Xerxes by John Mackey

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Xerxes by John Mackey
GOMS-90003
Grade 4
Time 5:00
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Program Notes:
"Xerxes" takes its name from Xerxes the Great, the King of Persia from 485 to 465 BC. The music, unexpectedly, is a concert march. Whereas most marches for concert band ? at least the ones with which I'm familiar ? are cheerful and in many cases patriotic (usually either American or British), I wanted to write a sort of anti-march: an angry, nasty march, that still follows the traditional structure one would expect from a military march.
Xerxes, as the music hopefully suggests, was one of your nastier rulers, even by ancient standards. (His claim to "fame" was invading and burning Athens to the ground.) Xerxes was assassinated by Artabanus, who in turn was murdered by Xerxes' son, Artaxerxes I.
It was, to put it lightly, a violent time. What better subject matter for a march?
(John Mackey)
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[@tabibito-vr1ee]

うわ、アメリカの現代版「ラメセスⅡ世」！？
なんか、終末的な響きが、プンプンと…。
もちろん、好きです。

[@benyaminpourmohamad4370]

I love this piece but I don’t like your caption. Xerxes have got the Great after his name for a reason. As an Iranian I know him as the symbol of a heroic and patriotic ruler. Greece were part of Iran’s territory way before Achamenids. “Younan” (Greece) means young Iranians and the word of “young” comes from that. Greece were the real traitors back then and Xerexes was a hard warrior as his son and his father were. But at the same time he was a man with a high spirit. Xerexes is the first one who ruled to decorate a tree, so Christmas tree is an adopted thing.