The Voice of the Guns

The Voice of the Guns (1917) is a British military march composed by Kenneth Alford during World War I. It was written as a tribute to British artillerymen serving in the war, hence its name, though later became widely adopted by the entire British army. It is not to be confused with the poem by Gilbert Frankau.

The piece is generally arranged for a full marching band or orchestra, though piano and organ versions have also been composed. Maurice Jarre's arrangement of the piece had a prominent flute and piccolo section which was not present in the original.

The song starts out with three brief musical phrases, followed by a segue into the main triumphant, fast-moving marching theme which remains throughout the rest of the piece. The full version of the piece generally lasts about three minutes, though longer and shorter arrangements have also been composed.

An arrangement of it was famously used in David Lean's film "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), used to represent British military power. Its most notable use in the film occurs during the scene when Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) and General Allenby (Jack Hawkins) discuss strategy while descending the stairs of the British army headquarters in Cairo.

Today the piece remains a popular selection of marching bands and orchestras. In 1983 the "Royal Artillery Quick March" was created, which starts "The British Grenadiers" and then goes straight in to Voice of the Guns. (The British Grenadiers used by the Royal Artillery differs from that of the "Grenadier Guards" only by having different horn parts, other than that they are identical)

External links

* [http://www.quietcornerbands.org/Sounds/EWCB%20-%20'the%20Voice%20of%20the%20Guns'.wma 1992 recording] by the East Woodstock Cornet Band.
* [http://www.angelfire.com/ks/landzastanza/kjavg.mid MIDI sequence of piano version]
* [http://www.jaguarband.com/VoiceoftheGuns.rm] by the John Horn High School Wind Symphony