"Oye Como Va" is a song written by latin jazz and mambo musician Tito Puente in 1963. Mexican-American rock group Santana's rendition further popularized the song, which reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 11 on the Billboard Easy Listening survey, and number 32 on the RandB chart. This arrangement for brass quintet includes the following parts: Bb Trumpet 1, Bb Trumpet 2, F Horn, Trombone, Tuba. It is suitable for classroom, repertoire and recital.

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

?American Patrol? is the best-known work by Frank White (F.W.) Meacham (1856?1909), an arranger and composer associated with Tin Pan Alley, the home of New York City-based songwriters and music publishers who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century. ?American Patrol? incorporates both original musical themes by Meacham and melodies from patriotic songs of the era such as ?Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean? and ?Dixie.? The ?patrol? format was popular in the latter 19th century, and was intended to represent a military band approaching, passing, and fading into the distance. It typically included an introduction played pianissimo or piano, in imitation of bugle calls or drums, then themes played progressively louder until a recapitulation of the first theme(s), gradually fading away and finishing softly, like the march began. Published for piano in 1885 and for wind band in 1891, ?American Patrol? became and remained popular through World War I and II, enjoying renewed popularity during WWII and beyond thanks to a swing arrangement for Glenn Miller's band by Jerry Gray. �Copyright 2013 Todd Marchand / ConSpiritoMusic.com

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