Concert Band
Parademarsch der 18er Husaren
Info
Konrad Neefe, the authority on Saxon military music in the 19th century writes about the composer of the “Parademarsch der 18er Husaren” (“March of the 18th Hussars”): “Of all the staff trumpets of the Royal Saxon Cavalry who, until today, have strived to reach artistic perfection for their bands, Alwin Müller of the 1st Hussars No. 18 in Großenhain is to be mentioned in the first place…” On June 01, 1890 Müller celebrated his 25th anniversary as staff trumpeter. At this occasion, King Albert awarded him the title of “Royal Conductor of Music” in “appreciation of his merits regarding the true fostering of Saxon music for field trumpets and cavalry brass.” It is a rare case indeed that the composer of an army march tells its story himself. Unfortunately the Deutsche Militär-Musiker-Zeitung (German Military Music Magazine) is not precise about the source in this instance. “On Aug. 29, 1870 my regiment was attached to a Saxon infantry brigade. My commander was tasked to find out which troops were deployed in Nouart… We found out that Nouart was held by German units. However, in the course of our reconnaissance patrol we encountered a French cavalry troop. During the ensuing skirmish the French trumpeter was killed. When we searched the French trumpeter… we discovered a book with French bugle calls. When flipping through it, some of the calls caught my attention and I began to whistle them. There the idea struck me to compose a march for a review using these calls… As my regiment was not authorized timpani… I added parts for fanfare trumpets and timpani on demand later on.”