Ancient and Honorable Artillery: Concert Band Conductor Score

Schissel's edition restores this march to what Sousa actually wrote while keeping the work accessible to modern ensembles, cutting through decades of accumulated revisions and transcription artifacts. The piece demands musicality rather than mere technical display, rewarding sections that listen to each other and a conductor who shapes the melodic lines with intention. It's the kind of march that sounds easy until your band tries to play it with style.

Ceremonial without being stiff, energetic without hysteria. The march moves forward with purposeful stride, its melodies unfolding over a bed of harmonic stability. There's dignity here, and genuine pride, but never pretension.

Concert bands at the intermediate and early advanced levels who have moved past march mechanics and are ready to work on interpretive depth. Directors programming a patriotic concert, military appreciation event, or a set of historically significant American works will find this essential.

• Clarify the march's underlying pulse by having the low brass establish a steady harmonic foundation; Sousa's countermelodies sit on top of this bedrock, not within it.
• Shape the main melody as a vocal line even in the fortissimo sections. Sousa wrote for singers and bandsmen; the phrasing should breathe.
• Balance the trio carefully so the thematic material emerges naturally rather than blaring. This section often gets overplayed by ensembles eager to project.
• Use Schissel's editorial markings to your advantage; they clarify what is primary material versus fill, directing rehearsal focus efficiently.

Position this as an opener or closer to set a tone of musical confidence and national identity. It pairs naturally with other Sousa marches but also works as a bridge between a classical work and lighter fare, demonstrating that American band music belongs in any serious concert.

• Phrasing longer melodic lines with natural breath points and peak moments
• Balance and blend in march form, especially balancing soloists against ensemble
• Intonation control across sustained harmonic changes
• Sectional independence and listening while maintaining rhythmic unity
• Stylistic sensitivity to the march genre beyond tempo and dynamics