The Vanished Army

Description

In 1918, Kenneth J. Alford wrote “The Vanished Army,” a march subtitled “(They Never Die)” and dedicated it to the first 100,000 men who lost their lives fighting tyranny in World War I.  This tune is both solemn and somewhat celebrational, and is particularly appropriate for any concert in which you remember those who have given their lives in defense of their country or in support of the public welfare, such as first responders.

Kenneth Alford was the pen name for Frederick Joseph Ricketts (1881-1945), who was a celebrated bandmaster in the British Army and the Royal Marines.  Writing under his pen name, he was dubbed “The British March King.” However, as good as his original writing was, he scored his works for military style parade bands of his day. These bands included Db Piccolos, Eb horns, and parts for solo, first, second, and third clarinets and cornets. In addition to cornets, his scoring included different parts for trumpets and for flugelhorn. He would frequently write separate parts for euphonium and baritone horn as well. Ricketts/Alford was a key mover in incorporating saxophones into his bands and his writings, and is considered one of the primary influencers in why saxophones are a standard instrument in bands today.

This newly-scored arrangement of Alford’s somewhat somber tribute to fallen soldiers is ideal for today’s concert bands. Not only is it scored with standard concert band instrumentation, it also had been re-scored in several places to more accurately reflect the emotion and mood as we interpret Alford might have used, were he writing for today’s concert band.  To read a full description of THIS ARRANGEMENT please see our “About This Arrangement” page.

This arrangement is fully SILVER EDITION ready, meaning the technical difficulty of the piece should be well within the abilities of most of today’s community and high school bands.

This arrangement is a Grade III+ difficulty piece, with a plus added to the III only because the trio is in the key of Gb; intermediate-level players might find it to be a bit of a challenge to remember those concert Cb’s.

This arrangement comes complete with a Full Score, a Condensed Score, and a Compressed Score, so conductors can use the version that best suits their style.

AUDIO: Since at the time of this posting, NO ONE has yet played this arrangement, all we have for you as yet is a Finale rendering to an audio file. It does a good job, but it’s not a live group.

This march would be a wonderful addition to any concert with a patriotic or memorial theme, and should be just the right blend of challenge for the band (with the Gb key) and good sound for the audience.

Order this tune for your library today.

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