Kenneth J. Alford

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Kenneth J. Alford (born February 21, 1881 in London , † May 15, 1945 in Reigate ; real name Frederick Joseph Ricketts ) was a British military musician and composer .

Frederick Joseph Ricketts (1944)

biography

At the age of seven, Alford lost his father and at the age of 14 he lost his mother. By giving the wrong age, he managed to be accepted into the army at a young age, where he hired himself as a military musician. He was assigned to the Royal Irish Regiment in 1895 . There he mainly played the piano and organ . During his service he was employed in India for some time . He then studied orchestral conducting at the Royal Military School of Music. In 1908 he became head of the chapel of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regiment. In 1927 he left the army and became music director of the Royal Marines . After nearly 50 years in the service of the British military, Alford retired in 1944. At that time his health was already badly affected. He died less than a year later.

pseudonym

Ricketts composed exclusively under the pseudonym Kenneth J. Alford and became internationally known under this name. The name is made up of the first name of his eldest son Kenneth, Rickett's middle name Joseph (J.) and his mother's maiden name , Alford.

plant

He composed a variety of marches for military music ensembles. Particularly noteworthy is his fine feeling for the right instrumentation , the effective use of certain instruments and his sometimes unusual counter-melodies. In HM Jollies, for example, in honor of the Royal Marines , one recognizes the Sailor's Hornpipe and Rule Britannia , and in Eagle Squadron , which was written in honor of the Americans who helped out in the Royal Air Force , the American national anthem. Alford's marches are often referred to as the British answer to the work of the famous American march music composer John Philip Sousa . His most famous marches are arguably the Colonel Bogey March , Army of the Nile (dedicated to British Field Marshal Archibald Wavell ) and On the Quarter Deck .

Complete list of published works

  • Marches
    • Holyrood (1912)
    • The Vedette (1912)
    • Colonel Bogey (1914)
    • The Great Little Army (1916)
    • On the Quarter Deck (1917)
    • The Middy (1917)
    • The Voice of the Guns (1917)
    • The Vanished Army (1919)
    • The Mad Major (1921)
    • Cavalry of the Clouds (1923)
    • The Thin Red Line (1925)
    • Dunedin (1928)
    • Old Panama (1929)
    • HM Jollies (1929)
    • The Standard of St. George (1930)
    • By Land and Sea (1941)
    • Army of the Nile (1941)
    • Eagle Squadron (1942)
  • Others
    • Valse Riviera (1910)
    • Thoughts (Waltz, 1917)
    • A Musical Switch (Humoresque, 1921)
    • The Two Imps (xylophone or cornet duet, 1923)
    • The Lightning Switch (Fantasy, 1924)
    • Mac and Mac (xylophone solo or duet, 1928)
    • The Smithy (pastoral fantasy, 1933)
    • The Two Dons (Xylophone Duet, 1933)
    • Colonel Bogey on Parade (Marching Fantasy, 1939)
    • The Hunt (Rhapsody, 1940)
    • Lilliburlero (1942)
    • A Life on the Ocean Wave (regimental march, 1944)
    • Wedded Whimsies (Humoresque, date unknown)

The year denotes the date of publication.

Unpublished works (selection)

  • Others
    • August Bank Holiday 1914
    • For service overseas
    • Ancient Scottish Melodies
    • Nursery Rhymes and Carols
    • Ceremonial March on Purcell 's Works
    • Old English Air (saxophone quartet)
    • Walt Disney 's Silly Symphony
    • Dunedin , New Zealand (fantasy)

literature

  • John Trendell: Colonel Bogey to the Fore. A Biography of Kenneth J. Alford. Deal, undated

Sound carrier

  • Colonel Bogey on Parade - The Great Marches of Kenneth J Alford, Captain Peter Clark
  • The Complete Marches of Kenneth Alford, The Band of HM Royal Marines Commandos, Capt JR Perkins

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Band of The Army Air Corps
  2. ↑ Bandleader BNA5163 ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Clovelly CLCD102 ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Alford, Kenneth J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ricketts, Frederick Joseph (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British composer and military musician
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH May 15, 1945
Place of death Reigate