Okay, thought that since this thread has seen a little activity as of late, I would post something new.
The school year is almost done, 3 weeks left, which means that my university's concert band and marching band are putting on their spring performances. I am a member of both, and I love it. The marching band's repertoire for this performance is more exciting than that of the concert band, as we are playing a number of pieces composed by John Philip Sousa.
The first piece is one that should be familiar to all, The Stars and Stripes Forever.
This piece is really the epitome of march music. It is probably the most well known piece from the genre, and the most widely performed. My favourite part has to be the piccolo feature that starts at about the 2 minute mark. It's so complex and beautiful at the same time. It's also a great exercise for the fingers, and a great way to improve the flutter tongue technique.
I also found a trombone quartet playing it - the original piccolo part is played so well by the soloist here, and it must be twice as hard on a brass instrument:
One march that we are not playing, but is still one of my favourites, is Semper Fidelis. This is another march that should be familiar to a lot of people, as it is (I believe it is) the official march of the United States Marine Corps Marching Band.
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