Horses and Fearsome Critters
This month’s featured download selections bring to life the horses of the 311th cavalry and the mythical creatures from American lumberjack folklore.
September’s March of the Month, “Sabre and Spurs,” was written by John Philip Sousa and dedicated “to the officers and men of the 311th Cavalry.” The march is still one of Sousa’s most popular compositions, depicting his love of country and horses and titled to reference the cavalry soldiers’ sword and riding prod. An equestrian himself, it is suggested that Sousa crafted elements of the march to bring to mind the natural and ambling gaits of the horses.
Download “Sabre and Spurs”
In September’s New Music Corner, listeners can imagine themselves sitting around the campfire at night with lumberjacks in the frontier wilderness of North America, keeping wary of the fantastic and deadly creatures that live in the genre of American folklore called “fearsome critters.”
Fearsome Critters (2012) was written by Laurence Bitensky and based on descriptions in Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods by William T. Cox (1910), Fearsome Critters by Henry H. Tryon (1939), and The Wampus Society (2011).
The wild creatures’ unique looks and peculiarities were depicted in illustrations by Swedish artist Richard Svensson. The artist brought the mythical creatures to life in black ink: the Squonk covered with warts and moles and gunk oozing from his eyes and the spiked back Hodag feasting on white bulldogs (but only on Sundays).
On why he wrote Fearsome Critters for “The President’s Own,” the composer said:
As something rooted in American folklore, this seemed like a good fit for the U.S. Marine Band. And the “critters” themselves easily suggested musical portraits for me. They are colorful and quirky of course, but I think that they also are expressive of more universal and serious emotions as well. Like the “squonk” for instance, we all sometimes have the feeling of being uncomfortable in one’s own skin. And who doesn’t want to go howling into the night like the “cactus cat” from time to time?
The Marine Band recorded the work in July 2012 at the John Philip Sousa Band Hall in Washington, D.C., and performed the world première of selected movements on July 27, 2012, at the Texas Bandmasters Association convention held in San Antonio.
Download Fearsome Critters
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