Royal Air Force March Past Saxophone Quartet - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.764660

The Royal Air Force March Past is the official march of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and is used in some other Commonwealth air forces. The original score was completed by Sir Walford Davies in 1918 for the new RAF; it combined the rhythm of the bugle call of the Royal Flying Corps with that of the Royal Naval Air Service. The call appears in both the introduction and the coda. The second part of the march past, the trio, was composed by Sir George Dyson. The march can be played both as a slow march and a quick march, and has been used as both when the Queen’s Colour Squadron and RAF Central Band perform public duties such as mounting the guard at Buckingham Palace. Authority was granted in February 1943 by His Majesty’s Stationary Office to publish the "RAF March Past" piece in Canada under the title RCAF March Past. It was the official march of the Royal Canadian Air Force until the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces in 1968. It continued to be the authorized march of Air Command and the Air Operations Branch of the Canadian Forces from 1968-2011. In 2011 Air Command reverted its name to Royal Canadian Air Force and the RCAF March Past continues as the official march of the RCAF. It is also the official march of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and the Air Force Association of Canada. Sir Henry Walford Davies KCVO OBE (1869–1941) was a British composer, who held the title Master of the King's Musick from 1934 until 1941. This SATB Saxophone Quartet arrangement was written in 2008. I heard this piece of music often when I was growing up in Toronto. My father, Ronald Pybus, served with distinction in the Royal Air Force, Squadron 218 (The Gold Coast Squadron) during WWII. Most of the time he flew missions over Germany in the Avro Lancaster, operating as the front gunner and bombardier. Fortunately, both he and my mother survived the war, emigrated from England to Canada shortly after it ended, and began building a life for themselves in their newly adopted country. My older brother and I were exposed to a great deal of music in our household; though neither of our parents were musicians (my mother had played piano as a young girl). Much of that music was from the classical repertoire, mixed with a fairly healthy dose of military music and music of the big band era. It was through that early exposure that I was inspired later on to become a musician and music educator. I will always be grateful to my parents for instilling in me a love and appreciation of good music. Duration 1:53 contact me at james.pybus56@gmail.com.