- Date: 1954
- Composer: Leroy Anderson
- Period: Modern (1910-1949)
Review
The bright and cheerful Buglers' Holiday is one of the best-known favorites by an American master of semi-classical music (what the British call light music). Leroy Anderson (1908 - 1975) was born in Cambridge, MA, to a family of Swedish immigrants. He began piano and music studies at the New England Conservatory of Music when he was 11, wrote and orchestrated a school song for his high school in Cambridge, and entered Harvard, where he received thorough training as a composer from such teachers as Edward Burlingame Hill, Georges Enescu, and Walter Piston.In 1931, he began a four-year position as Director of the Harvard Band and, in 1936, his Harvard Fantasy (a medley of Harvard College songs) was accepted by the Boston Pops. His first original composition for the Pops, Jazz Pizzicato, was programmed by Arthur Fiedler in 1938, and thereafter (with the exception of war years, during which he was a leading Scandinavian linguist for the U.S. Army) he wrote consistently for that ensemble.
In 1945, the Pops' lead trumpet player, Roger Voisin, asked him for a solo work; the result was Trumpeter's Lullaby, which became a hit. He began conducting his own orchestra in recordings and from 1950 had an exclusive contract to do so for Decca Records. This paid off in 1951, when his Blue Tango became a gold-record hit.
In 1954, he again turned to the trumpet, this time writing Buglers' Holiday as a solo piece for all three members of the section. Typically, the three players take positions standing in front of the orchestra in soloists' positions rather than remaining in their seats. The part is cunningly written around both standard bugle calls and bugle-call-like figures written by Anderson. As usual in Anderson's music, both the solo parts and the rest of the orchestration are highly accomplished and meticulous. Anderson wrote the composition for his three regular trumpeters, Robert Cusamann, Carl Poolee, and Melven Solomon. Buglers' Holiday became a favorite almost immediately and has remained a popular work ever since. ~ Joseph Stevenson, Rovi
Albums with Complete Performances of the Work
Albums with Excerpt Performances of the Work
| Title | Date |
| Bassoonatics! | 1997 |
| Fagottissima terzia | 2000 |
| Bugler's Holiday, arranged for band | |
| Bugles and Drum for band |
