The massed bands of the Brigade of Guards playing as they march from Horse Guards Parade to Buckingham Palace after Trooping the Colour - The Colonel's Review - in London on 4 June 2011.

The bands are playing Blankenburg's march Abmarsch in die Quartiere - Back to Camp. Blankenburg wrote nearly 1,400 marches, not all of which survive. A small number are very well known, but it's not every day that you get to hear this one. This particular march is catalogued as Blankenburg's Opus 61 and dates from 1908.

I've included the march from the beginning. The bands don't come into view until some way through, but it's worth the wait - and just listen to the skill in that writing and the quality of this playing.

In front of the massed bands are five Drum Majors in State Dress doing the State Walk. Strangely, there is no Drum Major from the Scots Guards on this occasion, even although it is the Colour of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards which has been trooped.

It's a tight fit for the bands even although The Mall is quite wide. Just after 01:30 you can hear the Drum Major nearest the camera shouting out a warning to the Guardsman on his left to stand back, and again just after 01:43 to the Officer. The soldiers lining the route were from the Irish Guards.

It is perhaps worth acknowledging that these musicians and soldiers had been on parade for about two hours - and the musicians have played about 50 different pieces!

свернуть