I have come up with a quick list of the 10 best military music pieces ever written. These are not pieces that sound good sitting on the sofa in the evening. These are more of the fix bayonet, present arms and advance, strident stuff that you may want to play during a game. Most of you should be familiar with most of them:
1. March of the Charioteers; Miklos Roszas; Ben Hur: This is the best of all ancient style music. Here we come, in your face, trumpets and drums, take no prisoners. Almost no actual ancient music has survived, and what has uses just a few very basic instruments. So, we have to resort to movie soundtracks. There are various other movies besides Ben Hur that you can mine for ancient-sounding music, including Quo Vadis, The Robe, The Ten Commandments, Spartacus, The Gladiator, and so on.
2. Wellington's Victory; Beethoven This is not well known, but it is simply the best piece to play during a horse and musket battle. Besides snatches of national anthems that remind you of which countries are fighting each other, this piece includes frequent sounds of rolling musket fire, as well as constant cannon fire! (As opposed to The 1812 Overture, where it is all packed at the end.) Beethoven wrote this work in commemoration of Wellington's victory at Vittoria in 1813. It is about 20 minutes long.
3. British Grenadiers; Marching Band The "British Grenadiers" is my favorite march, and probably yours too. It is very recognizable, and is often featured at the end of old movies when the relief force arrives. Unlike many marches, which have a Victorian parade ground quality, this has more of an 18th century, out-in-the-field feel to it. The version of it I play the most is from the soundtrack to "Barry Lyndon". This CD is out of production in the US, but a German print can be bought through Amazon for $18. For the Germanophiles, this CD also includes the Hohenfriedberger Marsch by Fredreich the Great. For Francophiles, nothing beats the middle passage of "Marche consulaire a Marengo". This is the piece that is played in the movie _Waterloo_ during D'Erlon's attack. I once made a tape of the best bits of this played over and over again, just long enough to get all the figures moved. Source: "Military Fanfares, Marches, and Choruses from the Time of Napoleon", Nonesuch. And of course, there is tons of bagpipe music to inspire Scottish players. (I've heard that the sound of squealing pigs will work too.) If someone can recommend something for other nations, please let me know.
4. Light Cavalry Overture; Franz Von Suppe Written in the 19th C., but useful any time horses are galloping around.
5. Overture/Theme to "Lawrence of Arabia:" This has that Middle Eastern quality you need for your Arab or Persian armies. The soundtrack for the movie has some other good pieces.
6. Wallenstein's Camp; Bedrich Smetana More of a Horse & Musket piece than Renaissance, but great for set-up time.
7. Battle of the Huns and Hungarian Battle March; Liszt Great stuff. Covers the Dark Ages gap a little. Available with Wellington's Victory on the same CD from the Cincinnati Orchestra. $16-18.
8. "El Cid" soundtrack; Miklos Roszas (the guy gets it!) Here's something for the Middle Ages. The best pieces are probably "Fanfare and Entry of the Nobles" and "13 Knights". Also consider the Opening and Closing Title themes to "Henry V:. "Anvil of Crom" from the Conan soundtrack is also good for grim situations.
9. Great Western Themes - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra I have never hosted a Western game, and do not have any figures, but for the six-gun crowd, this CD is magnificent! 1. The Big Country 2. High Noon 3. Bonanza Theme 4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 5. The Magnificent Seven 6. Once Upon a Time in the West 7. Blazing Saddles 8. For a Few Dollars More 9. A Fistful of Dollars 10. Rawhide Theme 11. The Alamo 12. Gunfight At the 0. K. Corral
10. "Turkish March"; "Ruins of Athen"; Ludwig von Beethoven A must have if you have an Ottoman army. (Which, if you think about it, means you could be gaming any time during about 600 years!) Mozart also wrote a Turkish March, but for piano. Notice that I made of point of not getting into *songs*. That is another whole article in itself.
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© Copyright 2004 Hal Thinglum
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