Russian March (Fifteen Marches)

The Rev. Frederick Scotson Clark (1840-1883) was the founder of the London Organ School and was also Organist of Exeter College, Oxford.

His mother had been a student of Frederic Chopin.

He composed over 100 piano works, as well as a large number of organ pieces, most of them being small "service" pieces.

His marches achieved quite a bit of success and were often available in both organ and piano solo versions.

Several days ago, one of our members asked me if I would do a march by Scotson Clark, and I said I would be glad to give it a try. I actually had never played any pieces by him.

I had the choice of which one I wanted to do, and to be honest, I chose this one because of the neat "tympani role" with fanfare at the start. For this I used the Solo tromba, and I liked the effect, so, this is the outcome. The form is traditional and the music is predictable, but the result is very pleasing.

At first I wondered what made this a "Russian" march, but then the main theme appeared, the "Russian Hymn," composed by Aleksēi Federovich L'vov (1798-1867). It gets a nice and colorful treatment, with some varied textures and dynamics.

This leads back to the return of the opening material, somewhat shortened this time.

The work concludes with a grandiose section, feature the big tune again, this time with running pedals beneath the melody, culminating in massive chords and a long pedal point.

Our requesting member asked to remain anonymous, but this comes with sincere friendship, and is dedicated to them!

The score is attached below, the "Russian March" starting on page 82.

I have no photos of Scotson Clark, but I do have a photo of a painting of Aleksēi Federovich L'vov, and that is attached. Also attached are two photos of the chapel of Exeter College, Oxford, where Clark was organist.