David Baldwin

Brass.
Written in honor of the West Point drum and bugle corps known as The Hellcats, this piece is a rhapsodic treatment of the Official West Point Band March, highlighting melodies within the march that are, originally, not of great significance. David Baldwin’s reimagining of this march makes it accessible to players both familiar with and new to the classic.
Written in honor of the West Point drum and bugle corps known as The Hellcats, this piece is a rhapsodic treatment of the Official West Point Band March, highlighting melodies within the march that are, originally, not of great significance. David Baldwin’s reimagining of this march makes it accessible to players both familiar with and new to the classic.
One of the great American marches is the Official West Point March by Philip H. Egner (1928), and I have played it countless times as a member of the West Point Band from 1969 to 1971. As professor of trumpet at the University of Minnesota for 45 years, I conducted the piece many times with the University Brass Choir and the University Symphonic Band. One of my favorite memories of my service in the Army was hearing the West Point drum and bugle corps, called The Hellcats, do their routine in front of the band. In the Official West Point March, the bugles play a stirring tune in the middle of the march, but they never get to play the main theme that comes at the end. My piece is a rhapsodic treatment of this melody which builds to a full- throated version where all six players get to belt out the melody.This piece was premiered on May 11, 2022 at the Jewish Chapel at West Point. The six trumpet players were Jeremy Wissner, Brian Eib, Judy Gaunt, Katherine Stephen, Gillian Huff and Daniel Haddock.—David Baldwin

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