Marche Diabolique: Score
By Brian Balmages
Grade: 2.5
Item: 98-DB1596S
$14.00
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Description
This sinister-sounding march is perfect for directors looking for something completely different. Using elements from a traditional march set in a contemporary framework, the music is based on tritone intervals surrounded by expansive, dark harmonic language. A wealth of percussion adds great color to the unsettling character of the music. Intriguing!
Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Marche Diabolique: Score comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.
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Additional Details
Series:
FJH Young Band
Publisher:
The FJH Music Company, Inc.
SKU:
98-DB1596S
More about this title
About the Composer: Brian Balmages
Brian Balmages has established himself as a composer and conductor working across orchestral, band, and chamber repertoire at all levels. His compositions have received performances by professional ensembles and school groups in venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Sydney Opera House, earning him the A. Austin Harding Award from the American School Band Directors Association and a 2020 NBA William D. Revelli Composition Contest win for Love and Light.
Balmages holds membership in the American Bandmasters Association and received the inaugural James Madison University Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Visual and Performing Arts. He was commissioned by the University of Miami to compose for the inauguration of the institution's 6th president, and his work was performed during the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service. As a guest conductor, he regularly appears with all-state ensembles, university groups, and professional orchestras worldwide. He currently serves as Director of MakeMusic Publications and Digital Education for Alfred and MakeMusic.
Why we love this
Balmages crafts marches with genuine compositional depth, and this one stands out for its willingness to challenge what a march can be. The tritone-based harmonic language and dark sonorities transform the familiar march form into something genuinely theatrical, while the pervasive percussion writing gives your section players real color to shape. Your band will engage with contemporary harmonic thinking without losing the structural clarity that makes Grade 2.5 groups successful.
What to expect
The sinister character emerges not from speed or aggression but from harmonic unease. Dark sonorities and tritone intervals create an almost Gothic atmosphere that sits over the traditional march skeleton, producing something both unsettling and intellectually compelling. The percussion writing adds layers of menace without ever losing the steady pulse beneath.
Who it's for
Concert bands at the Grade 2.5 level seeking repertoire that sounds mature and distinctive without excessive technical demands. Directors preparing festival or contest programs will find this piece refreshingly different from standard march fare, offering students exposure to contemporary harmonic language in an accessible context.
How to get the most out of it
- Balance the tritone intervals in the solo voices with careful sectional work; the intervals themselves carry the sinister character, so clarity matters more than blend.
- Layer the percussion additions gradually throughout rehearsals so the ensemble can hear how each color contributes to the unsettling mood rather than treating them as textural afterthoughts.
- Shape the march's traditional rhythmic framework with slight rubato in key moments to emphasize the harmonic tension rather than playing metronomically straight through.
How to use it
Pair this with a traditional march from an earlier era to create a compelling before-and-after effect on a concert or festival program. The distinctive sound makes it ideal as a contest selection where judging committees reward compositional risk-taking and appropriate harmonic sophistication at the Grade 2.5 level.
Skills your students will build
- Reading tritone intervals and contemporary harmonic language
- Balancing solo voices over harmonic movement
- Layering and shaping multiple percussion colors to support mood
- Maintaining steady march form while executing expressive harmonic tension