Hands Across the Sea [Elektra/Asylum]

Read About This Recording

John Philip Sousa was a showman, but he was also a smart man who understood how music can span oceans and that theme is made patently clear in this incredible disc of 25 of his marches played by the Band of the Grenadier Guards. This legendary band, which can trace its roots to the 17th century, has a typically British sound and when you hear it applied to some of Sousa's greatest works you will fully understand Sousa's idea to “swear an eternal friendship.”

The disc's title track "Hands Across the Sea" opens the recording and the program ends with "The Stars and Stripes Forever," the perfect bookends for the amazing collection of Sousa favorites that fills this recording. With brass bands the sound is so important, and any connoisseur of sound will revel in the richness of this recording. On the wings of Sousa's music, you will be transported to England.

Understanding composers is not always easy, but with Sousa's idea of bridging the watery gap between nations, this disc paints a clear picture of music's power.

—Jacob Anthony

Contents

Hands Across the Sea; Imperial Edwards March; The Thunderer; The Belle of Chicago; The Invincible Eagle; The White Plume March; The Fairest of the Fair; From Maine to Oregon March; The Gladiator March; The Dauntless Battalion; The Washington Post; The Lambs' March; Manhattan Beach; The Review; King Cotton; Power and Glory (March of the Mitten Men); The High School Cadets; A Century of Progress; Semper Fidelis; The Crusader; "El Capitan" March; Daughters of Texas; The Liberty Bell; Sabre and Spurs (March of the American Cavalry); The Stars and Stripes Forever.

The Band of the Grenadier Guards; Major Philip E. Hills, Conductor.