Last year, I did a bracket of musical marches with my students during the month of March in the spirit of March Madness. It was a lot of fun, so I decided to bring it back again this year. I substituted in some new suggestions for some of the losers from last year that were less popular. This bracket is not meant to be a definitive statement on the musical merits or quality of these marches (some of them might barely even be considered marches if I'm being so for real). The students voted for each of the five rounds to determine which marches would move forward based on personal preference and enjoyment. In the end, the song "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes was the big winner. Go figure. Above you can see the entirety of the results for each round. Below, you can read my little blurbs about each of the selections for the first round.

 

"Toreador Song" is a march from the opera Carmen, written by Georges Bizet. The aria is sung by Escamillo, a Spanish bullfighter from Grenada who wins the affection of the titular femme fatale, Carmen. The tune is incredibly infectious, with two distinctive, memorable parts. According to many of my students, the main theme (that starts around 1:29 in the linked video) was also prominently featured in the video game series Five Nights at Freddy's. (YouTube link)

 

"The Ants Go Marching" was written by Robert D. Singleton in 1990. It was written for the Barney & The Backyard Gang video Campfire Sing-Along and it did not take long before it was embraced into the canon of children's music. It has since been performed in many other children's media. File it under "songs to practice counting" next to "One Two, Buckle My Shoe" and "99 Bottles of Beer". Fun fact: if you Google "the ants go marching", there is a cute animated image of ants marching across the top of the screen. (YouTube link)

 

"The Circus Bee" was written by Henry Fillmore in 1908. It is a very energetic, bouncy, traditional circus march, which is an actual genre of music. Circus marches are also known as "screamers" because they are meant to stir up an audience during a show. Fillmore wrote the piece as a love letter to circuses and based it off his experiences touring with five different top shows. (YouTube link)

 

"The Raiders March" is the theme from the Indiana Jones movie franchise. It was written by John Williams in 1980 and it is very well-known. John Williams originally wrote it as two separate songs, but Stephen Spielberg liked them both so much that he asked Williams to string them together into one song. (YouTube link)

 

“The Arena/March on the Jedi Temple” is a march composed by John Williams for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002). Its use in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) is unforgettable when Anakin Skywalker and the clone army execute Order 66. (YouTube link)

 

“Jäger March” is a military march written by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius in 1917. It was written during Finland’s transition from a Grand Duchy under the Russian Empire to an independent state. There are three verses about the power and endurance of Finland, sung by a chorus of men over piano or orchestra. The lyrics also include a reference to a character in the Kalevala, a 19th-century epic poem of great national pride for Finland. (YouTube link)

 

The Love for Three Oranges is a French-language opera written by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev in 1921, based on the 1761 Italian play of the same name. It was commissioned by the Chicago Opera Association after Prokofiev’s first visit to the US in 1918. Prokofiev himself conducted the premiere of the opera at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. (YouTube link)

 

“Seven Nation Army” is a rock song written by Jack White in 2003 for the White Stripes album Elephant. The song is simple, loud, distorted, and dynamic. It was an instant hit for the band and became a huge hit as a chant at sports arenas. Marching bands picked up on this and it grew in popularity as a sure-fire way to rally a crowd. (YouTube link)

 

“Wedding March” was written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1842. It was composed as incidental music to accompany the Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is often used in weddings as a recessional. (YouTube link)

 

“Battle Hymn of the Republic” is an American patriotic song written by abolitionist Julia Ward Howe during the Civil War (1861). There are several allusions to The Bible, linking the Union cause with God's vengeance at the Day of Judgment. (YouTube link)

 

“Radetzky March” was composed by Johann Strauss I in 1848 in celebration of a military victory of the Austrian Empire in a battle against Italy. It became an unofficial Austrian national anthem. It is performed as the encore every year at Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s concert. (YouTube link)

 

“Entry of the Gladiators” is a military march composed by Czech composer Julius Fučík in 1897. The piece is now best known for its association with clowns and circus music. Its whimsical, chromatic melody is distinctive and recognizable. (YouTube link)

 

The march from the 1892 ballet The Nutcracker is one of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s most well-known pieces of music. The ballet is still very popular in North America around the holiday season due to the fact that it’s set on Christmas Eve. American ballet companies generate around 40% of their annual ticket sales from performances of The Nutcracker. (YouTube link)

 

John Williams’ theme for the 1978 film Superman was originally performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The theme has become so intertwined with the character that it has been reused and incorporated into almost every subsequent film. (YouTube link)

 

“Imperial March” is best known as Darth Vader’s theme in the Star Wars franchise. It was composed in 1980 by John Williams for The Empire Strikes Back. In writing this piece, Williams took inspiration from Chopin’s Funeral March and Gustav Holst’s The Planets. The piece’s dark harmonies and menacing rhythms underscore Darth Vader as powerful and sinister. (YouTube link)

 

English composer Henry Purcell was commissioned to write Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary, following her death in 1694. The march from this funeral music was later adapted by electronic synthesizer pioneer Wendy Carlos for Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film A Clockwork Orange. (YouTube link)

 

Crown Imperial was composed by William Walton in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI. It was inspired by Pomp and Circumstance by Sir Edward Elgar. It has since been used for other state ceremonies throughout the years, most recently for the coronation of King Charles III in 2023. (YouTube link)

 

“March of the Dead” was composed by Danny Elfman in 1992 for the third installment of the Evil Dead film series, Army of Darkness. It is performed in the movie by an army of undead skeletons called “Deadites” as they march on the castle for the final battle. (YouTube link)

 

“The Stars and Stripes Forever” is the official National March of the USA. It was written by the "March King” himself, John Philip Sousa, in 1896. Sousa lived and breathed marches; there’s even a common marching band instrument named after him (the sousaphone). "Stars and Stripes" has also been historically used as a secret code in theaters and circuses for the band to signal impending danger to the house without alarming the audience. One such notable case was during a great fire that broke out during a circus in 1944, which killed at least 168 people. (YouTube link)

 

“Mickey Mouse March” is the theme song for The Mickey Mouse Club television show. It was written in 1955 by Jimmie Dodd. It has since become ubiquitous with the Mickey Mouse character and franchise. The song was used to ironic effect in Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film Full Metal Jacket when soldiers are seen singing it while marching through a battle-torn city during the Vietnam War. (YouTube link)

 

“Scotland the Brave” is a patriotic song written in the 19th century by an unknown composer. It is one of Scotland’s de facto national anthems, as they do not have an official one. It is often performed on the bagpipe, an instrument with strong cultural ties to Scotland. Early types of bagpipe date back to ancient Greece if not further but the instrument’s popularity soared after the invention of the Scottish great Highland bagpipe around the 15th century.

 

“Gloria all’Egitto” is a march from Giuseppe Verdi’s 1871 opera Aida. It is one of the most popular operas in the canon, receiving performances every year around the world. The opera is set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, where the titular Ethiopian princess Aida is captured and enslaved. This triumphant march, which translates to “Glory to Egypt”, is sung by a chorus of people to honor the King. 

 

Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 is the song that plays at every graduation ceremony in America while all the students process to get their diploma. It is from a series of five marches composed by Sir Edward Elgar between 1901 and 1907. It was first used in the context of a graduation ceremony in 1905 at Yale University when Elgar himself was invited to receive an honorary doctorate of music. (YouTube link)

 

“When the Saints Go Marching In” is a traditional African American spiritual that originated as a Christian hymn and gained popularity as a jazz song, especially associated with New Orleans. Ok fine, it’s really not a march, but it has “march” in the title and it is sometimes played by military marching bands due to its strong regular rhythm. (YouTube link)

 

“Yankee Doodle” is a traditional song and nursery rhyme that has often been sung patriotically in the USA. Although the melody dates back to at least the 15th century, it evolved into a diss track by the British in the 18th century, with the line “Yankee doodle dandy” making fun of an unsophisticated American who tries to appear more sophisticated by putting a feather in his cap. Americans made a remix that made fun of the British and hailed George Washington as Commander. By the end of the Revolutionary War, the song had been transformed from an insult to a source of national pride. (YouTube link)

 

“The British Grenadiers” is a British military march from the early 17th century. The song is frequently used in film and television to introduce a British setting or character, or indicate stereotypical Britishness. It has a full set of lyrics about the great fun that is throwing grenades at enemies, but it is often performed as an instrumental with fife and drums. (YouTube link)

 

“On the Tramp” is a deep cut by the "March King” John Philip Sousa. It was based on the song “Out of Work” by Septimus Winner. The title of the march was a slang expression in the 1880s, meaning “on the lookout for employment”. (YouTube link)

 

Fučik composed “Florentiner March” in 1907 while he was the bandmaster for the 86th Infantry Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Army. The band was stationed in Budapest at the time, and the garrison’s nine other military bands challenged Fučik to produce worthwhile band music, resulting in the composition of this march. (YouTube link)

 

“K.K. March” was composed for the 2001 Nintendo small town simulation game Animal Crossing. It is performed in the game by a traveling troubadour dog named K.K. Slider, who appears occasionally at specific times to perform songs on his acoustic guitar. The songs he performs can be any musical genre, but they are always interpreted through a retro-video game electronic music style with computerized gibberish singing. (YouTube link)

 

The march from Sergei Prokofiev’s 1937 composition Peter and the Wolf is well-known, as the musical children’s tale has been adapted many times from a wide range of sources, from Disney to Sesame Street, to the Muppets, to Weird Al. It tells a story using different instruments and musical themes to represent each character.  (YouTube link)