Gerald Barry - Dead March

Dead March

I chose the melodies in this music because I love them.
They have nothing to do with logic or illogic, are completely themselves, are unaware of laws and behave as if everything is possible. The improbable does not exist for them.
Because they have a presence, they exert a force on their surroundings causing them to move in particular directions. This force is fantastic and harmonic. They are ear worms.
This march has as much to do with them as with the turmoil of the watchers.
Gerald Barry

A Shostakovichian parody of Stalinesque malice, and great fun
The Birmingham Post

Sounding as if Mahler’s Seventh Symphony had been attacked by the remnants of Stravinsky’s elephantine Circus Polka. It’s a breathless 10 minutes
The Daily Telegraph

A game of musical chairs choreographed by Diaghilev
The Independent on Sunday

First peformed by BCMG conducted by Peter Rundel at CBSO Centre, Birmingham on 2 February 2002.