Hello, fellow horn players.
A few days ago I perused the archives of the horn list and read through the
numerous messages regarding The President's Own United States Marine Band and
the Marine Chamber Orchestra. As a member of the Band, I would like to correct
some of the factual errors and answer some of the questions which arose.
1. The President's Own is not considered part of the regular Marine Corps.
Officially it is a component of the Marine Corps Reserve but for paper
pusher purposes only.
Members of the Band are in fact members of the U.S. Marine Corps. We are not in
the Marine Corps Reserve.
2. My understanding from talking to the few Devil Dogs that are in the
President's Own is that you can keep the crossed rifles if you are a Staff
Sergeant and above until you are promoted, then you revert to a music lyre.
All members of the band (MOS 5511) wear the chevrons with lyres.
3. Regarding the Gigapan photo of the inauguration:
There are horns on the near side next to the tubas, and there are horns on the
opposite side next to the trombones. What sort of arrangement is that, and who
plays what?
I'm curious about the three people to the left (as viewed) of the
horns, who have no instruments. Surely it doesn't take three to
operate a fire extinguisher.
I am the horn player next to the Marines in question. They are the two
Assistant Directors of the band and two librarians. The Directors are there
because, in all likelihood, they will one day lead the band at an inauguration.
They must observe the event, as inaugurations are high profile and only occur
every four years. It is true the horns were split into two sections on opposite
sides of the band. Some other sections were divided as well. Over the years,
Directors of the band concluded this was the best arrangement of the musicians
given the limitations of the space.
4. Don't expect them to play Bartók,
Stravinsky or any of the More Modern Classical Composers'
music for you.
The band plays a great deal of modern music, more than any ensemble with which
I've worked. Anyone familiar with the repertoire for concert band might assume
this. The Marine Chamber Orchestra does fewer public concerts, as they are
usually tasked at the White House, but a quick skim of concert programs from
the past couple years demonstrates performances of music by James Cohn, Miklos
Rozsa, Ernest Bloch, Aulis Sallinen, John Beall, and Lukas Foss. Anyone may
check the band website at www.marineband.usmc.mil to see concert programs.
5. They have a Pool of about 120 security-checked
string, wind, percussion, harp, and keyboard players, so that
they can accommodate any classical symphonic work. (I was
told that they play a number of works for Baroque Orchestra,
using Chamber String Players and Harpsichord.) For works
requiring a much larger orchestra, they have an Extended
Pool of security-checked musicians.
The President’s Own” consists of about 120 wind, brass, percussion, string,
and combo players and about 30 full-time support staff. This pool of musicians
is necessary to accommodate the more than 800 performances that take place
annually (500 public, 300 White House). We only perform works for which we have
the personnel.
6. Whereas THEY have Admitted to
being INcapable of playing Bartók-styled canons
Composers who submit unsolicited compositions to the band have their music
catalogued and added to the library. These pieces are considered by the three
Directors of the band for future performances. There is nothing in the library
database authored by Bear Woodson. In my opinion, we have played some extremely
challenging modern music in my five years in the band. We have commissioned
works from such noted composers as Melinda Wagner, David Chaitkin, and David
Rakowski.
The band tours extensively in the Fall and the band, the Marine Chamber
Orchestra, and Marine Chamber Ensembles perform regular free public concerts in
the Capital area throughout the year. Marine Band recordings are found in
schools and music libraries nationwide and some selections are available for
free download on our website. The band is full of highly professional and
dedicated Marine musicians. The other military bands in town are excellent as
well. Please check us out if you have the opportunity.
Best regards,
Gabriel Gitman
Staff Sergeant
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