Meyerbeer: Le prophète: Coronation March

A romp through the gamut of concert band marches – Sousa, Alford et al and some intriguing arrangements of marches from the core classical canon. The choice of RM Band is also intriguing – this particular band was merged with the other Marines bands in 1983, a victim of that year’s strategic defence review.

Harry Mortimer’s name is synonymous with the brass band movement and he was hugely responsible for bringing its music to a larger audience. He achieved this, in particular, through the many concerts and tours he made with his massed bands. Tragically, there are very few Mortimer CDs available today and this Heritage release, featuring three of his ensembles, attempts to redress the balance.

This collection of classic marches takes us around the world and across the centuries, from Elizabethan England to Romantic Russia. The pieces range from John Williams’ Superman March to Eric Coates’ Dam Busters March and Strauss’ Radetzky March.

In 2008 Challenge Classics released a very popular, limited edition of The Original Recordings 1950-1960 of the legendary Dutch conductor Willem van Otterloo with The Hague Philharmonic. This eagerly anticipated new seven-CD set presents a broader perspective, and features four renowned orchestras with which he conducted and recorded, including the Royal Concertgebouw, the Vienna Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Hague Philharmonic.

Willem Van Otterloo (1907-1978) was born in Winterswijk, Gelderland, in the Netherlands. While playing as a cellist in the Utrecht Stedelijk Orkest, he won a composition prize from the Concertgebouw Orchestra for his Suite No. 3, which he presented in his 1932 conducting debut. He held posts with the Utrecht Stedelijk Orkest, before being appointed chief conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Hague (1949-1973).

Challenge Classics have also issued a disc of Van Otterloo’s compositions, performed by the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra (CC72180).