The Free Lance March - John Philip Sousa (1906)

Although Sousa is remembered primarily for his marches, he wrote a considerable amount of music of other types, including several operettas. One of these, titled The Free Lance, concerned a gathered who left his goats, hired himself out as a (free lance) mercenary leader of two rival armies, maneuvered his troops so that neither side could win, and declared himself emperor of both countries. In 1906 Sousa pieced several of the operetta tunes together in composing this march.

Armenian Dances, Part II - Alfred Reed (1978)

The Armenian Dances, Parts I and 11, constitute a four-movement suite for band based on authentic Armenian folk songs from the collected works of Gomidas Vartabed (1869-1935), the founder of Armenian classical music. Part Two consists of the second, third, and fourth movements. While the composer has kept his treatment of the melodies within the general limits imposed by its vocal, folk-song nature, he has not hesitated to expand the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic possibilities in keeping with the demands of a symphonic-instrumental performance. Armenian Dances is dedicated to Harry Begian and was premiered by the University of Illinois Symphonic Band in 1978. (Alfred Reed) American 

Salute - Morton Gould (1943)

Morton Gould's music is unique in its Americanism and in the seemingly endless wealth of creativity displayed by the composer. Like much of his music, American Salute is semi-serious in nature and reflects Gould's uncanny skill in thematic development. Using only "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again," for melodic resources, he contrives a brilliant fantasy. Originally written for orchestra and transcribed for band, American Salute has become a program favorite for both bands and orchestras.

Colonial Song - Percy Grainger (published in 1962)

Grainger began his musical career as a concert pianist, coming to the United States in 1915 and winning acclaim for his playing. At the outbreak of WW I he enlisted as an Army Bandsman and taught at the Army Music School. For some time he was professor and head of the music department at New York University. Grainger was a remarkable innovator and an extraordinary but eccentric pianist and arranger of folk music. Colonial Song is one of the very few original compositions of Percy Grainger, a piece written for and about the people of his native Australia

Finale from Symphony #5 - Dmitri Shostakovich (transcribed by Righter/Schaefer, 1970)

Of the fifteen symphonies of Shostakovich, the Fifth is the most often performed. First played in 1937, this work re-established Shostakovich in the good graces of the Soviet government after much criticism of his previous work, and won him a firm place among the world's first-class composers. Because of the somewhat heroic nature of the music, the Finale seems especially well-adapted to performance by the concert band. Much of the movement is derived from the first few notes of the opening theme, and the ending provides one of the most thrilling climaxes in the band repertoire, stating the main theme in augmented form over a continually more insistent rhythmic pattern.

Program notes by Gerald Zaffuts