Concert march

A concert march is a march specifically composed for a formal concert or other audience event. While concert marches are usually written for a concert band, brass band or an orchestra,^[1] some concert marches have also been composed for solo instrument such as piano^[2] or organ.^[3] Prior to 1820, the majority of march music was composed for military use by military bands. Beginning in the 1820s a shift occurred in which mainstream classical composers wrote less frequently for military ensembles but would create concert marches to be played by orchestras as character pieces.^[1] Because concert marches are played by ensembles that are stationary, composers creating concert marches ceased connecting the march to the context of marching feet. This separation from its original context led to stylistic changes; making a clear separation in style between the military march and the concert march.^[4]

In the United States, the popularization of the concert march can be traced to late 19th century with publications like Metronome magazine embracing the form as its own separate genre of march.^[5] With the growing prevalence of concert bands, the concert march developed as a way to perform marches on stage.^[6] John Philip Sousa was instrumental in the development of an American approach to the concert march. Previously the older da capo march utilized a circular structure which Sousa felt lacked a climax inherently within its compositional form. Within the concert march genre, Sousa pursued a new dramatic shape and theatricality within the march which he began experimenting with in the 1880s.^[7] His style influenced other composers of band music in this genre.^[8] Sousa was a supporter of the community band movement of the late 19th century and early 20th century in the United States, and many of his compositions, including his concert marches, became a staple part of the community band repertoire.^[9][8] Many of Sousa's marches for marching band were re-orchestrated by Sousa so that they could be played as a concert march. This required reducing the number of instruments which created a thinner texture within his concert march versions.^[10]

Concert marches are included in the curriculums of school band programs.^[11] As with every single type of march (from Military to Concert to Screamer and contest marches), they usually have an introduction, at least three melodies, and a trio.^[12]

This incomplete list consists mainly of marches identified by their composers as concert marches. Note that many marches originally written for other contexts, such as military marches, ceremonial marches, or works for marching band, have also been played as concert marches; often in adapted versions. This list doesn't include adapted marches and is limited to marches specifically created as concert marches in their initial presentation. For this reason, many prominent march composers like Sousa only have a limited number of works listed here because they predominantly wrote their marches originally for other contexts. Other well known march composers may not be listed at all if they wrote only for military bands or marching bands and never specifically composed for the concert band or orchestra. This list also does not include marches which were originally written as part of a larger work which are often played in concert such as marches written within an opera or ballet or for use in a play. The list may also omit marches which functioned as concert marches but were not specifically labeled as concert marches by their creators unless reliable sources have identified them as concert marches. For this reason the list omits many early concert marches which were written in a time period before the term concert march became widely used.

• Bierley, Paul E (1984). The Works of John Philip Sousa. Columbus, Ohio: Integrity Press. ISBN 978-0-918048-04-2. LCCN 84080665. OL 2876313M. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
• Bierley, Paul E., ed. (1991a). The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music, Volume I: A-N. Integrity Press. ISBN 978-0-918048-08-0.
• Bierley, Paul E., ed. (1991b). The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music, Volume II: O-Z. Integrity Press. ISBN 978-0-918048-08-0.
• Brion, Keith (2018). Sousa's Marches - As He Performed Them. Meredith Music. ISBN 9781574634891.
• Brown, James Duff; Stratton, Stephen Samuel (1897). British Musical Biography: A Dictionary of Dusical Artists, Authors, and Composers. Derby: Chadfield & Sons.
• Cater, Michael (2018). "Expert High School, College, and Service Band Director's Opinions Regarding The Concert March in America: A Qualitative Study" (PDF). International Journal of Music and Performing Arts. 6 (1). doi:10.15640/ijmpa.v6n1a1. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
• Herr, Edwin (2013). "Community bands". In Edmondson, Jacqueline (ed.). Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories That Shaped Our Culture, Volume I. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 979-8-216-12039-1.
• Jagow, Shelley (2007). Teaching Instrumental Music: Developing the Complete Band Program. Meredith Music. ISBN 978-1-57463-201-9.
• Lamb, Andrew (2000). 150 years of Popular Musical Theatre. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300075380.
• Monelle, Raymond (2006). The Musical Topic: Hunt, Military and Pastoral. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-11236-1.
• Newsom, Jon, ed. (1983). Perspectives on John Philip Sousa. Library of Congress, Music Division. ISBN 978-0-8444-0425-7.
• Slonimsky, Nicolas (1900). Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. G. Schirmer, Inc.
• Warfield, Patrick (2013). Making the March King: John Philip Sousa's Washington Years, 1854-1893. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-09507-8.