March (music)
A march is a musical composition with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for lockstep marching of soldiers. As a musical genre, it is a type of martial music, most frequently performed by a military band during parades.
March music pieces vary widely in mood, ranging from the emotional funeral march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk Romantic marches of John Philip Sousa and the militaristic hymns of the late 19th century. Examples of the varied use of the march can be found in Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, in the Marches Militaires of Franz Schubert, in the Marche funèbre in Chopin's Sonata in B flat minor, the "Jäger March" in the by Jean Sibelius, and in the Dead March in Handel's Saul.
Characteristics
Marches can be written in any time signature, but the most common time signatures are, , or. However, some modern marches are being written in or time. The modern march tempo is typically around 120 beats per minute. Many funeral marches conform to the Roman standard of 60 beats per minute. The tempo matches the pace of soldiers walking in step. Both tempos achieve the standard rate of 120 steps per minute.Each section of a march typically consists of 16 or 32 bars, which may repeat. Most importantly, a march consists of a strong and steady percussive beat reminiscent of military field drums.
A military music event where various marching bands and units perform is called tattoo.
Marches frequently change keys once, modulating to the subdominant key, and occasionally returning to the original tonic key. If it begins in a minor key, it modulates to the relative major. Marches frequently have counter-melodies introduced during the repeat of a main melody. Marches frequently have a penultimate dogfight strain in which two groups of instruments alternate in a statement/response format. In most traditional American marches, there are three strains. The third strain is referred to as the "trio".
The march tempo of 120 beats or steps per minute was adopted by the Napoleonic army in order to move faster. Since Napoleon planned to occupy the territory he conquered, instead of his soldiers carrying all of their provisions with them, they would live off the land and march faster. The French march tempo is faster than the traditional tempo of British marches; the British call marches in the French tempo quick marches. Traditional American marches use the French or quick march tempo. There are two reason for this: First, U.S. military bands adopted the march tempos of France and other continental European nations that aided the U.S. during its early wars with Great Britain. Second, the composer of the greatest American marches, John Philip Sousa, was of Portuguese and German descent. Portugal used the French tempo exclusively—the standard Sousa learned during his musical education. A military band playing or marching at the traditional British march tempo would seem unusually slow in the United States.
March music originates from the military, and marches are usually played by a marching band. The most important instruments are various drums, horns, fife or woodwind instruments and brass instruments. Marches and marching bands have even today a strong connection to military, both to drill and parades.
March music is often important for ceremonial occasions. Processional or coronation marches, such as the popular coronation march from Le prophète by Giacomo Meyerbeer and the many examples of coronation marches written for British monarchs by English composers, such as Edward Elgar, Edward German, and William Walton, are all in traditional British tempos.
History
Marches were not notated until the late 16th century; until then, time was generally kept by percussion alone, often with improvised fife embellishment. With the extensive development of brass instruments, especially in the 19th century, marches became widely popular and were often elaborately orchestrated. Composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Hector Berlioz, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Gustav Mahler, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Charles Ives, Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, Alban Berg, Sergei Prokofiev, Paul Hindemith, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Leonard Bernstein wrote marches, sometimes incorporating them into operas, sonatas, suites, and symphonies. The popularity of John Philip Sousa's band marches has been unmatched.The style of the traditional symphony march can be traced back to symphonic pieces from renaissance era, such as pieces written for nobility.
National styles
European march music
Many European countries and cultures developed characteristic styles of marches.Britain
British marches typically move at the standard pace of 116 beats per minute, have intricate countermelodies, have a wide range of dynamics, use full-value stingers at the ends of phrases. The final strain of a British march often has a broad lyrical quality to it. Archetypical British marches include "The British Grenadiers" and those of Major Ricketts, such as the well-known "Colonel Bogey March" and "The Great Little Army".Scottish bagpipe music makes extensive use of marches played at a pace of approximately 90 beats per minute. Many popular marches are traditional and of unknown origin. Notable examples include Scotland the Brave, Highland Laddie, Bonnie Dundee and Cock of the North. Retreat marches are set in time, such as The Green Hills of Tyrol and When the Battle's O'er. The bagpipe also make use of slow marches such as the Skye Boat Song and the Cradle Song. These are set in time and are usually played at around 60 beats per minute if played by only pipe bands.
Those marches indicative of the light infantry and rifle regiments of the Army, like "Silver Bugles" and "Bravest of the Brave", move at a faster 140 beats per minute pace and feature the distinctive bugle sounds common to the bands of these units.