Children's March Over The Hills And Far

Percy Grainger's extraordinary scoring skills permeate this classic, carefree work for symphonic band. Children's March: Over the Hills and Far Away, originally a piano solo, was orchestrated by the composer while he was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Artillery Band. It includes two unusual scoring elements for the time - a prominent part for piano (cued in the winds), and brief four-part vocal interludes to be sung by members of the band (or a small chorus ad lib). Grainger believed that the greatest expressivity could be found in the lower instruments of the band (particularly the lower woodwinds), and Children's March includes a liberal and highly specialized use of the bassoons, English horn, bass clarinet and low saxophones. The march was first performed by the renowned Goldman Band