Although Belgian composer Cesar Franck completed his setting of Pslam 150 in 1883, the work was not published until six years after his death in 1890. Richard Sargeant's new edition, with English text based upon the King James translation, has been prepared with the chorus member's needs in mind. The chorus staves are produced in a large size with a text font selected for maximum readability even under less-than-ideal lighting, which the organ reduction has been produced in smaller, cue-sized notes for ready reference."

Gustav Holst's first excursion into music for band (known as "military band" at the time) was composed in 1909. Despite there being very little standardization of the instruments and number of players used in such ensembles, Holst managed to score his three-movement work in a very flexible way so that the work could be played by an ensemble with as few as 19 wind and brass players, plus percussion. Although the occasion and ensemble which motivated the work's creation remain obscure, the 'First Suite' became tremendously popular in the years after its first publication in 1921. With the...

Edwin Eugene Bagley (1857-1922) was born in Craftsbury, Vermont, and started his music career at the age of nine as a vocalist and bellringer. In spite of never having had formal music lessons he became a successful cornet player, trombonist and composer. He moved to Boston in 1880, became solo cornet player in the Boston Theater, and traveled with the Bostonians, an opera company, for nine years, and later played with the Germania Band. He eventually settled in New Hampshire, where he directed several city bands. It is believed Bagley started composing the National Emblem in 1902 while on a...

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, John Nicolas Klohr (1869-1956) was a close friend of the celebrated march composer Henry Fillmore. Klohr began his career as a trombonist, playing for vaudeville shows and several local organizations, and for fifty years played with the Syrian Temple Shrine Band of Cincinnati. Klohr also served as editor and head of the band and orchestra department of the Cincinnati music publishing company John Church Company, later absorbed by the Theodore Presser. Although Fillmore's publishing company was also based in Cincinnati, Klohr understandably published his own works...