Pops On The March (John Williams & Boston Pops Orchestra, 1980) [FLAC/MP3]

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POPS ON THE MARCH
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Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by John Williams � 1980
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Made up entirely of marches, this recording by the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by John Williams Illustrates the variety that is possible whitin the march form. The recording also reflects the format of a Boston Pops concert, which usually begins with a classical section and then comes up to the present with orchestral arrangements of contemporary popular music.

The recording starts with four European marches with imperial connexions. All the other marches are from the United States.

The recording took place at Symphony Hall in Boston in June 1980. At a break during the sessions, I talked with John Williams about marches. As so many of the greatest hits from his movie scores are marches, I asked if the form was congenial to him. He laughed and assured me that John Philip Sousa’s laurels are safe. "I do not intend to become another March King." he said. "I have scored a number of movies that I thought needed a smart, celebratory march, so I’ve written about half a dozen of them."

(From the liner notes)

Track list:

01 – Under The Double Eagle Josef Franz Wagner [03:18]
02 – Pomp And Circumstance March No. 4 Sir Edward Elgar [05:00]
03 – Coronation March Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky [04:39]
04 – Orb And Sceptre Sir William Walton [06:52]
05 – Strike Up The Band George Gershwin [02:48]
06 – St. Louis Blues March William Christopher Handy [03:02]
07 – Midway March John Williams [04:13]
08 – 76 Trombones Meredith Willson [03:01]
09 – South Rampart Street Parade Ray Bauduc, Bob Haggart [05:14]
10 – Conquest Alfred Newman [03:39]

Total playing time: 41:46

The scans of the original LP are included, as well as a few small images of the CD, but I don’t have good ones. Please share if you do.

Download links:

FLAC (https://ulozto.net/file/VndjfiV2u8Ui/potm-7z) (235.5 MiB) – MP3 320 (https://ulozto.net/file/LHblxJGCWrvK/potmm-7z) (97.8 MiB)
Password: albumnotsong

Williams used the title of this album for the piece he wrote as a tribute to Arthur Fiedler, and "Pops On The March" premiered in 1981. It was recorded ten years later for the CD "I Love A Parade", shared here.

Enjoy.

This 1980 digital recording might be near to the first ever for this orchestra. For the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra it was 1979. This is an awesome Philips title. I have never seen nor heard this one before.

Thanks!

This 1980 digital recording might be near to the first ever for this orchestra. For the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra it was 1979. This is an awesome Philips title. I have never seen nor heard this one before.

You’re right. According to wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_recording),

April 4�5, 1978: Telarc uses Soundstream’s PCM system to record Frederick Fennell and his Eastman Wind Ensemble playing Gustav Holst’s Suites for Military Band and George Frideric Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks. When released on LP this became the first US-recorded digital classical release.

(…)

1980: The Red Book standard (44.1kHz, 16-bit) is established for Compact Disc Digital Audio.

I don’t know which was the first digitally recorded release of the Boston Pops/Symphony with other conductors, but Williams teamed with the Pops in 1980, and their first album was another digitally recorded LP, "Pops In Space", also in 1980. The LP "Pops On The March" would be second, being reissued in 1985 and as CD in 1989.

It’s good that you raised this subject because I didn’t add the date of the CD to the info.

Bless you for sharing this CD,Sir.