Triumphal March From Aida

Many composers have written a triumphal march, with maybe the best known one being by Italian opera composer, Giuseppe Verdi for his 1871 grand opera, Aida, where, in the second act, Radames leads the Egyptian army on its return following their victory over the Ethiopians. The triumphal scene gives directors the opportunity for elaborate spectacle typical of the grand opera of the period in the nineteenth century.

Triumphal March from Aida

It often played during graduation ceremonies in Latin America[1] and the Philippines which is also called the Martsang Pandangál (Filipino for "Honours March") which is an excerpt from Verdi's march.[2] The piece is also one of three compositions (the other two being the Spanish anthem Marcha Real and the French anthem La Marseillaise) that influenced the Philippine National Anthem, according to its composer, Julián Felipe.[3] Verdi's triumphal march has also become the background of many a popular football chant, especially in his native Italy.

Among other composers who have composed triumphal marches are Ludwig van Beethoven, Edward Elgar, Edvard Grieg and Alfred Hollins. Alexander Glazunov's is known as the "Triumphal March on the Occasion of the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893".

What is also rather fitting about the music is that it is used in the most lavish of parties, a parallel to the opera itself. The triumphal march comes during arguably the most epic scene in all of opera with a plethora of soloists, choristers, and supers assembling on the stage in the most ambitious productions. It is only fitting that Robin also appear like a mythic hero of sorts in the midst of the friends and family that so adore him.

There is a saying that "the test of great music is that it stands the test of time." While there have been many triumphal marches written by great composers, few are as well-known as this powerful and exuberant march from Act II of Giuseppe Verdi's 1871 grand opera, Aida. This arrangement is orchestrated to showcase the richness and capabilities of the contemporary wind band and is based on the early 20th Century setting by the famous Italian bandmaster and composer Giuseppe Creatore. (5:10)

The Gran Finale from the second act of Verdi's famous opera Aida, composed in 1869, is a complex part of the drama as in one single scene many different characters, all with contrasting emotions, appear on stage at the same time. The scene opens in Ancient Egypt when the Egyptian general Radames and his troops, which have just beaten Ethiopia, come marching in. The Egyptians sing a celebration song for him and there is a sound of trumpets playing the triumphal march to receive the hero. The well-known triumphal march, transcribed in this edition for concert band by Franco Cesarini, closely follows Verdi's original score and will bring any concert to a dramatic close.

The vehicle for my operatic coming-out was "Aida," which Verdi composed in 1871, two years after the opening of the Suez Canal. When Wilfried invited me to join him as an extra, he warned me that the warriors marching downstage to the tune of the famous triumphal march had to hide their fair skin under brown body paint. The trick was, he explained, to join a group of warriors with the least exposure of skin so we didn't need to spend a lot of time in the shower later. Having marched before, he knew what branch of pharaoh's armed forces had to slap on the least amount of body paint. He instructed me to stick closely to him at rehearsal. 041b061a72