March Transforms

Complete Work Title:

March Transforms — a deconstruction of John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever”

Performance Medium:

wind ensemble: piccolo, 3 flutes, 2 oboes, Eb clarinet, 3 Bb clarinets, Eb alto clarinet, Bb bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, 3 Bb trumpets, 4 horns, 3 trombones, euphonium, tuba, 6 percussion.

Duration:

6:00

Date Composed:

October 1985 – January 1986; rev. December 1993

Dedication:

to Cindy Earnest and the UCSD Wind Ensemble

Additional Information:

Featured work at the Virginia College Band Directors National Association “Symposium XII for New Band Music” (1987).
Grand Prize Winner, Third Annual Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Student Composition Competition (1989).

Program Note:

March Transforms was composed between October of 1985 and January of 1986 for the UC San Diego Wind Ensemble at the request of the director, Cindy Earnest, to whom the work is dedicated. The work was first performed by that ensemble on 2 March 1986, and was subsequently selected by the Virginia Band Director’s National Association for presentation at the “Symposium XII for New Band Music” in February of 1987. It has since been perfomed by several major university wind ensembles throughout the country. In 1989, March Transforms received the Grand Prize Award in the Third Annual Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonian Competition.

The structure of the work is based entirely upon that of John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” March, evidenced (at least fundamentally) in nearly every aspect of the work’s construction, including form, pitch, rhythm, and even instrumentation. The result is not so much a march in itself, as it is a distillation of the Sousa classic.

Performance/Broadcast History:

Date	Venue	Location	Performer(s)
20 April 1999	Towson University—Towson University 20th Century Music Festival	Towson, MD	Towson University Symphonic Band; Dana Rothlisberger, conductor
7 April 1994	Music Educators National Conference	Cincinnati, OH	Morehead State University Symphony Band; Richard B. Miles, conductor
6 April 1994	Northern Kentucky University	Highland Heights, KY	Morehead State University Symphony Band; Richard B. Miles, conductor
5 April 1994	Bedford-North Lawrence High School	Bedford, IN	Morehead State University Symphony Band; Richard B. Miles, conductor
5 April 1994	Jeffersonville High School	Jeffersonville, IN	Morehead State University Symphony Band; Richard B. Miles, conductor
4 April 1994	Meade County High School	Brandenburg, KY	Morehead State University Symphony Band; Richard B. Miles, conductor
4 April 1994	Bourbon County High School	Paris, KY	Morehead State University Symphony Band; Richard B. Miles, conductor
15 March 1994	Morehead State University—MSU New Music Festival	Morehead, KY	Morehead State University Symphony Band; Joseph Klein, conductor
15 October 1989	San Diego State University	San Diego, CA	SDSU Wind Symphony; Harold Warman, conductor
7 February 1989	Indiana University	Bloomington, IN	Indiana University Symphonic Band; Ray E. Cramer, conductor
11 November 1988	Northwestern University—Midwest Composers Symposium	Evanston, IL	Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble; John Paynter, conductor.
14 February 1987	Old Dominion University—Symposium XII for New Band Music	Norfolk, VA	Virginia Intercollegiate Band; Joseph Klein, conductor
5 June 1986	University of California, San Diego	La Jolla, CA	UC San Diego Wind Ensemble; Cindy Earnest, conductor
2 March 1986	University of California, San Diego	La Jolla, CA	UC San Diego Wind Ensemble; Cindy Earnest, conductor