The Star Spangled Banner and Trio from National Emblem March will be a useful addition to any library but especially for quintets that perform for community functions. Details concerning proper educate for presenting the colors are included in the score as the juxtaposition of these two titles are those that are recommended by the Department of the Army.

An excellent setting of a Sousa march dedicated to the US Naval Reserve. Sousa joined the US Navy during WWI to help train musicians for the war effort. This march incorporates his song, ?Blue Ridge, I?m Coming Back To You? in the Trio section.The arrangement for brass quintet has an optional drum part and optional substitute parts for the horn and trombone.This grade 3 arrangement would be perfect for a patriotic setting or for in commemoration of World War I.

Although ?America? (aka ?My Country, ?Tis of Thee?) has been a beloved anthem in the US for nearly two centuries, its origin is not American at all, and it is not unique to America as a patriotic song. Sometimes attributed to British writer/musician Henry Carey (c. 1685-1743), the tune likely dates to the 17th century or earlier and has also been attributed to the English composer John Bull, the French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, and even a Swiss military melody. It was published in England in the 1744 tune book, Thesaurus Musicus, and it gained immediate and lasting popularity when, with the words ?God Save the King,? it was performed in September 1745 at London's Drury Lane and Covent Garden theaters in support of King George II. Eventually, the tune became the national anthem not only of Britain, but of several other nations, including Denmark, Prussia, and Liechtenstein. After the American colonies became independent from England, a variety of new patriotic texts were written to be sung to the tune. In 1831, Samuel F. Smith, a student at Massachusetts? Andover Theological Seminary, wrote the lyrics today known as ?My Country, ?Tis of Thee.? Smith's words and the traditional tune were one of several unofficial national anthems of the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This attractively harmonized, contemporary setting of a long-lived traditional tune will be a favorite of both performers and listeners at patriotic observances. �Copyright 2015, revised 2020 Todd Marchand / www.ConSpiritoMusic.com

Samuel Augustus Ward (1848-1903), composer and organist at Grace Episcopal Church, Newark, New Jersey, composed his tune ?MTERNA? to accompany the hymn text ?O Mother Dear, Jerusalem? in 1882, and it was first published in 1892. Katherine Lee Bates (1859-1929), poet and teacher, wrote the poem ?Pikes Peak? during a visit to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1893, and it was published under the title ?America? in the church periodical, The Congregationalist, in 1893. Bates's poem, which she revised in 1904 and 1913, was first published with Ward's music in 1910 under the title ?America the Beautiful.? Samuel Ward never met Katherine Bates, having died in 1903; yet ?America the Beautiful? has become one of the best-loved American patriotic songs. This very accessible yet effective arrangement features an introductory fanfare followed by a straightforward presentation of the tune, a return of the fanfare and modulation to new key with extended harmonies, and a concluding return of the fanfare. �Copyright 2014 Todd Marchand / ConSpiritoMusic.com