TRACK LISTING

THE MAGNIFICENT MARINES

Band of HM Royal Marines School of Music

Conductor: Lt Col F Vivian Dunn

 

Compact Disc £12.00

 

Subtitled “The Art of the Military Band—Volume 3.

INTRODUCTION by Brian Culverhouse, EMI Recording producer 1952 - 1972

This compact disc concludes the series of stereo recordings made by the late it Col F Vivian Dunn (later knighted KCVO) for that particular contract with EMI. However, he later conducted several orchestral recordings for EMI and many of these are still available. This programme, as with the others in this series, is wide-ranging commencing with the fanfare from Sir Edward Elgar’s Carillon through to contemporary composers such as Wilfred josephs, Robert Farnon and Laurie Johnson. It also includes three items associated with the West Country all superbly sung by Frederick Harvey in authentic style. To conclude the programme I have extracted the Finale from Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture which includes cannons as directed in the score by the composer. These sound effects were provided by the Royal Horse Artillery and super-imposed on this recording at a later date. The complete recording of 1812 was made by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Constantin Silvestri in the Winter Gardens Auditorium, Bournemouth on 15th July 1966, and it makes a spectacular finale to this programme.

THE ART OF THE MILITARY BAND  VOLUME 3

In Volume 1, Music for a Festival, we provided a number of technically superior recordings that demonstrated the expertise and finesse of a modern Royal Marines band. In Volume 2, The Splendour of the March, we developed this theme further by emphasising a Royal Marines musician’s versatility both in the recording studio and as part of a major live massed bands display at London’s Earls Court arena.

 

Stephen Misson’s favourite track:

Marche des Parachutistes Belges

Here in Volume 3 our intention is to provide some of the highlights of a typical concert hail performance covering marches, traditional British songs, music for film and television and, finally, a magnificent recording of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture when the Band of HM Royal Marines School of Music combined with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra to produce one of the most memorable recordings of this work ever made.

It has never been unusual, of course, to attend a Royal Marines band concert for which a wide spectrum of music is provided, witness the series of Mountbatten Festival of Music concerts by the Massed Bands held annually at the Royal Albert Hall. Thus the programme here is similarly broad — something for everyone — and accordingly we have included three songs by the distinguished baritone Frederick Harvey. Our reasoning is twofold: firstly the excellence of these recordings by one of the finest baritones of the last century. And secondly as a reminder of the numerous performances given by Royal Marines’ bands over many years with the leading singers of the day: names such as Owen Brannigan, Robert Easton, Ian Wallace, Anne Shelton, Doreen Hume and Evelyn Laye come quickly to mind, icons of a past but nonetheless vitally important musical age.

 

Playing time: 65 minutes 03 seconds.

CLICK HERE FOR ORDERING INFORMATION