March: 1919

March: 1919 is an imaginative recreation of the bizarre occasion in 1919 when a Royal Air Force band played on top of the R33 airship while in flight, as part of a government publicity campaign. The band was crammed onto the machine-gun platform on top of the hull as the giant machine cruised low over Sheffield, Bradford, Manchester and Liverpool in England, dropping leaflets advertising Victory Bonds.

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Level: 3 | Duration: 3:00

Instrumentation
1st Flute
2nd Flute
Oboe*
1st Bb Clarinet
2nd Bb Clarinet
3rd Bb Clarinet
Bb Bass Clarinet*
Eb Alto Saxophone*
Bb Tenor Saxophone*
Eb Baritone Saxophone*

1st F Horn
2nd F Horn
1st Bb Trumpet
2nd Bb Trumpet
1st Trombone
2nd Trombone*
Euphonium
(TC Baritone)
Tuba

Tuned Percussion
Crash Cymbals/Triangle
Percussion 2/Kit

Parts marked with an asterisk (*) are NOT ESSENTIAL, although their presence will obviously enable a fuller realization of the composer's intention to be achieved.

Program Notes
Curly's Airships is a 'songstory,' a narrative work of words and music, about the R101 airship disaster of 1930. Most of the score could be described as being a variety of rock music, but the piece also contains some material for folk instruments and four marches for concert band.