The Earle of Oxford’s Marche from Suite William Byrd by Gordon Jacob, performed by Frederick Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble from the album British and American Band Classics.
This is my first band nerd selection. Rediscovered by me and my college music major band mates, Frederick Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble set the early standard for recorded band literature. Recorded in the late 50’s, these albums have amazing fidelity and the MLP label was famous for it’s “natural sound” achieved with bands and orchestras. Many hours were spent listening and conducting to this piece in front of a mirror in preparation for my student conducting debut in college. Some insight about the piece from Andy Pease below:
The William Byrd Suite is remarkable for showcasing the talents of 2 composers: the titular William Byrd (1540-1623), an English Renaissance composer and a founder of the English Madrigal School; and Gordon Jacob (1895-1984), a 20th century British composer who, along with Holst and Vaughan Williams, is known as an early champion of the wind band and a skilled composer in the medium. Jacob assembled the suite in 1923, most likely as part of the festivities for the tercentenary of Byrd’s death. He “freely transcribed” it from six pieces of Byrd’s keyboard work that appeared in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, a contemporary collection of almost 300 pieces written between about 1562 and 1612. This collection contained keyboard works of more than a dozen composers. While the collection had the virginal – a keyboard instrument that is essentially a portable harpsichord – in mind as its medium, the compositions inside could have been played on any contemporary keyboard instrument.
Song a Day 2020 