Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) was born to a wealthy industrialist family in Paris on January 7, 1899. His mother was an amateur pianist and piano teacher, and as such musical soirees at the home were a regular occurrence. She gave Poulenc his first piano lessons, which led him to become a capable pianist himself.

Poulenc quickly became caught up in the intellectual currents of early twentieth century Paris, and eventually became part of a group of fellow Parisian composers known as Les Six. The name originated in response to (or in competition with) the 'Russian Five' (which included Rimsky-Korsakov), and the lightness and playfulness of the music of Les Six was a marked contrast to the large scale, and sometimes bombastic, Russian orchestrations. However, even though Les Six was dedicated to turning music away from the syrupy and amorphous world of Impressionism, the members of the group insisted they were simply friends with no communal musical aims.

Without any formal lessons in composition initially, Poulenc nonetheless gained success and notoriety as a composer by the time he was 18 years old, with no less than Stravinsky himself promoting his works. In 1918, while serving in the military, he composed perhaps his most popular piano piece, Trois Mouvements Perpetuels.

As will be obvious while listening to this two marimba arrangement, Poulenc's music is direct and tuneful, considered by many to be his major strength. His music combines wit and irony juxtaposed with the sentimental and melancholy. Using conventional harmonies in unique and clever ways, he produced fresh and appealing melodies consisting of bright colors and clear rhythm.

In Mouvements 1, we hear an ostinato in the lower marimba, while the upper marimba plays a sprightly, albeit quirky, melody. Mouvements 2 is a more moody construction, perhaps even introspective. Yet, in the first two Mouvements, there are no real performance difficulties associated with the music.
Practice time on these two pieces would be well spent on nuancing balance and phrasing. Mouvements 3, however, requires agile 4-mallet technique from both players. The opening bars in the Marimba 1 part, the rhythmic coordination in measures 8-11, 16-19, and 24-27, as well as maintaining the driving and spirited melodic lines are all areas of concern for the performers in this movement.

This piece is dedicated to John Monday and Yu-Yun Chiang, two of the most talented marimbists with whom I have had the pleasure of working.

The Spanish National Anthem arranged for full Symphony Orchestra, there is a short version in my store in case you need it! Just need a sporting event now such as an Olympics!

The Marcha Real (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmartʃa reˈal], "Royal March") is the national anthem of Spain. It is one of only three national anthems (along with that of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Kosovo) in the world to have no official lyrics.

One of the oldest in the world, the anthem was first printed in a document dated 1761 and entitled Libro de la Ordenanza de los Toques de P�fanos y Tambores que se tocan nuevamente en la Ynfant� Espa�ola (Book of the Ordenance of Newly Played Military Drum and Fife Calls by The Spanish Infantry ), by Manuel de Espinosa. Here it is entitled La Marcha Granadera ("March of the Grenadiers"). There is written its score on this book. According to this document, Manuel de Espinosa de los Monteros is the composer.

There is a false belief that Marcha Real?s author was Frederick II of Prussia, a great lover of music. This belief started in 1861 when it appears for the first time publied in La Espa�a militar (The Militar Spain). In 1864, the colonel Antonio Vallecillo publishes the history in the diary El Esp�ritu P�blico (The Public Spirit), making the supposed Prussian origin of Marcha Real popular. According to Vallecillo, the anthem was a gift from Frederick II to the soldier Juan Mart�n �lvarez de Sotomayor, who was serving in the Prussian Court to learn the military tactics developed by Frederick II?s army, under orders of King Charles III. In 1868 the history is published in Los Sucesos, changing the destinatary of the gift with Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea, Count of Aranda. The myth was picked up like this in different publications of 1884 and 1903, until being included in 1908 in the Enciclopedia Espasa.

According to the tradition in 1770, Charles III declared the Marcha de Granaderos as the official Honor March, and with that formalized the habit of playing it in public and solemn acts. It became the official anthem during Isabel II?s reign.

After the 1868 Revolution, General Prim convoked a national contest to create an official anthem, but it was declared deserted, advising the jury that Marcha de Granaderos was considered as such. By Alfonso XIII?s time, it was established by a Royal Circular Order (27 August 1908) that interpreted the harmonization of the march done by Bartolom� P�rez Casas, Major Music of the Royal Corps of Halberdier Guards. During the Second Republic, Himno de Riego was adopted as official anthem, although after the Spanish Civil War, Marcha Real returned to be used as anthem, sometimes sung with the verses written by the poet Jos� Mar�a Pem�n in 1928.

The actual symphonic version of the Marcha Real that replaces the P�rez Casas one, belongs to maestro Francisco Grau and is the official one after the Royal Decree of 10 October 1997, when the Kingdom of Spain bought the author rights of the Marcha Real, then belonging to P�rez Casas? Heirs. According to the Royal Decree 1560/1997, the anthem should have a tone of B major and a tempo of 76 bpm (♩=76), with a form of AABB and a duration of 52 seconds.

Under the Trienio Liberal (1820-1823), the First Spanish Republic (1873?74) (when it enjoyed of a co-officiality) and the Second Spanish Republic (1931?1939), El Himno de Riego replaced La Marcha Real as the national anthem of Spain. At the conclusion of the Civil War, however, Francisco Franco restored La Marcha Real as the country?s national anthem, under its old title of La Marcha Granadera.

Interpretation and etiquette:

Military bands of the Spanish Armed Forces and the National Police Corps of Spain and civilian Marching bands and Concert bands play the B flat-major version of the anthem adapted for wind bands (as arranged by Francisco Grau), and playing the A Major version is optional.

The bugle call "To the Colors" in Spain is the version played by Bugle bands in Spanish churches in religious occasions and processions organized by civil groups and the parishes. Various versions adapted for the drum and the bugle are used, even though brass instruments play the anthem as well. But in some bugle bands, the A flat version of the anthem (the old official one, adapted for the bugle) is played. Only a bugle call is sounded when the B flat version is played.

Being the National Anthem, and in honor of the King and Queen of Spain, it?s a common practice for all to stand once it is played. Even though it is also played in church events, respect for the King and Queen (and the Royal Family as well) is required by everyone in attendance. As it happens civilians stand at attention while those in uniform salute when not in formation.

The current official version, as described in Royal Decree 1560/1997, is a sixteen-bar long phrase, divided in two sections, each one is made up of four repeated bars (AABB form). Tempo is set to ♩= 76 and key to B flat.

The long, complete version is the honors music for the King, while a shorter version without the repetitions is performed for the President of the Government of Spain, the Prince of Asturias, or during sporting events.

There are also three official arrangements: one for orchestra, another for military band, and a third for organ, written by Francisco Grau Vegara and requested by the Government of Spain. All in all, there are six different official adaptations, for each arrangement and length. They all were recorded by the Spanish National Orchestra and the Spanish Royal Guard Band as an official recording and released on compact disc for a limited period of time.

As the harmonization of the Marcha Real was written by Bartolom� P�rez Casas in the early 1900s, the copyright has not yet expired. The government bought it from P�rez Casas? estate in 1997 for 130,000,000 pesetas (~ ? 781,316) to avoid future legal problems. Until it expires, the copyright belongs to the Ministry of Culture and collecting societies charge copyright fees, which has led to criticism.

As a result, many different harmonisations have been devised by performers to avoid paying. Nonetheless, the rights to the 1997 Francisco Grau revision were transferred to the government at no charge, although they were not placed in the public domain.

Need an anthem fast? They are ALL in my store! All my anthem arrangements are also available for Orchestra, Recorders, Saxophones, Wind, Brass and Flexible band. If you need an anthem urgently for an instrumentation not in my store, let me know via e-mail, and I will arrange it for you FOC if possible! keithterrett@gmail.com