John Philip Sousa’s marches invariably stir up patriotic sentiments, especially during unsettling times like the present. Yet their pure musical value often is downplayed, and that shouldn’t be. It’s not just any old composer who can fashion one catchy tune after another and somehow make them all stick. And what about those ingenuous, succinct introductions and enlivening counterlines, or the percussion parts that color, comment upon, and galvanize the band without belaboring the point? No podium presence is credited, yet the United States Marine Band easily merits a “good conduct” for its spirited and sensitively contoured performances of familiar and less-known Sousa masterpieces. The former include The Washington Post, Semper Fidelis, the deliciously Verdi-like El Capitan, and, of course, The Stars and Stripes Forever. Nifty non-march fare such as the charming La Reine de la Mer Waltzes and the Presidential Polonaise provides welcome and no less uplifting programming contrast. Note that my rating charitably ignores the three Sousa Band 78s from the 1890s that fill out the disc, because the reverb-laden transfers are inept and unlistenable. [1/19/2002]
