AMALIE, PRINCESS OF PRUSSIA: FOUR REGIMENTAL MARCHES

Amalie, Princess of Prussia, lived from 1723 to 1787. Youngest sister of King Frederick II (“The Great”), she enjoyed dabbling in composition as well as playing several instruments. Her works make a particularly interesting study since she was a member of the aristocracy (not a musician hired to compose by the aristocracy) and because she is one of a minority of female composers from her era. While her history makes her appealing, her works themselves are nothing out of the ordinary. A recording released by the Musical Heritage Society by the Austrian Tonkuenstler Orchestra and conducted by Dietfried Bernet includes a collection of some of Amalie’s short regimental marches, written for four Berlin regiments. In general, these pieces are in binary form.

The first of these regimental marches was written for Count Lottum in 1767. While other composers of the period would have been writing specifically to the tastes of the general of the regiment in order to obtain commissions, Amalie may have had a bit more artistic freedom since it was an honor to the regiment to have a piece composed by such an elite member of the aristocracy. The dotted rhythms utilized in this piece bring to mind the dotted rhythms utilized in French overtures to represent the aristocracy. Also, this piece is one of two of Amalie’s marches on this record to include an anacrusis, although the use of the anacrusis was standard in most marches of the time (Grove Music Online S.v. “The Military March to the 1820s”).

Amalie relied heavily on reed consorts, as is evident in “Count Lottum,” including parts for two clarinets, which were still in their youth as an instrument. Four years earlier, Frederick II “stipulated that Prussian army bands should consist of two oboes, two clarinets, two horns and two bassoons” (Grove Music Online S.v. “Band”), (adding clarinets to an instrumentation in which they had not been standard) and thus perhaps contributing to Amalie’s vast use of the clarinet timbre. Melodies for pairs of winds are predominant, which is standard for Austrian marches of the period. Her writings for pairs of oboes and clarinets are close to identical, set off from each other only by timbre.

The reed consort dominates the high pitches with clarinet being the prevailing character. Voices in the middle are scarce if present at all, and the low brass and timpani round out the voicing at the bottom. These bottom voices play a limited bass line allowing a great deal of focus on the melody line, which is characteristic of much writing in this period regardless of genre. Also, there is a great deal of contrast in the melody line between legato and staccato, sometimes even alternating between them at every measure. Amalie made limited use of trills in the clarinet voices. She did not use trills on any of the other four marches, but this one for Count Lottum seems a bit more extravagant than the others which were written for “mere” generals.

The second regimental march was dedicated to General Buelow and was also written in 1767. This march utilizes a triangle, which is an interesting choice of percussion instrument as the modern ear expects to “heavier” percussion in a march. This use of the triangle might be attributed to the rise of janissary music, which had been introduced to Europe in the 17^th century and was growing in popularity. In fact, by the 18^th century, composers such as Amalie were adding janissary instruments (bass drum, kettledrums, cymbals, and triangle) to their Western instrumentation for use in the march (Grove Music Online S.v “Janissary music”). The snare drum is also briefly used to add some rhythmic emphasis.

In “General Buelow,” the pairings of reed instruments are even more evident since each pair gets a short two-part soli section. Again, the clarinets play a prominent role in the melodic line, exemplifying the fact that they were becoming more accepted in military music by most composers by mid-century (Grove Music Online S.v. “Band”). The bass line in this march is a bit more active than the bass line from “Count Lottum,” but it does not feature instruments of such a low range. The bass even plays “filler” lines linking cadences to the next phrase. Legato and staccato melodic content reappears. Interestingly, in this melody, the pickup notes to each phrase are legato while the following bar is distinctly articulated, making balanced, contrasting lines as one would expect in the Classical Period.

The third march in this collection was written a year later, in 1768, and was in honor of General von Saldern’s regiment. While the previous march emphasized pairings of reed instruments against each other, this march juxtaposes the double reed instruments with the horns. This pairing of wind and horn had been present in military music as early as 1711, but this is the first example of Amalie utilizing the grouping (Grove Music Online S.v. “Band”). This is the first march of the collection that truly utilized a brass section to carry melodic content. Horns blend well with both reed instruments and other brasses, making them ideal for this use. Again, Amalie used janissary kettledrums to reinforce her bass lines. While her bass lines and cadences were strong in her other marches, these cadences had particular force. In fact, each major cadence put a complete stop on the forward flow of this march, leaving it to restart from silence at each new section.

The final march included on this record was written in 1777, almost ten years later. This piece was dedicated to General von Moellendorf. In it, the cymbals make their appearance as another of those added janissary instruments. The low voices are more present in this piece than in the previous march, and the trumpets are actually given some melodic material. In addition, the lowest voices respond to melodic material in the reeds instead of simply playing a “bass line.” Again, the reeds spend all of their time playing in two-part pairings, although the clarinets briefly hold a chord underneath the melody. This sound is new and exciting as in the other marches, and chords were often just held for a beat in the brass instead of being held for longer periods. In this piece, Amalie finally began to make use of the versatility of the instruments that her brother had stipulated by included in “band music.”

While Amalie’s other marches seemed to draw their main internal contrast from articulation (legato vs. staccato), this one includes clear dynamic contrasts. A phrase may be played the first time at forte and then repeated as an echo at piano, which certainly characteristic of the period. Lastly, the voicings are twenty times fuller in “General von Moellendorf” than in “Count Lottum,” which had been lacking in middle pitches. Because the pitches are evenly spread out in this march, it has a much darker, richer sound than works by the same composer written ten years earlier.

I quite enjoyed listening to this recording. It was fascinating to listen to how a young (aristocratic female!) composer’s technique improved over the span of ten years through increased understanding of contrast and voicing. These marches may also be found interesting to modern listeners who are most familiar with John Phillip Sousa as they depict a good deal of the history of the march in Prussia. There is certainly a strong link to be seen between the military to whom these marches are dedicated and the very function of marching. However, while it is interesting to know that the composer was an aristocratic woman, the actual content of her works is much like what would have been written by most composers in the period. While there may not be anything particularly original or special about these pieces, they may spark a captivating look into music history and provide the basis of an interesting study of the progress of a Classical writer, but their absence from the Canon will probably not be missed.