The Dam Busters March is the theme to the 1955 British war filmThe Dam Busters.[1] The musical composition, by Eric Coates, has become synonymous with both the film and the real Operation Chastise.[2]The Dam Busters March remains a very popular accompaniment to flypasts in the UK.
Coates's son, Austin Coates, recounted in a BBC radio interview that the march was not written for The Dam Busters. His father had been carrying out an exercise in composing a march that emulated the musical forms of Edward Elgar, such as in the Pomp and Circumstance Marches. A few days after completing the composition Coates was contacted by the film's producers. Coates had a profound dislike of writing film music and turned down the producers' numerous requests. Not until they told him that this was "a film of national importance" did he agree. On hearing more about the film, he came to the conclusion that the piece he had just finished would be a perfect overture. The march was performed for the film by the Associated British Studio Orchestra.
The film's musical score was completed by Leighton Lucas.
Other usageedit
The Central Band of the Royal Air Force released a single of the march (HMV B10877) which reached 18 in the UK record charts on 21 October 1955.[3]
The march is now the musical setting for the hymn "God is our strength and refuge", based on Psalm 46.
By the time the sheet music for the march was published in 1955, Carlene Mair had added the following lyrics:[4]
Proudly, with high endeavour, We, who are young forever, Won the freedom of the skies. We shall never die! We who have made our story Part of our Empire's [later: 'country's'] glory Know our hearts will still live on While Britons fly!
Fans of Lincoln City sing the song, with their arms outstretched imitating aircraft, after their team scores. It is also regularly played by Scottish football club Rangers F.C. post match.[5]
Progressive rock band Jethro Tull concluded their concerts in the late 1970s and early 1980s with a rock rendition of the theme.[6] It can be heard on their live 1978 album, Bursting Out.
In Chile, the orchestral version of this march was used for 40 years as a theme song for the radio news show "El Correo de Minería", in Radio Minería.
The march, with a lyric written for the occasion, was used as a theme song for the Norwegian YMCA Scouts national scout camp in Mandal, Norway in mid 1990.
In the early 1990s, Land Rover featured "The Dam Busters March" in a television advertisement for the Land Rover Defender.
In 1990, Carlsberg Group parodied the 1955 film including "The Dam Busters March" in a television advertisement for Carlsberg beer. In 1994, the March and the idea of the bouncing bomb (this time a rolled-up towel towards a sunbed) were used in another Carlsberg advertisement.
A slightly re-arranged orchestral version is used in Danny Boyle's short film Happy and Glorious, made for London's 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.
The song is featured on the high score screen of the Dragon 32 game Tea Time.
busters, march, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, april, 2021. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Dam Busters March news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Dam Busters March is the theme to the 1955 British war film The Dam Busters 1 The musical composition by Eric Coates has become synonymous with both the film and the real Operation Chastise 2 The Dam Busters March remains a very popular accompaniment to flypasts in the UK Contents 1 Origins 2 Other usage 3 References 4 External linksOrigins editCoates s son Austin Coates recounted in a BBC radio interview that the march was not written for The Dam Busters His father had been carrying out an exercise in composing a march that emulated the musical forms of Edward Elgar such as in the Pomp and Circumstance Marches A few days after completing the composition Coates was contacted by the film s producers Coates had a profound dislike of writing film music and turned down the producers numerous requests Not until they told him that this was a film of national importance did he agree On hearing more about the film he came to the conclusion that the piece he had just finished would be a perfect overture The march was performed for the film by the Associated British Studio Orchestra The film s musical score was completed by Leighton Lucas Other usage editThe Central Band of the Royal Air Force released a single of the march HMV B10877 which reached 18 in the UK record charts on 21 October 1955 3 The march is now the musical setting for the hymn God is our strength and refuge based on Psalm 46 By the time the sheet music for the march was published in 1955 Carlene Mair had added the following lyrics 4 Proudly with high endeavour We who are young forever Won the freedom of the skies We shall never die We who have made our story Part of our Empire s later country s glory Know our hearts will still live on While Britons fly Fans of Lincoln City sing the song with their arms outstretched imitating aircraft after their team scores It is also regularly played by Scottish football club Rangers F C post match 5 The march was featured in the 1973 Christmas special of The Goodies television series The Goodies and the Beanstalk Progressive rock band Jethro Tull concluded their concerts in the late 1970s and early 1980s with a rock rendition of the theme 6 It can be heard on their live 1978 album Bursting Out In Chile the orchestral version of this march was used for 40 years as a theme song for the radio news show El Correo de Mineria in Radio Mineria The march with a lyric written for the occasion was used as a theme song for the Norwegian YMCA Scouts national scout camp in Mandal Norway in mid 1990 In the early 1990s Land Rover featured The Dam Busters March in a television advertisement for the Land Rover Defender In 1990 Carlsberg Group parodied the 1955 film including The Dam Busters March in a television advertisement for Carlsberg beer In 1994 the March and the idea of the bouncing bomb this time a rolled up towel towards a sunbed were used in another Carlsberg advertisement A slightly re arranged orchestral version is used in Danny Boyle s short film Happy and Glorious made for London s 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The song is featured on the high score screen of the Dragon 32 game Tea Time References edit Eric Coates Boosey amp Hawkes Glancey Jonathan 6 May 2003 Bombs away The Guardian Rice Jo 1985 The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles 5th edition Guinness Superlatives Ltd pp 186 ISBN 0 85112 429 1 John Ramsden The Dam Busters London Tauris 188 pp 101 2 Watch Rangers fans sing war song Ten German Bombers in Berlin pub ahead of Leipzig friendly Daily Record 15 January 2017 Retrieved 18 July 2018 Jethro Tull rock rendition on YouTubeExternal links editFilm theme on YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Dam Busters March amp oldid 1154594726, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
