Sousa's Great Marches in Piano Transcription

Rating:
Summary: Sousa without the Oomph!
Review: And it's not the fault of the editors either. There was such a clamor for Sousa marches after they had been played in public that his publishers, mainly Church Music in Philadelphia, made the bold move of reducing the band scores to smaller pianistic proportions. This creates an imbalance that is hard to correct. Unlike marches by E.T. Paull, Harry Lincoln and others that WERE written for piano, Sousa Marches were carefully crafted to suit the varying timbres of a military concert band. Therefore on pieces like Liberty Bell, Washington Post and Stars and Stripes Forever, much of the variety and excitement are lost along with some of the piccolo or percussion lines. Cymbal smashes are replaced by high chords, and bass lines are simplified for pianists of average skill. Some of the pieces were transcribed in the key of the brass instruments, making them a step higher on the piano. So why buy it? Historical interest, such as the song version of Stars and Stripes, and the short bio of Sousa contained in the beginning. Most of the covers are more or less identical save the title, but they are also included