This started out as a big reaction to a lot of things that were going on. it just exploded out as I was actually feeling really miffed about a few things at the time, and I needed a punching bag. However, I didn't have a punching bag handy so I threw both my middle fingers onto the keyboard and it was a march. It was composed at an unwavering 120 beats per minute with a deliberately repetitive percussion line.
I'm not a fan of marches, there are not many that I really love. For this work, I wanted to hear what I wish a band would play when they step off in a big parade of bands. Instead of belting out a classic march, or even a mediocre one that sounds a bit like one of the classic marches, I thought I would like to hear something different, maybe more cynical. So I let my middle fingers do the talking, I sang cynical tunes in my head, threw notes at the page like a Jackson Pollock artwork, and gave no stuffs to any compositional rules - not that I am in any way formally trained in music theory in the first place, but I'm sure this will make purist music theorists cringe somewhat. I couldn't even be bothered writing key signatures, as I didn't want that telling me when I'd gone off track either.
Also, marches tend to follow the laws of diminishing returns. Everyone knows the starts of great marches, and maybe the first main tune, but most marches are forgettable after that. So why bother prolonging the agony, this one skips through in a lively 3 minutes, the same length as a decent pop song. Anyone cruel enough to make an audience listen to a full march, only to commit to a D.C. back to the start, and play the whole flipping thing again (sometimes graciously enough to avoid repeats) has obviously had far too much exposure to the military world than is advised by medical experts.
Personally, I believe this march will be at its best played with a massed band, with each and every part being doubled up, or more, by players trying to assert their egos over their sparring band's equivalent... all in the hope of achieving a quasi-unified camaraderie.
This march follows the standard sections found in many marches as follows:
- Declare war on the audience
- Give the cornets their little tune
- Intermediate militaristic stuff
- About eight people playing a "bass solo"
- Trio with many more than three parts
- Declare massive victory over the audience
Fendall Hill 2021
A/NZ $40 UK £20 US $25