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The Marine Chamber Orchestra performed Carl Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto, Opus 57 on Feb. 8, 2015 at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Va.

Photo by SSgt Brian Rust

June Audio Includes Sousa March and Clarinet Concerto

1 Jun 2015 | Staff Sgt. Brian Rust United States Marine Band

This month’s March of the Month is John Philip Sousa’s “The Gallant Seventh.” The march takes its title from the 7th Regiment, 107th Infantry, of the New York National Guard, whose history can be traced back to the Civil War. Major Francis Sutherland, a former Sousa Band cornetist, was the conductor of the famous 7th Regiment band. After Sutherland became bandmaster, the regiment’s commanding officer, Col. Wade H. Hayes, made a formal request of Sousa for a march. Sousa was happy to pay tribute to the outstanding regiment and one of his band’s alumni, and was later named an honorary bandmaster of the regiment.

Conducted by former Marine Band Director Col. Timothy W. Foley, USMC (ret.), this recording of “The Gallant Seventh” was performed by the Marine Band at the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park on Feb. 8, 2004.

Download “The Gallant Seventh”

The Featured Soloist audio download is Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto, Opus 57, performed by co-principal clarinet Staff Sgt. Patrick Morgan. The through-composed work requires exceptionally virtuosic playing by the soloist, and was originally written for clarinetist Aage Oxenvad of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet. Oxenvad has been described as having a “somewhat choleric temperament,” a person “warm at heart” but “always obstinate,” and the concerto most likely captured some of that personality, especially with its approach to conflict and the lack of resolution.

Conducted by Marine Band Assistant Director Maj. Michelle A. Rakers, this recording of Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto, Opus 57, was performed by the Marine Chamber Orchestra at Northern Virginia Community College’s Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in Alexandria on Feb. 8, 2015 during the concert “Sibelius and Nielsen: 150 Years.”

Download Clarinet Concerto, Opus 57

Watch the performance on YouTube