Album

Chandos' Experiments on a March is a thematic compilation by Clark Rundell and the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra that explores march parodies and distortions. It gets its title from a work by German composer Marcel Wengler written in 1981, yet the compass of it stretches back into the nineteenth century with marches by Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner. These fit the bill a little less readily than the twentieth century pieces, which include the Country Band March of Charles Ives, Steven Stucky's retread of Purcell's Music for Queen Mary, Mauricio Kagel's Zehn Märsche un den Sieg zu verfehlen, and Kurt Weill's Berlin im Licht, better known as a solo song.

Ives' Country Band March is heard here in a newly minted version for band dished up by Ives scholar James Sinclair; the original is for theater orchestra. This is certainly the tidiest Country Band March ever put on record; other recordings of this piece seem more loose and dense, perhaps reflecting the arranger's preferences in terms of relating the textual clarity of the piece. To an experienced Ivesian, rowdier is better, but this realization might well connect with listeners who don't need quite as much clangor as offered in Ives' original. Kagel's 10 marches are scattered throughout the disc in sub-groups, and these pieces present standard march phrases as broken up entities, colliding into, and falling away from, one another. Like the Ives, these pieces are a bit easier to take than most Kagel. The same can be said of the Wengler and Stucky, and Weill's little piece sounds just like Weill echt 1928, from the period of Die Dreigroschenoper. Experiments on a March is pleasant to listen to, and Rundell deserves kudos for given credit to band fanciers for enjoying music that is a bit more challenging than the average march compilation. But for anyone looking for something truly "experimental" here, Experiments on a March will seem a little strait-laced—given the basic idea and front cover image, Chandos could have "gone for it" a bit more, and the Wagner and Bruckner seem more than a little out of place. Chandos' recording, too, is a tad conservative; despite being of a symphonic wind band, Experiments on a March never gets truly loud.

© Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide

CD 1
Charles Edward Ives Composer Country Band March, for theater orchestra, S.36 Work Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra Orchestra, Clark Rundell Conductor
1	Country Band March, for theater orchestra, S.36	4:24			$0.99
Steven Stucky Composer Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary, for wind ensemble (after Purcell) Work 8:35 Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra Orchestra, Clark Rundell Conductor
2	March. Grave -	2:55			$0.99
3	Anthem. Poco più mosso -	2:15			$0.99
4	Canzona. Moderato - Tempo 1	2:30			$0.99
5	March	0:55			$0.99
Mauricio Kagel Composer 10 Marches to Miss the Victory, for winds and percussion Work 6:56 Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra Orchestra, Clark Rundell Conductor
6	Marsch 1. Allegro	2:17			$0.99
7	Marsch 2. Allegro	1:56			$0.99
8	Marsch 3. Vivace	1:20			$0.99
9	Marsch 4. Vivace	1:23			$0.99
Richard Wagner Composer Huldigungsmarsch, for military band in Eb, WWV 97 Work Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra Orchestra, Clark Rundell Conductor
10	Huldigungsmarsch, for military band in Eb, WWV 97	5:42			$0.99
Mauricio Kagel Composer 10 Marches to Miss the Victory, for winds and percussion Work 5:52 Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra Orchestra, Clark Rundell Conductor
11	Marsch 5. Moderato. Allegro. Tempo 1 (Moderato)	1:39			$0.99
12	Marsch 6. Allegretto. Più mosso	1:14			$0.99
13	Marsch 7. Andantino	1:40			$0.99
14	Marsch 8. Vivace. Meno mosso	1:19			$0.99
Richard Wagner Composer Trauermusik, for band (based on Weber's 'Euryanthe'), WWV 73 Work Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra Orchestra, Clark Rundell Conductor
15	Trauermusik, for band (based on Weber's 'Euryanthe'), WWV 73	5:14			$0.99
Mauricio Kagel Composer 10 Marches to Miss the Victory, for winds and percussion Work 4:12 Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra Orchestra, Clark Rundell Conductor
16	Marsch 9. Wie ein Kondukt. Marcia funebre	3:07			$0.99
17	Marsch 10. Allegro	1:05			$0.99
Anton Bruckner Composer March in Eb, for concert band, WAB116 Work Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra Orchestra, Clark Rundell Conductor
18	March in Eb, for concert band, WAB116	2:53			$0.99
Kurt Weill Composer Berlin im Licht, march for military band Work Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra Orchestra, Clark Rundell Conductor
19	Berlin im Licht, march for military band	1:26			$0.99
Marcel Wengler Composer Versuchte über einen Marsch, for band Work 16:01 Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra Orchestra, Clark Rundell Conductor
20	Marsch, oder 'die Versuchung' - Trio - Marsch	3:29			$0.99
21	Erster Versuch -	1:58			$0.99
22	Zweiter Versuch -	2:02			$0.99
23	Dritter Versuch -	1:43			$0.99
24	Vierter Versuch -	2:03			$0.99
25	Fünfter Versuch -	1:55			$0.99
26	Letzter Versuch	2:51			$0.99