JG Baroque says
Sometimes, great people of an era inspire musicians to honour them, with celebratory pieces, odes, songs and works being written and performed, sometimes in great numbers. Indeed, sometimes they even inspire people that would normally consider themselves their enemies. One such person was Maurice de Saxe, or in his native tongue, Moritz von Sachsen, a Prince of Saxony who served many years in the French army, perhaps most notably in the War of Austrian Succession. This march “Count Saxe’s March”, is from a British source, namely Thompson’s “Compleat Tutor for the Fife”, published around 1760. There is an interesting feature in the melody – at the end of each phrase of the second part, there is a cadence which resembles the ending phrases of the most common version of “the British Grenadiers”, which stems from the late 18th century.
This arrangement, with the slow 60 bpm pace of the time, captures somewhat the glory of the celebrated commander, where I have written harmonizing fife parts to the melody and drums to accompany it. The image shows Marshall de Saxe (in red), commanding the French army at the battle of Rocoux on October 11th, 1746. It was painted in 1750 by the French artist Pierre Nicolas l’Enfant.
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