Review


Jaime Texidor
Amparito Roca: March for Brass Ensemble and Percussion :

Arranged by Angus Armstrong

2 piccolo trumpets in B-flat, 2 trumpets in B-flat, 2 horns in F, 3 trombones, and tuba, and percussion comprised of snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals

Vancouver, BC, , Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2011
URL: http://www.CherryClassics.com

score and parts

Primary Genre:

Jaime Texidor (or Teixidor) Dalmau was born in Barcelona (Catalunya) in 1884 and died in 1957 in Barakaldo (Biskaia). He was a military and municipal band-leader, and the composer of more than 500 pieces. Amparito Roca, first published in 1925, is his most famous piece. It was played during the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 and is well-known in America in an arrangement for high school band by Aubrey Winter. It is most likely to have been named after one of Texidor’s piano students, Amparito Roca Ibáñez (1912-1993), who was also a friend of his daughter Maria. It has been suggested that the inspiration might actually have been a beautiful singer and dancer, Amparo Roca Rebullida ‘La Frenesda’ (1904-1997). For whichever young woman the dedication was intended, both are remembered by it.

Though described by this arranger as a ‘march,’ it is a paso doble, which as always is in duple meter. The transcription, which is in the key of E-flat, is for a 10-part brass ensemble comprised of 2 piccolo trumpets in B-flat, 2 trumpets in B-flat, 2 horns in F, 3 trombones, and tuba, and percussion comprised of snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals, and is suitable for a college level ensemble. It’s a cheerful piece, marked at the normal tempo for a paso doble of quarter=120-124. Trombone parts are straightforward; ranges are e–f1 for 1st, c–f1 for 2nd, and E-flat–c1 for bass. Piccolo trumpet 1 tops out at e3 (cf Brandenburg No.2 at c4). Beaming of 16th notes tends to be too heavy; otherwise, production of score and parts is good. Angus Armstrong is a graduate of McGill University and currently holds the position of Professor of Trombone at Carleton University in Ottawa.

 

Reviewer: Keith Davies Jones
Review Published January 31, 2019