Henry Fillmore This PowerPoint presentation focuses the many characters of Henry Fillmore, concert march
Arranged by Frederick Fennell form, the other march kings, sound files, and a newscast from his hometown of Cincinnati.
Piece Duration: 3 minutes All Powerpoints contain director notes, and resources.
Presentation Duration: 40-45 minutes
4. Americans We!
• Fillmore Band
• The Cincinnati Zoo or Pure
Food and Health
• Americans We! – 1929
• “Screamer”
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5. MILITARY CONCERT MARCH FORM
I
Introduction - Introduction meas. 1-4
A
First Strain - First Strain meas. 5-20
B
Second Strain - Second Strain meas. 21-37
C
Trio - Trio meas. 38-70
D
Break Strain
“Dog fight”
- Break Strain or Dog Fight meas. 71-87
C
Final Strain - Final Strain meas. 88-119
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5
6. Dogfight!
D
Break Strain
“Dog fight”
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7. Final Strain
C
Final Strain
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8. More Fillmore
• Pen names
• University of Miami
• Other Compositions
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10. Related Information
• March Kings
• Sonata Form
• Hallelujah Trombone!
• YouTube.com
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11. Resources Cited
• Bierley, P. E. (1982). Hallelujah Trombone ! The Story of Henry Fillmore.
Columbus: Integrity press.
• Brock, H (2007). A Composer by any Other Name is Still a Composer. Retrieved December
21, 2007 from www.gabbf.com/weird.htm
• Hirsh, J. (2007). Cincinnati's March King, Henry Fillmore. Retrieved December 22, 2007
from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJkSSz40a_4
• Hymns and Carols of Christmas , The (2007). James Henry Fillmore Snr. Retrieved
December 21, 2007 from www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com
• No Author (2007). American March Music. Retrieved December 22, 2007 from
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_march_music
• No Author (2007). Frost School of Music History. Retrieved December 22, 2007 from
http://www.music.miami.edu/f_s_history.html
• No Author (2007). Henry Fillmore. Retrieved December 22, 2007 from
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fillmore
• No Author (2007). Henry Fillmore. Retrieved December 21, 2007 from
www.meridiancommunityband.org/mcb_fillmore.html
• No Author (2007). March Kings. Retrieved December 22, 2007 from
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_Kings
• Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary Composer Biographies (2007). Henry Fillmore.
Retrieved December 22, 2007 from www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/appendix
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Editor's Notes
Americans We! by Henry Fillmore (1929) Piece Duration: ~3 minutes Presentation Duration: 40-45 minutes
- James Henry Fillmore Jr. was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 3, 1881. Growing up he played and mastered the piano, guitar and flute. He began composing at the age of 18, and studied trombone and composition for a short time at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Growing up, Henry secretly played the slide trombone, secretly because his conservative religious father believed it an uncouth and sinful instrument. James Henry Fillmore Senior was Henry’s father and not very fond of his son’s lifestyle. He was also heard to have said that the trombone was played by street performers, who he also associated with alcohol. He owned a publishing company, which Henry worked for little while, but left after a heated argument. The argument was concerning the “evils” of his writing of band music, and his disappointment in Henry’s personal life. Henry ended up marrying a Mabel May Jones (who happened to be an exotic show dancer), and literally running away with the Circus (Lemon Brothers). This allowed Henry to both be a musician and composer. Around 1910, Henry made amends with his father and returned to the publishing company. Henry ended up leading and composing for the Syrian Temple Shrine Band, and in 1927, he formed his own Fillmore Band in Cincinnati which was featured on the radio. (After Sousa’s and Goldman’s Band) Henry became a big celebrity.
- Fillmore was also referred to as the “Showman Supreme” because of his flamboyant style, and energetic programming. This wouldn’t be the last nickname for Henry. - He was also known as the “Father of the Smear” or the “Trombone Smear.” During his composition career he wrote 15 tunes that featured the trombone smear or glissando, which became a staple of Fillmore’s concerts. These tunes are also known as “smears” to music educators, and can be related to the ragtime pieces of the minstrel show idiom of vaudeville. - Henry Fillmore 256 marches (over 100 more than John Philip Sousa) and made 774 arrangements of other works, which makes him one of the three famous “March Kings”. But the nicknames would not stop there, as you will find out later in this presentation.
-Americans We! was written while Henry was leading his Fillmore Band in Cincinnati. -Fillmore had problems deciding on a title for this march. His band was giving a series of concerts at the local zoo, so he would introduce the new work as The Cincinnati Zoo one day and as Pure Food and Health the next! -Vivacious, solid, and appealing, Fillmore finally, realizing that it was probably his finest march, published it in 1929 as Americans We and dedicated it to "all of us." The march has the qualities that characterized Fillmore's long life as an irresistible and exciting public performer. {click sound to hear Americans We !} -Americans We! can also be defined as a “Screamer”, though not written for the circus, a “screamer” was a type of music that would stir a circus audience into a frenzy, fast and furious music that would accompy the as four-footed animals galloped across the ring. Fillmore wrote this march in the style that he would have written in his early years as a circus bandleader.
Introduction (I) - typically short to capture the attention of the audience at a large volume, and highly articulated. Americans We! : F major First Strain (A) - welcomes a new melody that establishes the open key signature. Second Strain (B) - introduces new melodic material in a related key signature, typically the sub-dominant (IV) or dominant (V) of the open key. Americans We!: C major Trio (C) - accompanied by a short introduction, the trio introduces yet another melody in a new key (typically, adding a flat or subtracting a sharp.) Often played in a new legato and softer dynamic, and dominantly features the woodwind family. This section may be repeated in some marches. Americans We!: Bb major
- Break Strain or “Dog fight” (D) – Usually loud and articulated hard, the break strain does exactly what it is called, it breaks up the two final strains. Typically used to show off the virtuosic technique of the brass, in particular the low brass. This can be called the dogfight because it mimics two dogs fighting or can be compared to the aerial dog fights during the world wars. Americans We!: meas. 71-87 Questions and answer between low voices and upper voices. {click sound to hear dog fight section}
Final Strain - is the final repeat of the trio material heard earlier, with added brass, and woodwind descants. Meas. 88-119 Upper woodwinds have the descant, High brass, trombone and euphonium have the melody and counter melody, and French horn, low brass and woodwinds have the accompaniment. Marches, including “Screamers” end in a final articulated note called a “Stinger”, and Fillmore was also known to end marches with out the final “stinger.” In Americans We!, he does include a “stinger.” {click speaker to hear the final strain of Americans We!} This march form is not generally used by each composer when writing a march, but it has been used as a template for a lot of marches. John Philip Sousa has been credited with the standardization of the march form. Americans We! follows this form.
Fillmore not only wrote under his own name, but wrote under other names or pen names. Why? For numerous reasons: 1. Due to his father not approving of the type of music he would write, he would write under names to hide his publications from his father’s knowledge. 2. He also wanted to know if his music would sell under another name besides is name that was of celebrity status. Names that he used: Al Hayes, Harry Hartley, Ray Hall, Gus Beans, Will Huff and Henrietta Moore. Yes, he wrote under a female name, Henrietta (Henry) (Fill) Moore and created rivalries between the pen name and Fillmore. For the showman he was, Fillmore was always up to new tricks during his career. One story is about Henry and his father’s disapproval of Henry’s music and he was reported as saying “I will huff, and I will puff, and I will write my own music.” Hence the name “Will Huff” as one Fillmore names. Only thing was that there was really a Will Huff that was a musician/composer, the result of their meeting together was the Fillmore Music Publishing Co. During Fillmore’s retirement, he still remained very active in the band world. He moved to Florida, where he became very active in the band at the University of Miami. Fillmore was also an ardent supporter, friend, and benefactor of the band. The Henry Fillmore Band Hall was dedicated to Henry in 1959 for his support and generosity. Today, the University of Miami Marching Band is still called the “Band of the Hour”, and you can still hear the many compositions during a Hurricanes football game. Other famous marches that Henry is very well known for are The Klaxon, The Footlifter, Men of Ohio, His Honor, and Military Escort. The famous circus marches are The Circus Bee, and The Rolling Thunder March. The famous “trombone family” smears are Lassus Trombone, Shoutin’ Liza Trombone, and Miss Trombone.
From Cincinnati's Local 12 Station in July of 2007. Approaches Fillmore as Cincinnati’s March King, and would have been America’s March King if Sousa did not exist. Reporting:
-There are three “march kings”, Karl King, Henry Fillmore, and John Philip Sousa. Sousa is known as the “March King”, but Sousa wrote 136 marches, Fillmore writing over 250 marches, and King wrote around 280. Sousa’s popularity, and amazing melodies made his name more well known than the other two composers. Which one do you belief is the true march king? -The standard military march emulates the sonata form of classical music. Both forms share similar ideas and contrasting sections defined as the Introduction, Exposition, Development, Recapitulation, and Coda. -Hallelujah Trombone! a biography of Henry Fillmore by Paul E. Bierly is a amazing account of the life and work of Henry Fillmore.