A Glorious Day, Opus 48for military band
| Written: 1932 | Premiered:
Paris, July, 1933 Garde Republicaine |
| Length: 6 minutes | One movement |
| Publisher: Durand | Dedication: none |
About this Work:|
A Glorious Day was written at the request of the President of American Bands; hence the English title. Though ostensibly a march, this music's roots lie more in the concert hall than in the parade grounds, for Roussel did not write simplified or stereotyped music merely because he was writing for band. The result is one of those rare and delightful band pieces that orchestral musicians can envy; Holst's Suite in E-flat comes to mind as another. A Glorious Day joins Roussel's Prelude to Act II of Le Quatorze Juillet as two short but high-quality contributions to concert band literature.
Many of the devices Roussel used in symphonic pieces can also be found in A Glorious Day. The music opens with a slow introduction reminiscent of the introduction to the third movement of the Suite in F; an accelerando leads to the angular, vigorous first theme in the trumpet (a theme that is vintage Roussel). This theme returns several times in various guises. Another familiar Rousselian touch is the way the music is divided into internal movements that mimic a symphony; other works that use this device include Pour une fete du printemps and Psalm 80. There is even a hint of a typically introspective, darkly emotional slow movement; but, as befits the music's title, this evolves instead into a sunny, serene theme for saxophones that is one of Roussel's most beautiful. This tune is the high point of the piece. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but this music surprised me; I discovered in myself, perhaps, a bit of snobbishness about band music. But not only is A Glorious Day of high quality and thoroughly Rousselian, it is one of his most approachable and easily enjoyable works. In hindsight, of course, I should have been surprised neither by the quality (Roussel was a consummate craftsman, his late start in music notwithstanding) nor by the accessibility (A Glorious Day is contemporaneous with Le testament de la tante Caroline and Trois pieces, both of which are written in a popular idiom). A Glorious Day is available in several versions. Roussel orchestrated it for both French- and American-style military bands. He also made a piano version — further proof, if such were needed, of the quality that he felt he'd built into this charming piece of music. |
How does it sound?| Roussel was not primarily a melodist such as Schubert or Prokofiev; if he were, he'd be much more popular. However, A Glorious Day features a wonderful tune for saxophones (59K WAV file) in the "middle movement". |
Other opinions:|
One has only to hear Albert Roussel's A Glorious Day to realize that here is a march in an advanced musical style which can take its place with the most famous of marches. [Byron Goto and Henry Epstein]
In these pages, in which the sun shines and you can sense the waving of an excited crowd, the saxophone sings one of the passionate melodies that reeks of the poetry of the Rousselian spirit. [Catalogue de l'oeuvre d'Albert Roussel] This work has the coherence and the tonal logic of a symphonic movement.... As might be expected, in view of Roussel's treatment of the brass in his orchestral writing, the scoring is bold and exciting. In A Glorious Day he contrives to obtain brilliance of effect without sacrificing soundness of musical thought, and the rarity of this combination of qualities in music composed for this medium enhances the value of his contribution to the repertoire. [Basil Deane]
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