Category: MARCHES Composer: William Walton Arranger: Philip Littlemore
Duration : 7.00
William Walton composed his Crown Imperial for performance at the coronation of King Edward VIII, which was scheduled for the 12th May 1937. However, due to the dramatic abdication of Edward, it was in fact performed at the Coronation of the new monarch, King George VI, which took place on the same scheduled date. The march became popular immediately, and arrangements for piano solo, organ, small orchestra and military band were all published within a year. It has been used at all Royal events since, most notably the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. This new brass band transcription is in keeping with the shorter, 6-minute concert version that Walton created immediately following the Coronation of George VI. However, the scoring is more in keeping with contemporary brass band voicings, corrects errors in the previous brass band transcription, and provides a much more exciting version for brass band.
This march was written as a tribute to Bandmaster Arthur Gullidge and his company of Australian Salvationist musicians who perished during World War Two. The composer deliberately reproduced the general characteristics of Gullidge's own distinctive style of march writing.
March Card size - please note that there is no full score for this work. Traditionally conductors have useda cued Solo Cornet part to rehearse with.
You can view the Solo Cornet part as a PDF image of this work on your computer, by clicking on the "MORE DETAILS" button on the right - this will the PDF image for you to sample.
This march is based on the hymn tune 'Ascalon' named after the Palestinian city which was of strategic importance in the Crusader Wars. The tune is also called 'The Crusader's Hymn' and was used as such by Franz Liszt in his oratorio 'St. Elizabeth'. The melody is seldom absent and it can be heard in some form or other throughout the march.
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