An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


News

Sign up for the Marine Band newsletter HERE.

August Web Exclusives

31 Jul 2015 | Staff Sgt. Brian Rust United States Marine Band

This month’s Web Exclusive audio downloads feature a contemporary work alongside an older march. Kenneth Alford’s “The Vanished Army,” written in 1919, is August’s March of the Month and was dedicated to the first 100,000 soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice during World War I. The piece also carried the subtitle “They Never Die” and was a fitting musical salute to all the veterans of the First World War.

Conducted by former Marine Band Director Col. John R. Bourgeois, USMC (ret.), this recording of “The Vanished Army” was performed by the Marine Band at the former John Philip Sousa Band Hall (now Crawford Hall) at the Marine Barracks in southeast Washington, D.C, in May 1985.

Download “The Vanished Army”

The Director’s Choice audio download is the contemporary piece Finding Rothko by young, up and coming American composer Adam Schoenberg. Finding Rothko was his first major orchestral commission, written for the IRIS chamber orchestra in Germantown, Tenn., and its music director, Michael Stern. Schoenberg used the paintings of abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko for his work and the piece consists of four movements, played without break. Each movement is named after the principal color of the painting which inspired Schoenberg: Orange, Yellow, Red, and Wine.

Conducted by Marine Band Director Lt. Col. Jason K. Fettig, this recording of Schoenberg’s Finding Rothko was performed by the Marine Chamber Orchestra at Northern Virginia Community College’s Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in January 2015 during the concert “Primary Colors.”

Download Finding Rothko