adolphe Adam Home: Paris, France Adolphe Charles Adam (1803 - 1856) was born in Paris, France. His father was Jean Louis Adam, the acclaimed concert pianist and professor of piano at the Paris Conservatory. Adolph Adam enrolled in the Paris Conservatory against his father's will in 1817. There he studied piano, and from 1821 also studied composition under Francois Boieldieu.Adolphe Adam is best known for his classic ballets "Faust" (1832), "Giselle" (1840), and "Le Corsaire" (1848). Additional info here. Isaac Albeniz Home: Camprodon, Spain Isaac Albéniz i Pascual (1860 – 1909) was a Spanish Catalan pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on folk music. Born in Camprodon, Spain, Albéniz was a child prodigy who first performed at the age of four. At age seven he passed the entrance examination for piano at the Paris Conservatoire, but he was refused admission because he was believed to be too young.

Gregorio Allegri Home: Rome, Italy Gregorio Allegri (1582 – 1652) was an Italian composer and priest of the Roman School of composers. He mainly lived in Rome, and died there. He studied music under Giovanni Maria Nanini, the intimate friend of Palestrina. Being intended for the church, he obtained a benefice in the cathedral of Fermo. Here he composed a large number of motets and other sacred music, which, being brought to the notice of Pope Urban VIII, obtained for him an appointment in the choir of the Sistine Chapel at Rome. He held this from December 1629 till his death Johann Sebastian Bach Home: Eisenach, Germany Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is considered by many to have been the greatest composer in the history of western music. Bach's main achievement lies in his synthesis and advanced development of the primary contrapuntal idiom of the late Baroque, and in the basic tunefullness of his thematic material.

Bálint Bakfark Home: Brasov, (Transylvania) Romania Bálint Bakfark (1507 - 1576) was a Hungarian composer and lutenist of the Renaissance. He was enormously influential as a lutenist in his time, and renowned as a virtuoso on the instrument. Mily Balakirev Home: Nizhny Novgorod, Russia Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev (1837 - 1910) was a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. He is known today primarily for his work promoting nationalism in Russian music. Working in conjunction with critic Vladimir Stasov, Balakirev brought together the composers now known as The Five, encouraging their efforts and acting as a musical midwife both for them and for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Balakirev became a pivotal figure in Russian music, extending and developing the fusion begun by Mikhail Glinka of traditional Russian and boldly experimen Ludwig van Beethoven Home: Bonn, Germany Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) was a German composer and pianist.

He is widely regarded as one of history's greatest composers, and was the predominant figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music. His reputation and genius have inspired and, in many cases intimidated, ensuing generations of composers, musicians, and audiences. Irving Berlin Home: New York, USA Irving Berlin (1888 – 1989) was a Jewish American composer and lyricist, and one of the most prolific American songwriters in history. Berlin was one of the few Tin Pan Alley/Broadway songwriters who wrote both lyrics and music for his songs. Although he never learned to read music beyond a rudimentary level, with the help of various uncredited musical assistants or collaborators, he eventually composed nearly 1,000 songs.

Among his many compositions were "God Bless America", "White Christmas", "Anything You Can Do", "There's No Business Li Hector Berlioz Home: La Côte-Saint-André, France Hector Louis Berlioz (1803 - 1869) was a French Romantic composer best known for the Symphonie fantastique, first performed in 1830, and for his Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem) of 1837, with its tremendous resources that include four antiphonal brass choirs. At the other extreme, he also composed about 50 songs for voice and piano. Additional info here. Georges Bizet Home: Paris, France Georges Bizet (1838-1875) was born in Paris, registered with the legal name Alexandre-César-Léopold Bizet, but was baptized Georges Bizet and was always known by the latter name. A child prodigy, he entered the prestigious Paris Conservatory of Music shortly before his tenth birthday.

In 1857 he shared a prize offered by Jacques Offenbach for a setting of the one-act operetta Le docteur Miracle and won the Prix de Rome. As per the conditions of the scholarship, he studied in Rome for three years. There, his talent began to mature with such Luigi Boccherini Home: Lucca, Italy Luigi Rodolfo Boccherini (1743 – 1805) was a classical era composer and cellist from Italy, whose music retained a courtly and galante style while he matured somewhat apart from the major European musical centers. Boccherini is mostly known for one particular minuet from his String Quintet in E, Op. 11, No. 5, and the Cello Concerto in B flat major (G 482). This last work was long known in the heavily altered version by German cellist and prolific arranger Friedrich Grützmacher, but has recently been restored to its original version.

Addit Alexander Borodin Home: Saint Petersburg, Russia Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (1833 – 1887) was a Russian composer of Georgian-Russian parentage who made his living as a notable chemist. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five (or "The Mighty Handful"), who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music. He is best known for his symphonies, his two string quartets, and his opera Prince Igor, and for later providing the musical inspiration for the musical Kismet. Johannes Brahms Home: Vienna, Austria Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene. In his lifetime, Brahms's popularity and influence were considerable; following a comment by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow, he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the Three Bs.

Brahms composed for piano, chamber ensembles, symphony orc Max Bruch Home: Cologne, Germany Max Christian Friedrich Bruch (1838 – 1920) was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works, including a violin concerto which is a staple of the violin repertoire. Additional info here. Anton Bruckner Home: Ansfelden, Austia Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) was an Austrian composer known primarily for his symphonies, masses, and motets. His symphonies are often considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length. Bruckner's compositions helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and roving harmonies. Ferruccio Busoni Home: Empoli, Italy Ferruccio Busoni (1866 – 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, teacher of piano and composition, writer on musical questions, and conductor.

Frederic Chopin Home: Paris, France Frédéric François Chopin (1810 – 1849) was a Polish pianist and composer of the Romantic era. He is widely regarded as one of the most famous, influential and prolific composers for piano. Chopin was born in the village of Zelazowa Wola, Poland, to a Polish mother and French-expatriate father. Hailed in his homeland as a child prodigy, at age twenty Chopin left for Paris. There he made a career as performer, teacher and composer, and adopted the French version of his given names, "Frédéric-François." Jeremiah Clarke Home: London, England Jeremiah Clarke (1674 - 1707) was an English composer, now best remembered for the popular keyboard piece attributed to him, the Prince of Denmark's March, commonly called the Trumpet Voluntary and attributed for a long time to Henry Purcell. Additional info here. Ambrosio Dalza Home: Milan, Italy Joan Ambrosio Dalza (1508 - 1572) was an Italian lutenist, working in Milan.

In 1508 he published a lute book with transcriptions of frottolas, improvisatory ricercars to be used as preludes to them, and dances. The dances are arranged in miniature suites of a pavane followed by a saltarello and piva which are thematically related to it. Louis-Claude Daquin Home: Paris, France Louis-Claude Daquin (1694 – 1772) was a French composer of Jewish birth writing in the Baroque and Galant styles. He was a virtuoso organist and harpsichordist. He was born in Paris, to a converted Jewish family from Carpentras originating from Italy (where their name was D'Acquino). One of his great-uncles was a professor of Hebrew at the College de France. Daquin was a musical child prodigy, for he performed for the court of King Louis XIV at the age of six. He was for a while a pupil of Louis Marchand. At the age of 12, he became organis Claude Debussy Home: St.

Germain-en-Laye, France Achille-Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918) was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel he is considered the most prominent figure working within the style commonly referred to as Impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions. Debussy was not only among the most important of all French composers but also a central figure in all European music at the turn of the twentieth century. His music virtually defines the transition from late-Romantic music to 20th century modernist music. Leo Delibes Home: Saint-Germain-du-Val, France (Clément Philibert) Léo Delibes (1836 – 1891) was a French composer of Romantic music. He was born in Saint-Germain-du-Val, France. Delibes was the son of a mailman and a musical mother, but also the grandson of an opera singer. He was raised mainly by his mother and uncle following his father's early death. In 1871, at the age of 35, the composer married Léontine Estelle Denain.

Delibes died 20 years later in 1891, and was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris. Additional info here. Gaetano Donizetti Home: Bergamo, Italy Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (1797 – 1848) was an Italian opera composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. Donizetti's most famous work is Lucia di Lammermoor (1835). Along with Vincenzo Bellini and Gioacchino Rossini, he was a leading composer of bel canto opera. Paul Dukas Home: Paris, France Paul Abraham Dukas (1865 - 1935) was a Parisian-born French composer and teacher of classical music. From a French-Jewish family, he studied under Théodore Dubois and Ernest Guiraud at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he became friends with the composer Claude Debussy. After completing his studies Dukas found work as a music critic and orchestrator; he was unusually gifted in orchestration.

Although Dukas wrote a fair amount of music, he was perfectionistic and destroyed many of his pieces out of dissatisfaction with them. Only a few of hi Antonin Dvorak Home: Nelahozeves, Czech Republic Antonín Leopold Dvorák (1841 – 1904) was a Czech composer of Romantic music, who employed the idioms and melodies of the folk music of his native Bohemia in symphonic and chamber music. Edward Elgar Home: Worcester, England Sir Edward Elgar, 1st Baronet, (1857 – 1934) was an English Romantic composer. Several of his first major orchestral works, including the Enigma Variations and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, were greeted with acclaim. He also composed oratorios, chamber music, symphonies and instrumental concertos. He was appointed Master of the King's Musick in 1924. Gabriel Faure Home: Pamiers, France Gabriel Urbain Fauré (1845 – 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist, and teacher.

He was the foremost French composer of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers. His harmonic and melodic language affected how harmony was later taught. Additional info here. Richard Freitas Home: New York City, US Richard Freitas (1945-2011) -- A prolific composer and musician, writing and producing 1200 songs which are broadcast in 60 countries. He garnered three Emmy nominations, two Grammy nominations, and seven International Telly Awards, plus his music is featured on Burn Notice and Season 4 of Mad Men. Richard wrote, arranged and produced music for CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, MTV, AMC, TNT, HBO, Disney, Sony, and others, plus promos for Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, 20/20, General Hospital, and Jimmy Kimmel. Here's to you, Richard! Julius Fucik Home: Prague, Czechoslavakia Julius Ernst Wilhelm Fucík (1872 – 1916) was a Czech composer and conductor of military bands. Fucík spent most of his life as the leader of military brass bands.

He was a prolific composer, with over 300 marches, polkas and waltzes to his name. As most of his work was for military bands he is sometimes known as the "Bohemian Sousa". George Gershwin Home: Brooklyn, USA George Gershwin (1898 – 1937) was an American composer. He wrote most of his vocal and theatrical works in collaboration with his elder brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin. George Gershwin composed both for Broadway and for the classical concert hall. He also wrote popular songs with success. Gillbert and Sullivan Home: London, England Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian era partnership of librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900). Together, they wrote fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado are among the best known.

Mikhail Glinka Home: Novospasskoye, Russia Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804 - 1857), was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition inside his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music. Glinka's compositions were an important influence on future Russian composers, notably the members of The Five, who took Glinka's lead and produced a distinctively Russian kind of classical music. Additional info here. Christoph Willibald Gluck Home: Vienna, Austria Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck (1714 - 1787) was a European composer of the 18th century, most noted for his operatic works. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years. With a series of radical new works in the 1760s, among them Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste, he broke the stranglehold that Metastasian opera seria had enjoyed for much of the century.

François Joseph Gossec Home: Vergnies, Belgium François-Joseph Gossec (1734 - 1829) was a Belgian composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works who worked in France. Charles Gounod Home: Paris, France Charles-François Gounod (1818 – 1893) was a French composer, best known for his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette. Gounod was born in Paris, the son of a pianist mother and a draftsman father. His mother was his first piano teacher. Under her tutelage Gounod first showed his musical talents. He entered the Paris Conservatoire where he studied under Fromental Halévy. He won the Prix de Rome in 1839 for his cantata Ferdinand. He subsequently went to Italy where he studied the music of Palestrina. He concentrated on religious music of the six Enrique Granados Home: Lérida, Spain Pantaléon Enrique Costanzo Granados y Campiña (1867 – 1916) was a Spanish pianist and composer of classical music.

His music is in a uniquely Spanish style and, as such, representative of musical nationalism. He was born in Lérida, Catalonia (Spain). As a young man he studied piano in Barcelona, where his teachers included Francisco Jurnet and Joan Baptista Pujol. In 1887 he went to Paris to study with De Beriot and, most importantly, Felipe Pedrell. Jack G. Graves Home: Bremerton, US Jack G. Graves (1927 - 2001) studied piano and cello as a child, and wrote his first musical composition at age twelve. He worked in a record store while attending Northern High in Flint, and played cello in the Flint Symphony. In 1946, he studied at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas and played cello in the Bethany Symphony Orchestra. He later moved to El Paso, Texas, and played in the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, and managed a record store there. Alexander Gretchaninov Home: Moscow, Russia Alexander Tikhonovich Gretchaninov (1864 - 1956) was a Russian Romantic composer.

Gretchaninov started his musical studies rather late because his father, a businessman, had expected the boy to take over the family firm. Gretchaninov himself related that he did not see a piano until he was 14 and began his studies at the Moscow Conservatory in 1881 against his father's wishes and without his knowledge. Edvard Grieg Home: Bergen, Norway Edvard Hagerup Grieg (1843 – 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist who composed in the romantic period. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (which includes In the Hall of the Mountain King), and for his Lyric Pieces for the piano. George Frideric Handel Home: London, England George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759) was a German/British Baroque composer who was a leading composer of concerti grossi, operas and oratorios. Born in Germany as Georg Friedrich Händel, he lived most of his adult life in England, becoming a subject of the British crown in 1727.

His most famous piece is Messiah, an oratorio set to texts from the King James Bible; other well-known works are Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. He deeply influenced many of the composers who came after him, including Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Charles-Louis Hanon Home: Renescure, France Charles-Louis Hanon (1819 - 1900) was a French piano pedagogue and composer. He is best known for his work The Virtuoso Pianist In 60 Exercises, which have become the most widely used exercises in modern piano teaching. Piano students all over the world know of Hanon’s famous training exercises for pianists.

Both Sergei Rachmaninov and Josef Lhévinne claimed Hanon to be the secret of why the Russian piano school delivered an explosion of virtuosi in their time, for the Hanon exercises have been obliged for a long time throughout Russian con Franz Joseph Haydn Home: Rohrau, Austria Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809) was one of the most prominent composers of the Classical period, and is called by some the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet". A life-long resident of Austria, Haydn spent most of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Eszterházy family on their remote estate. Isolated from other composers and trends in music until the later part of his long life, he was, as he put it, "forced to become original". Additional info here. Gustav Holst Home: Cheltenham, England Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934) was an English composer and was a music teacher for over 20 years. Holst is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets.

Having studied at the Royal College of Music in London, his early work was influenced by Ravel, Grieg, Richard Strauss, and Ralph Vaughan Williams, but most of his music is highly original, with influences from Hindu spiritualism and English folk tunes. Holst's music is well known for unconventional use of metre and haunting melodies. Leos Janacek Home: Hukvaldy, Moravia Leoš Janácek (1854 – 1928) was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by contemporaries such as Antonín Dvorák. His later, mature works incorporate his earlier studies of national folk music in a modern, highly original synthesis, first evident in the opera Jenufa, which was premiered in 1904 in Brno.

Scott Joplin Home: Texarkana, US Scott Joplin (1867 - 1917) was an African American composer and pianist, born near Texarkana, Texas, into the first post-slavery generation. He achieved fame for his unique ragtime compositions, and was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first pieces, the Maple Leaf Rag, became ragtime's first and most influential hit, and remained so for a century. Ruggiero Leoncavallo Home: Naples, Italy Ruggiero Leoncavallo (1857 - 1919) was an Italian opera composer. The son of a judge, Leoncavallo was educated at the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella in his native city, Naples (the date 1858, given for his birth in older histories of music, is incorrect).

After some years spent teaching and in ineffective attempts to obtain the production of more than one opera, he saw the enormous success of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana in 1890, and he wasted no time in producing his own verismo hit, Pagliacci. Additional info here. Mykola Leontovych Home: Monastyrok, Ukraine Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych (1877 - 1921) was a Ukrainian composer, choral conductor, and teacher of international renown. Leontovych is recognized for composing Shchedryk in 1916, known to the English speaking world as Carol of the Bells or as Ring Christmas Bells. At the school, Leontovych mastered singing, and was able to freely read difficult passages from religious choral texts.

From 1892 until 1899, Mykola Leontovych attended the theological seminary in Kamianets-Podilskyi, where he sang in choir, began to study Ukrainian music, an Franz Liszt Home: Doborján, Habsburg Empire Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886) was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer of the Romantic period of German descent. He was a renowned performer throughout Europe during the 19th century, noted especially for his showmanship and great skill with the piano. Today, he is considered to be one of the greatest pianists in history, despite the fact that no recordings of his playing exist. Liszt is frequently credited with re-defining piano playing itself, and his influence is still visible today, both through his compositions and his legacy as a tea Anatoly Lyadov Home: St. Petersburg, Russia Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (1855 - 1914) was a Russian composer, teacher and conductor. Lyadov was born in St. Petersburg into a family of eminent Russian musicians.

He was taught informally by his conductor father from 1860 to 1868, and then in 1870 entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory to study piano and violin. He soon gave up instrumental study to concentrate on counterpoint and fugue, although he remained a fine pianist. His natural musical talent was highly thought of by, among others, Modest Mussorgsky, and during the 1870s he Gustav Mahler Home: Kalište, Czech Republic Gustav Mahler (1860 – 1911) was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and conductor. Mahler was best known during his own lifetime as one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of the day. He has since come to be acknowledged as among the most important post-romantic composers. With the exceptions of an early piano quintet and Totenfeier, the original tone-poem version of the first movement of the second symphony, Mahler's entire output consists of only two genres: symphony and song. Additional info here.

Marin Marais Home: Paris, France Marin Marais (1656 – 1728) was a French composer and viol player. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe for 6 months. He was hired as a musician in 1676 to the royal court of Versailles. He did quite well as court musician, and in 1679 was appointed "ordinaire de la chambre du roy pour la viole", a title he kept until 1725. Alessandro Marcello Home: Venice, Italy Alessandro Marcello (1669 – 1747) was an Italian nobleman and dilettante who dabbled in various areas, including poetry, philosophy, mathematics and, perhaps most notably, music. Pietro Mascagni Home: Tuscany, Italy Pietro Mascagni (1863 – 1945) was an Italian composer most noted for his operas.

His 1890 masterpiece, Cavalleria Rusticana, caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and singlehandedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music. However, though it has been stated that Mascagni, like Leoncavallo, was a "one-opera man" who could never repeat his first success, this is inaccurate. L'amico Fritz and Iris have been popular in Europe since their respective premieres. In fact, Mascagni himself claimed that at one point Jules Massenet Home: Montaud, France Jules (Émile Frédéric) Massenet (1842 – 1912) was a French composer. He is best known for his operas, which were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th century; they afterwards fell into oblivion for the most part, but have undergone periodic revivals since the 1980s. Certainly Manon and Werther have held the scene uninterruptedly for well over a century. He wrote the famous "Meditation" for his opera Thais. It has gone down as one of the great violin classics of all time. Additional info here.

Felix Mendelssohn Home: Hamburg, Germany Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 – 1847), born and known generally as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer and conductor of the early Romantic period. He was born to a notable Jewish family, being the grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. His work includes symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano and chamber music. After a long period of relative denigration due to changing musical tastes in the late 19th century, his creative originality is now being recognized and re-evaluated, and he is now among the most popula Jean-Joseph Mouret Home: Avignon, France Jean-Joseph Mouret (1682 - 1738) was a French composer whose dramatic works made him one of the leading exponents of Baroque music in his country. Even though most of his works are no longer performed, Mouret's name survives today thanks to the popularity of the Fanfare-Rondeau from his first Suite de Symphonies, which has been adopted as the signature tune of the PBS program Masterpiece Theatre.Additional info here.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Home: Salzburg, Austria Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791) was a prolific and highly influential Austrian composer of Classical music. His enormous output of more than six hundred compositions includes works that are widely acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. Mozart is among the most enduringly popular of European composers, and many of his works are part of the standard concert repertoire. Modest Mussorgsky Home: Karevo, Russia Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839 – 1881), one of the Russian composers known as the Five, was an innovator of Russian music. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music. Many of his major works were inspired by Russian history, Russian folklore, and other nationalist themes, including the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night on the Bald Mountain, and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition. Additional info here.

Oskar Nedbal Home: Tábor, Bohemia Oskar Nedbal (1874 - 1930) was born in Tábor, in southern Bohemia. He studied the violin at the Prague Conservatory under Antonín Bennewitz. He was principal conductor with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from 1896 to 1906 and was a founder member of the Bohemian String Quartet. Carl Nielsen Home: Sortelung, Denmark Carl August Nielsen (1865 – 1931) was a conductor, violinist, and composer from Denmark. His works have long been well known in Denmark and they have been a mainstay throughout the Nordic countries and, to a lesser extent, in Britain, and rising young conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel and Alan Gilbert are now playing Nielsen's music in the United States.Carl Nielsen is especially admired for his six symphonies and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet. Jacques Offenbach Home: Cologne, Germany Jacques Offenbach (1819 – 1880), composer and cellist of the Romantic era, was one of the originators of the operetta form.

He was one of the most influential composers of popular music in Europe in the 19th century, and many of his works remain in the repertory. While associated with light music, he also wrote one fully operatic masterpiece, Les contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann).Additional info here. Johann Pachelbel Home: Nuremberg, Germany Johann Pachelbel (1653 – 1706) was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most important composers of the middle Baroque. Niccolò Paganini Home: Genoa, Italy Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (1782 – 1840) was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist and composer. He is one of the most famous violin virtuosi, and is considered one of the greatest violinists who ever lived, with perfect intonation and innovative techniques.

Although nineteenth century Europe had seen several extraordinary violinists, Paganini was the preeminent violin virtuoso of that century. Additional info here. C.H.H. Parry Home: Bournemouth, England Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848 – 1918) was an English composer, probably best known for his setting of William Blake's poem, "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I Was Glad" and the hymn tune "Repton" which sets the words Dear Lord and Father of Mankind. While a student at Eton, Parry took music lessons from George Elvey. The instruction was so successful that Parry earned a Bachelor’s of Music from Oxford at age 18. After graduation, he worked for three years as a clerk at the insurance company of Lloyds of London. Giovanni Pergolesi Home: Jesi, Italy Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710 – 1736) was an Italian composer, violinist and organist. Pergolesi was one of the most important early composers of opera buffa (comic opera).

His opera Seria Il Prigioner Superbo contained the two act buffa intermezzo, La Serva Padrona (1733), which became a very popular work in its own right. When it was given in Paris in 1752, it prompted the so-called Querelle des Bouffons (quarrel of the comedians) between supporters of serious French opera by the likes of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau a Sergei Prokofiev Home: Sontsovka, Ukraine Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (1891–1953) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is generally regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. Prokofiev was born in Sontsovka (now Krasne) in the Ukraine. He displayed unusual musical abilities by the age of five. His first piano composition to be written down (by his mother), an 'Indian Gallop', was in the Lydian mode (a major scale with a raised 4th scale degree) as the young Prokofiev felt 'reluctance to tackle the black notes'.

By Giacomo Puccini Home: Lucca, Italy Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (1858 – 1924) was an Italian composer whose operas, including La Bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire. Some of his melodies, such as "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi and "Nessun Dorma" from Turandot, have become part of modern culture. One of the few operatic composers to successfully use both German and Italian techniques of opera, Puccini is regarded as the successor to Giuseppe Verdi. Henry Purcell Home: London, England Henry Purcell (1659–1695), a Baroque composer, is generally considered to be one of England's greatest composers. He has often been called England's finest native composer. Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements but devised a peculiarly English style of Baroque music. Additional info here.

Sergei Rachmaninoff Home: Semyonovo, Russia Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (April, 1873 – March 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor, one of the last great champions of the Romantic style of European classical music. "Sergei Rachmaninoff" was the spelling the composer himself used while living in the West throughout the latter half of his life. However, transliterations of his name include Sergey or Serge, and Rachmaninov, Rachmaninow, Rakhmaninov or Rakhmaninoff. Maurice Ravel Home: Ciboure, France Joseph-Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937) was a French composer and pianist of Impressionist music known especially for the subtlety, richness, and poignancy of his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects. Much of his piano music, chamber music, vocal music and orchestral music have become staples of the concert repertoire.

Ravel's piano compositions, such as Jeux d'eau, Miroirs and Gaspard de la Nuit, demand considerable virtuosity from the performer, and his orchestral music, including Daphnis et Chloé and his arrangement of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Home: Tikhvin, Russia Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 – 1908) was a Russian composer, one of five Russian composers known as The Five, and was later a teacher of harmony and orchestration. He is particularly noted for a predilection for folk and fairy-tale subjects, and for his extraordinary skill in orchestration, which may have been influenced by his synesthesia. Additional info here. Johan Roman Home: Stockholm, Sweden Johan Helmich Roman (1694 - 1758) was a Swedish Baroque composer. He has been called "the father of Swedish music" or "the Swedish Händel." Roman spent 6 years (1715-1721) in England and there studied with Johann Christoph Pepusch and met Francesco Geminiani and the great Händel whose music he admired.

Roman returned to Sweden at the age of 27 and was appointed Deputy Master and 6 years later became Chief Master at the Swedish Royal Orchestra. Aside from being a composer, he was a performer. The violin and oboe were his favorite instruments Gioacchino Rossini Home: Pesaro, Italy Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (1792 – 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. His best known works include Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), and Guillaume Tell (William Tell), the end of the overture is popularly known for being the signature tune for The Lone Ranger. Arthur Rubinstein Home: Lodz, Poland Arthur Rubinstein KBE (1887–1982) was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers (many regard him as the greatest Chopin interpreter of the century). He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century.

Camille Saint-Saens Home: Paris, France Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 – 1921) was a French composer and performer, best known for his orchestral works The Carnival of the Animals, Danse Macabre, and Symphony No. 3 ("Organ Symphony"). Additional info here. Pablo Sarasate Home: Pamplona, Spain Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués (1844 - 1908), was a Spanish violin virtuoso and composer of the Romantic period. Additional info here. Erik Satie Home: Honfleur, France Alfred Éric Leslie Satie (1866 – 1925) was a French composer, pianist, and writer. Dating from his first composition in 1884, he signed his name as Erik Satie, as he said he preferred it.

He wrote articles for several periodicals and, although in later life he prided himself on always publishing his work under his own name, there appears to have been a brief period in the late 1880s during which he published articles under the pseudonym, Virginie Lebeau.Additional info here. Domenico Scarlatti Home: Naples, Italy Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (1685 – 1757) was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. He is classified as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style. His influential 555 sonatas were almost all written for the harpsichord with a few exceptions for chamber ensemble or organ. He was the son of composer Alessandro Scarlatti. Franz Schubert Home: Vienna, Austria Franz Peter Schubert (1797 – 1828) was an Austrian composer considered to be the last master of the Viennese Classical school and one of the earliest proponents of musical Romanticism.

Although he died at the young age of 31, he managed to write some six hundred songs (Lieder) in addition to nine symphonies, various sonatas, string quartets, and other works. With a genius for original melodic and harmonic writing, Schubert is counted among the greats. Robert Schumann Home: Zwickau, Saxony Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856) was a German composer and pianist. He was one of the most famous Romantic composers of the nineteenth century, as well as a famous music critic. An intellectual as well as an aesthete, his music reflects the deeply personal nature of Romanticism. Introspective and often whimsical, his early music was an attempt to break with the tradition of classical forms and structure which he thought too restrictive. Little understood in his lifetime, much of his music is now regarded as daringly original in harmony, rhythm Alexander Scriabin Home: Moscow, Russia Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (1872 - 1915) was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a highly lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Chopin.

Unlike the later Roslavets and Schönberg, Scriabin developed, via mysticism, an increasingly atonal musical language that presaged 12-tone composition and other serial music. He may be considered to be the primary figure of Russian Symbolism in music as well as the progenitor of Serialism. Jean Sibelius Home: Hämeenlinna, Finland Jean Sibelius (1865 – 1957) was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. The core of Sibelius's oeuvre is his set of seven symphonies. Like Beethoven, Sibelius used each one to develop further his own personal compositional style. Unlike Beethoven who used the symphonies to make public statements, and who reserved his more intimate feelings for his smaller works, Sibelius released his personal feelings in the symphonies. These works continue to be Bedrich Smetana Home: Litomyšl, Bohemia Bedrich Smetana (1824 - 1884) was a Czech composer.

He is best known for his symphonic poem Vltava (The Moldau), the second in a cycle of six which he entitled Má vlast ("My Country"), and for his opera The Bartered Bride.Additional info here. John Philip Sousa Home: Washington, D.C. , USA John Philip Sousa (1854 – 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known particularly for American military marches. Because of his prominence, he is known as "The March King". Johann II Strauss Home: Vienna, Austria Johann Strauss II (1825 – 1899), also known as Johann Strauss the Younger, Johann Strauss Jr., and Johann Sebastian Strauss, was an Austrian composer known especially for his waltzes, such as The Blue Danube. Son of the composer Johann Strauss I, and brother to the composers Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss, Johann II is the most famous of the family. He was known in his lifetime as "the waltz king," and the popularity of the waltz in Vienna through the 19th century is due in large part to him.

Richard Strauss Home: Munich, Germany Richard Georg Strauss (1864 – 1949) was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, particularly of operas, Lieder and tone poems. Together with Gustav Mahler he represents the extraordinary late flowering of German Romanticism after Richard Wagner in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style. Strauss's music had a profound influence on the development of music in the twentieth century. Like Mahler, Strauss was also a prominent conductor. Franz von Suppe Home: Split, Dalmatia Franz von Suppé (1819 – 1895) was a composer and conductor of the Romantic period notable for his four dozen operettas. His original name was Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo, Cavaliere Suppé-Demelli. The "Cavaliere" in his name is a signifier of knighthood. He simplified and Germanized his name when in Vienna, and changed "cavaliere" to "von." Outside Germanic circles his name may appear on programs as Francesco Suppé-Demelli.Additional info here.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Home: St. Petersburg, Russia Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) is a Russian composer best known for his ballets and symphonies. In his own words..."How can one express the indefinable sensations that one experiences while writing an instrumental composition that has no definite subject? It is a purely lyrical process. It is a musical confession of the soul, which unburdens itself through sounds just as a lyric poet expresses himself through poetry... As the poet Heine said, 'Where words leave off, music begins.' " Giuseppe Verdi Home: Le Roncole, Italy Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (1813-1901) was an Italian composer, mainly of opera. He was the most influential member of the 19th century's Italian School of Opera. His works are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, some of his themes have long since taken root in popular culture - such as "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto and "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" from La traviata.

Oftentimes scoffed at by the critics, in his lifetime and today, as catering to the tastes of the Antonio Vivaldi Home: Venice, Italy Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741), nicknamed Il Prete Rosso ("The Red Priest"), was a Venetian priest and baroque music composer, as well as a famous violinist. The Four Seasons, a series of four violin concertos, are his best known works and highly popular classical music pieces. Carl Maria von Weber Home: Eutin, Holstein Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst, Freiherr von Weber (1786 - 1826) was a German composer, conductor, pianist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school. Weber's works, especially his operas Der Freischütz, Euryanthe and Oberon greatly influenced the development of the Romantic opera in Germany. He was also an innovative composer of instrumental music.Addidtional info here.

Richard Wagner Home: Leipzig, Germany Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883) was a German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or "music dramas" as he later came to call them). Unlike most other great opera composers, Wagner always wrote the scenario and libretto for his works himself. Wagner pioneered advances in musical language including extreme chromaticism and atonality which greatly influenced the development of European classical music. Henryk Wieniawski Home: Lublin, Russia Henryk Wieniawski (1835 - 1880) was a Polish composer and violinist. He was born into a Polish-Jewish family, whose father, Tobiasz Pietruszka, converted to Catholicism. His talent for playing the violin was recognized early on, and in 1843 he entered the Paris Conservatoire. After graduation, Wieniawski toured extensively, giving many recitals on which he was often accompanied by his brother Józef on piano.

In 1847 Henryk Wieniawski published his first opus, a Grand Caprice Fantastique, the start of a modest but important catalog of 24 opu A History of the Wind Band: English Composers and the Military Band English Composers and the Military Band PREVIOUS CHAPTER - TABLE OF CONTENTS - NEXT CHAPTER Band of the King's Division in York 1 There were two things of interest to be heard yesterday -- Holst's Suite for Military Band at Knellar Hall and Brahm's Third Symphony at Queens Hall... --editorial in The Times (London), 16 Sept. 1920. 1 For almost two hundred years England was devoid of any native-born composer who held international respect. Indeed, from the death of Henry Purcell until the rise of Sir Edward Elgar the music scene in England represented little more than a copy of styles found on the European continent. Finally at the beginning of the 20th century, a renaissance of composition developed that would have a profound impact on English music. While some English composers (notably Elgar) continued to write in the German Romantic style, two introspective elements led to a new composition practice.

First, there was a fascination for the rich musical heritage present in England during the Elizabethan era--an era whose composers wrote in a compelling blend of polyphony and modality. Emphasizing both vocal and keyboard compositions, these composers included Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Thomas Wilkes, Giles Farnaby, and Orlando Gibbons. The second element was a keen interest in the study of English folk song. The craft of folk singers was preserved not only on paper, but also on wax cylinders, a practice that for the first time preserved performances for repeated listening. This interest in folk songs could not have come at a better time, as folk singers and their craft were rapidly disappearing. Just as research in this area was going on in Scandinavia with Edvard Grieg, and in Hungary with Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly, so also in England people scoured the countryside, eagerly pursuing the roots of English music. Among these were Cecil Sharpe, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and a transplanted Australian named Percy Grainger. This stimulus provided the necessary focus for a British sound--a style of composition whose quality was in sharp contrast to the schools of influence led by Schoenberg and Stravinsky.

Throughout the 20th century, music with a tonal center has not been far from the hearts of British composers. GUSTAV HOLST Gustav Holst 2 Gustav von Holst (the "von" was dropped during World War I) had eclectic musical tastes which early on were influenced by Wagner's music, but later led him not only to explore folk song, but even to write several pieces inspired by the Hindu culture. As a young man Holst had to give up keyboard performance because of neuritis in his right hand, so he earned his livelihood playing trombone in opera orchestras such as the Scottish Orchestra, and at engagements at summer resorts. Holst abandoned the trombone by 1903 and began to make his living as both a teacher and composer. First Suite in E-flat It was during this time that efforts were begun to encourage England's best composers to write new, serious literature for the military band. Holst, who was no stranger at Knellar Hall (the military band school), was among those approached. So in 1909 Holst relied on his expertise as a wind player and wrote the first of two suites for band.

His daughter Imogen Holst explains: The lessons he had learnt in writing for children and amateurs proved helpful in his works for military band. Here his players were highly skilled experts as far as their instruments were concerned, but the music they played had to be simple and economical. The First Suite in E-flat was an experiment in form, each movement being founded on a fragment of the opening Chaconne . . . The whole suite is superbly written for military band, especially the scherzando variation in the Intermezzo which exactly suites the brittle texture of the woodwind. It must have been a startling change from the usual operatic selections, and there are bandsmen who still remember the excitement of the first rehearsal in 1909. In spite of its original approach, the Suite never breaks away from the essential traditions of the band, and the March is the sort of music that is beloved of bombardons and euphoniums. It was not for nothing that Holst had played trombone on the pier in his student days: when he opens out into an inevitable meno mosso, it is with the assurance if an experienced bandsman who knows exactly what the other players are going to enjoy.

2 piccolo in D-flat First Suite in E-flat by Gustav Holst The First Suite in E-flat became the cornerstone for twentieth century band music. The simple, straightforward craft of Holst blended elements of traditional form (Chaconne, Intermezzo) with elements familiar to the British band heritage (March) to create one of the most frequently played concert pieces ever written for band. The first four notes provide the motive for all the subsequent melodic material, providing a cohesiveness and stylistic maturity seldom found in previous band literature. Here was a piece that provided an alternative to the operatic transcriptions, simple marches, and period pieces that had provided the bulk of the band literature to date. While the original scoring was typical of the British military band, publishers expanded the instrumentation to fit American bands as observed in the first full score printed in 1948. Premiere of the 1st Suite in E-flat Curiously, approximately eleven years elapsed between writing the Suite in E-flat and its first known concert performance. The same is true of the Suite in F. There is only speculation surrounding the date and circumstances of the first performance of the Suite in E-flat.

Imogen Holst suggests that it could have been written for a special occasion such as the Festival of the People's Palace, in Mile End, London, in May of 1909. The first documented concert performance of the Suite in E-flat took place at Kneller Hall on June 23, 1920. During the subsequent playing season the suite had numerous performances, receiving somewhat remarkable coverage in various newspapers. One account in the Times listed it in the same breath as Brahms' Third Symphony: There were two things of interest to be heard yesterday -- Holst's Suite for Military Band at Knellar Hall and Brahm's Third Symphony at Queens Hall... 3 The Richmond Times listed the following account of a performance: ...a notable contribution was Gustav Holst's Suite in E-flat, a virile and arresting composition. Mr. Holst, who is a force to be reckoned with in modern music, takes a keen interest in the work at Kneller Hall to the extent of personal visits when any of his music is being rehearsed for performance. 4 It is curious how a work of such merit could go unnoticed for so long. Perhaps old traditions truly die hard.

The force behind this and subsequent performances of both of Holst's suites was Col. J.A.C. Somerville who was commandant from 1920 to 1925 of the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall, Twickenham, England. This was the training school for all bandsmen in the British army. - Back to Top - Second Suite in F Reflecting his interest in folk song, two years after composing the First Suite in E-flat Holst took up pen and wrote the Second Suite in F, founding it on Hampshire folk songs. Set in four contrasting movements, he deftly applied his trade to a number of songs such as "Swansea Town", "I'll Love My Love," and "The Song of the Blacksmith". In the last movement he created the memorable combination of two folk songs heard simultaneously, the revolving "Dargason" and the classic "Greensleeves". This engaging combination also found its way into the last movement of his St. Paul's Suite for strings.

Kneller Hall, home of the Royal School of Military Music 3 The Suite in F received its first public performance on June 22, 1922, at Albert Hall for the British Music Society's annual convention. Once again the Royal Military School of Music gave the performance. A program note from this premiere suggests that Holst forgot about the work shortly after its composition: This Suite the (Second Suite in F) was originally written in 1911, and then put aside and forgotten until recently when the composer was appealed to for a work for the military band, and its existence recalled . . . 5 History owes a debt of gratitude to Somerville's interest in the literature for the wind band. His efforts to bring Holst's music to the fore provided the stimulus for other works which soon followed from the pen of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gordon Jacob, and Haydn Wood. Despite the delay in performance of these two suites, rest assured that they quickly gained in popularity, as noted in the program of a concert from 1925: This suite was written by Mr.

Holst, Alsop Lecturer at the University of Liverpool, and one of the foremost British composers, in response to the oft-expressed desire that first class composers would write direct for the military band. As it is, most of the military band repertoire consists of arrangements of orchestral music. Holst has written two suites for military band, and this one has become so popular that scarcely a night passes in the Summer without it being heard in the London parks by one or other of the leading military bands . . . 6 - Back to Top - Hammersmith In 1927 the B.B.C. wrote Holst requesting a new piece for its military band. Holst was eager to accept the invitation, but requested to finish a band arrangement of Bach's Fugue in G Major (BWV 577), a work to be referred to as Fugue a la Gigue. Holst then arranged "Marching Song" from Two Songs Without Words, and the unfinished military band version of A Moorside Suite before tackling what would be his most formidable piece for military band, Hammersmith--Prelude and Scherzo.

7 The piece is technically more challenging than earlier works, due no doubt to the expertise of the commissioning ensemble. Concerning Hammersmith, Imogen Holst writes: The mood out of which the music had grown was a mood that had haunted him for nearly forty years: during his solitary walks in Hammersmith he had always been aware of the aloofness of the quiet river, unhurried and unconcerned, while just round the corner there was all the noise and hustle and exuberant vulgarity of the cockney crowd, pushing and shoving and sweating and swearing and shrieking and guffawing its goodhumoured way. 8 Thus one understands the purpose behind the contrasting elements of the ground bass which opens the Prelude and the busy activity of the Scherzo. The commissioned performance never took place. Because of his death four years later, Holst never heard the music in its originally intended form (he did hear the transcription for orchestra before his death). It was finally published in 1956. RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Ralph Vaughan Williams led a long and illustrious career as a composer.

He and his close friend Gustav Holst were considered to be late bloomers in the field of composition, but once they reached maturity, both were active in composition to the end of their lives. Vaughan Williams outlived Holst by some twenty-four years. Ralph Vaughan Williams 4 Having studied at Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music, Vaughan Williams augmented his studies with work in the German Romantic school, studying with Max Bruch in Berlin, beginning in 1897. In 1908 he honed his orchestration skills while studying with the younger but more advanced Maurice Ravel in Paris. Ever aware of his slow pace to a mature level of composition, Vaughan Williams enjoyed a new stimulus when he joined the Folk-Song Society in 1904. As was the case with Holst, folk songs provided the impetus for a number of pieces, though personal interest led to further development of his own melodic and harmonic style. After World War I a new style developed which was influenced by music of the Elizabethan era of the late Renaissance, as mentioned earlier. This, in combination with his own stylistic traits, created such mystical works as the Third Symphony and The Lark Ascending.

English Folk Song Suite Vaughan Williams' sense of nationalism and patriotism manifested itself in a variety of ways. In addition to examples such as the bugle call in the second movement of the Third Symphony are the pieces written after the war for military band. Having collected over 800 folk songs in his lifetime, it is not surprising that his first band piece was the English Folk Song Suite written in 1923. 9 The suite was written for the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall. According to Vaughan Williams' wife, he welcomed the opportunity to compose a piece for band. A military band was a change from an orchestra, and in his not-so-far off army days he had heard enough of the "ordinary monger's light stuff" to feel that a chance to play real tunes would be an agreeable and salutary experience for Bandsmen. 10 Vaughan Williams used no fewer than nine folk songs to create the three-movement suite. 11 - Back to Top - Sea Songs and Toccata Marziale The following year Vaughan Williams wrote two more songs for military band. Sea Songs is a simpler, one-movement work incorporating the songs "Princess Royal", "Admiral Benbow", and "Portsmouth".

Toccata Marziale, like the English Folk Song Suite, takes its place among the best literature for wind band. Composed for the Commemoration of the British Empire Exhibition, Toccata Marziale provides a different perspective to Vaughan Williams' compositional style. In contrast to the English Folk Song Suite it carries a powerful sound of contrasting masses of brass and woodwinds, supporting an engaging contrapuntal format projected through the use of major, minor, and whole tone scales. Flourish for Wind Band Finally, mention should be made of the Flourish for Wind Band, first performed in the Royal Albert Hall, London, on April 1, 1939. This simple yet elegant piece was composed as an overture to the pageant Music and the People. PERCY ALDRIDGE GRAINGER Grainger on Folk Singers Grainger championed the cause of the folksinger and bitterly denounced the manner in which they were treated as musical and social outcasts: For these folksingers were kings and queens of song! No concert singer I have ever heard approached these rural warblers in variety of tone-quality, range of dynamics, rhythmic resourcefulness and individuality of style.

For while our concert singers (dull dogs that they are--with their monotonous mooing and bellowing between mf and ff, and with never a pp to their name!) can show nothing better (and often nothing as good) as slavish obedience to the tyrannical behest of composers, our folksingers were lords in their own domain--were at once performers and creators. 1 Percy Aldridge Grainger 5 Because of the impact that English folk songs had on his career, Percy Grainger is included in the list of 20th Century English Renaissance composers. An eccentric personality to say the least, Grainger was a music figure of international renown. Born in Australia in 1882, his early piano training was with his mother and Louis Pabst prior to studying in Germany for six years. Upon receiving acclaim as a performer in London late in 1900, Grainger began a performance career that provided the opportunity to travel throughout the world. After making England home for some years, he came to America in 1915, and eventually became a citizen in 1919.

Self-taught in composition, his style was one of innovation, using irregular meter, a wide variety of instrumental color combinations, and experimentation with electronic music. Folk Song Influences In addition to his masterful use of wind scoring, perhaps the most compelling aspect of Percy Grainger's music was his love of folk song. As an early musicologist, Grainger recorded many of the folk songs of England on the Edison wax cylinder phonograph. Indeed, at the turn of the century, folk singing was rapidly becoming a dying art, with a number of his singers being over eighty years old. As an avid collector of folk songs, he compiled songs not only in England, but also throughout the world. As a result, most of his compositions were either directly or indirectly influenced by folk music. Grainger could transform a piece into something of a musical portrait of the individual singer who sang the song for him - his or her "regular or irregular wonts of rhythm", mixed with contrasts in style and "breadth or delicacy of tone". 12 It was Grainger's purpose to recreate a folk song instrumentally in such a way as to retain the original character of the song as much as possible.

That meant that songs would not be "cleaned up" and packaged into four measure phrases, etc., as many other so-called champions of folk song had done. Instead the rhythm, tempo, style, and dynamics transcribed from the song would reflect each inflection, verse by verse, which the singer had presented. The result for the music world was both fascinating and challenging.

Question: Which composer wrote the World’s first football chant?
Answer: Edward Elgar