The Florentiner
Italian Grand March

Julius Fucik/John R. Bourgeois

Julius Fucik was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1782 and died in Lietmeritz, Germany, in 1916.  He was a prolific composer with nearly 400 works to his credit and over 100 marches – several of which are considered the finest ever composed.  The Florentiner are among some of his most famous marches.

The Florentiner was written in 1900.  Its original title was La Rosa di Toscana, which was the appellation of the Tuscan city of Florence.

Using Sousa’s dictum that “a march should be as free of padding as a marble statue”, the editor has attempted to present the march as it was originally conceived, with some of the grime and dust removed, but none of its essence disturbed.

Unfortunately, as with some of the other “roses” in our garden of march repertoire, The Florentiner  has been subjected to overfertilization.  In some American editions, countermelodies have been added to the first strain, unnecessary accompaniment material has been added to the trio, and, most blatantly, in almost all editions the final measure has been rhythmically altered from a tied quarter note, and eighth and a sixteenth plus a sixteenth rest to a tied quarter note followed by two sixteenths and a rest.

In this edition, Bourgeois has gone back to the original source and attempted to return the march to its original format.  Other than reassigning the German parts for an American instrumentation, he has not changed any voice leadings, harmonic or rhythmic structures, an has attempted to codify dynamics and articulations.

John R. Bourgeois was the 25^th director of the US Marine Band, which spanned 9 presidential administrations – from Eisenhower to Clinton.  He retired from the Marine Corps after serving as the band’s director and music advisor to the White House for 17 years.