Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 2, dedicated to Charles Villiers Stanford, was composed and first performed in 1901. It has always lived in the shadow of the more famous March No. 1 but is regarded as the finest of the six military marches by some.

This fine arrangement for Brass Quintet (Trumpet parts are in B-flat) by Charles Decker is appropriate for advanced performers and is about 3 minutes in length.

Gottschalk was one of America's firstimportant composers. His numerous worksfor piano are mostly light. His Marche desGibaros from the Souvenir de Porto Ricotranscribed by Karl Hinterbichler is lively andbright. American born Louis MoreauGottschalk (1829-1869) was one of thegreat pianist/composers of his day. Hebegan his career in Europe but spent mostof his life touring from coast to coast in theUS, as well as South America, and theCaribbean.

He composed more than 100 works whichcombine the typical European Romanticvirtuoso style with musical traditions fromSouth America, the Caribbean, Spain andsacred and popular songs from the UnitedStates.

Originally for solo piano, Souvenir de PortoRico (op. 31), bears the subtitle Marche desGibaros, a reference to the peasants of theisland. The simple melody derives from aPuerto Rican song 'Si me dan pasteles, lesd�nmelos calientes,' 'If you give me cakes,give them to me hot,' sung by strollingmusicians during the Puerto RicanChristmas season. This simple melody isthen subjected to a series of variations. Themusic depicts the sound of strollingmusicians, first heard in the distance,coming ever closer, rising to a climax andthen fading as the Gibaros march away intothe distance. The syncopated rhythmsstrongly suggest its Caribbean origins.

Instrumentation is for 2 Trumpets in Bb(Trumpet 1 doubles on Piccolo), Horn,Trombone and Tuba.

Sousa considered the Semper Fidelis March his finest work. He composed and dedicated it to the U.S. Marine Band in 1888 after a request by President Chester Arthur.

The instrumentation is for standard Brass Quintet: Trumpets in B-flat, Horn in F, Trombone & Tuba with optional piccolo trumpets and optional rubber hose for the horn in the middle section.

Earl of Oxford's March is one of the most well known of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, the collection of over 300 keyboard works from the Elizabethan period of the 16th Century. Mr. Denroche's excellent arrangement for standard brass quintet of 2 Trumpets in C, Horn in F, Trombone (bass clef) and Tuba is appropriate for advanced performers and is about 3 minutes in length.?

Bernard Scherr has arranged six lovely Portuguese Folksongs for Brass Quintet entitled:

1. Mourisca do Santo Jo�o de Braga (Moorish architechture of Saint John of Braga) as a march

2. A Pastorinha (The Shepherdess) - a lovely andantino

3. O Xi-Xi (Wee-wee) - a silly song

4. O ai, o linda! (Oh, the beauty!) - a lyrical romance

5. Coradinha (The blushing one) - a dance-like jaunt

6. Carro amaricano (American Car) - driving around in the auto

These movements are of contrasting styles and will make a lovely addition to your program.

Instrumentation is for 2 Trumpets in B-flat, Horn, Trombone & Tuba.

For advanced performers.

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

Like ?How Great Thou Art,? ?It Is Well With My Soul? is one of the most well-known and beloved gospel songs/hymns, expressing confidence in the promises of Christ ? his mercy, forgiveness, salvation, and eternal Kingship ? despite the trials and tribulations of this present life. The song?s text has its origins in the tragic events experienced by hymn-writer Horatio Spafford (1828-1888), who in 1871 suffered the death of an infant son and the loss of his personal fortune due to the Great Chicago Fire, and two years later suffered the deaths of his four daughters when the sailing ship Ville du Havre, on which his family was traveling for vacation, was struck by the English ship Lochearn and sank in only 12 minutes. Spafford, who had sent the family ahead while attending to business stateside, sailed to England to meet his surviving wife, and on the journey penned ?It Is Well With My Soul.? Philip Bliss (1838-1876), a teacher, singer, evangelist, gospel music composer, and family friend, wrote the music to accompany Spafford?s text and named the tune ?Ville du Havre.? The text and tune were published together in Gospel Hymns No. 2 (1876), compiled by gospel singer/songwriter Ira D. Sankey and Bliss. This enduring hymn?s comforting words have encouraged countless individuals facing their own trials and tribulations; and its flowing, soaring tune is one of the most memorable in all of hymnody.