Music of the Royal Swedish Navy
Marinens Musikkår (The Royal Swedish Navy Band)/Andreas Hanson
rec. The Admiralty Church (Ulrica Pia), Karlskrona, Sweden, 30 October-1 November 2007.
MIKE PURTON RECORDING SERVICES MPR001 [76:24]
Being interested in Nordic music my main reason for pursuing this CD lies in the arrangements of the Stenhammar and Alfvén pieces. Sadly for me the first of these, the Intermezzo from Stenhammar’s masterpiece, the cantata Sången just doesn’t work. The Intermezzo comes in the original work at the opening of the second part, an interlude between two quite intense sections. Here it loses its meaning and I much prefer its original or even the orchestral arrangement of the piece as a separate work. The intensity of the full work is more evident in the orchestral version. I am happy to say that the other Stenhammar and Alfvén pieces come across well, with Alfvén’s Festspel op. 25 working best of all.
As for the rest of the music, there are some really fine pieces with the opening march Revelj setting the tone for an interesting and varied programme of military music and music for royal occasions. I do not see the need for the ten very short signal pieces at the end of this disc. These would only be of interest to an outright military music enthusiast, but then they only add up to just a few minutes of playing time. The exception is Tapto and then only because it is followed on the disc by a march based upon the signal.
Anyone who has been collecting the Naxos series of the music of John Philip Sousa will be aware of The Royal Swedish Navy Band. They contributed two discs, volumes 11 (8.559690) and 12 (8.559691), and they show the same excellence here as they do in those discs. Their playing is first rate, and their use of marching glockenspiel or xylophone adds to the overall effect of the music. They have been recorded well and The Admiralty Church has a pleasing acoustic. The accompanying notes are exemplary as they offer a history of the band as well as full details about the music.
Stuart Sillitoe
Full Contents
1. Revelj (march) J. H. WALCH (1776-1855) arr. MEDBERG [1:48]
2. Regina Marsch E. URBACH (1872-1927) [2:10]
3. Kungl Flottans Paradmarsch attrib. J. F. WAGNER (1856-1908) [0:55]
4. Korum ANON. [1:43]
5. Svensksundsmarschen ANON. arr. A. HANSON [1:35]
6. Intermezzo from Sången W. STENHAMMAR (1871-1927) arr. MEDBERG [6:07]
7. Med Őrlogsmän (march) G.RINGVALL (1880-1935) [2:45]
8. Festspel op. 25 H. ALFVÉN (1872-1955) [5:26]
9. Svenska Flottan (march) E. HÖGBERG (1869-1960) [4:19]
10. Elegi ur Gustaf II Adolf ALFVÉN [4:12]
11. Marinens Musikkårs Processionsmarsch ANDREAS HANSON (b. 1969) [4:46]
12. Vår Flotta (march) I. WIDNER (1891-1973) [3:20]
13. Flaggmarsch WIDNER [0:55]
14. Sverige STENHAMMAR [2:29]
15. HM Drottning Victorias Präsentiermarsch TRAD. Arr. LUNDQVIST [3:22]
16. Fladdrande Fanor (march) V. WIDQVIST (1881-1952) [3:07]
17. Vivu Esperanto! (march) S. RYDBERG (1885-1956) [2:47]
18. Chefsmarsch WIDQVIST [2:44]
19. Gardeskamrater (march) RYDBERG [3:27]
20. Marinens Officershögskolas Marsch Å. DOHLIN (1921-1997) [2:32)
21. Marcia Carolus Rex W. HARTEWELD (1859-1927) [2:40]
22. Under Blågul Fana (march) WIDQVIST [3:22]
23. Kungssången O. LINDBLAD (1809-1864) [0:55]
24. Du Gamla, Du Fria R. DYBECK (1811-1877) arr. WIDNER [1:31]
25. Tapto (signal) [0:20]
26. Tapto (march) WALCH arr. MEDBERG [4:35]
27. Giv akt! (signal) [0:08]
28. Forstätt! (signal) [0:06]
29. Uppställning (signal) [0:15]
30. Tropp (signal) [0:17]
31. Fyra Appell (signal x 4) [0:21]
32. En Appell (signal x 1) [0:09]
33. Paradmarsch (signal) [0:52]
34. Skepparpipa (signal) [0:18]
