A Musical Journey: GERMANY • Majestic Marches
A Musical Visit to Kulmbach and the Tin Soldier Museum
Music by various composers

The Places • On a hill above the ancient town of Kulmbach stands the imposing
12th century Hohenzollern fortress of Plassenburg. Among various collections on
display is the remarkable Tin Soldier Museum, with various figures and dioramas
that recreate battles and mirror the great castle itself, with a variety of scenes
from all periods of human history.

The Music • The March has an inevitable part to play in human history. Marco Polo
remarked on the use of music by the armies of China to terrify the enemy before
a battle. Military music, however, has a more precise purpose, whatever alarm it
may strike into the hearts of those who hear it. Drums and trumpets may serve as
useful signals, to advance or retreat, to eat or to sleep. The same instruments and
their near relations may serve to keep an army moving together, and may serve to
inspire feelings of bravery and patriotism. At the same time a march can provide
a suitable accompaniment to an occasion of solemnity, a wedding, a funeral or
a state ceremony. The music chosen for this tour offers a series of Marches by
different composers, culminating in Mendelssohn’s Wedding March.