The WNYC March!
NYPR Archives & Preservation | Dec 14, 2018
On June 21, 1954 The New York Times reported that the Goldman Band would premiere the 'WNYC March' on July 9th in Central Park to mark the station's 30 years of broadcasting. The work was scored for brass instruments and drums. The composer, Dr. Edwin Franko Goldman, said it was written: "as a tribute to WNYC for the fine work it has been doing." Goldman echoed this remark on WNYC's Speaking of Music program where he talked about his career, WNYC's summer broadcasts of his band's concerts from Central Park, and this tribute march.
Listen to the March for Brasses a.k.a. The WNYC March by the University of Michigan Symphony Band in a 1955 performance: YouTube
Edwin Franko Goldman (1878–1956) was one of the leading American band composers of the early 20th century. He composed more than 150 works but is best known for his marches. He founded the renowned Goldman Band and the American Bandmasters Association. His works are known by their catchy tunes, as well as their trios and solos. 
Bandleaders John Philip Sousa and Edwin Franko Goldman (WNYC Archive Collections)
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Agnes Smith writing in Life, in 1928 said of Goldman:
He is an insidious drug. Once people get to like his music, they cannot be appeased by Hungarian Rhapsodies or Strauss Waltzes. Every night the Goldman Band addicts assemble in Central Park or tune in on the radio [WNYC] just in the hopes of hearing the delirious strains of "On the Mall"...I don't know what there is about "On the Mall." It is just a pretty good march. But in the middle the musicians stop and do a whistling session in which the audience avidly joins. After the wild applause, Mr. Goldman announces that owing to the insistent demand of firemen all over the city, he will play his own composition, "Third Avenue Alarm," instead of the "Second Movement" of Tschaikovsky's "Fifth Symphony." Of course, at this moment it would be a dirty trick to turn in a real alarm and drag the poor firemen away from their radios.Â
The Guggenheim Concerts on the Central Park mall by the Goldman Band were heard every summer from 1923 to 1969.Â
Audio courtesy of the NYC Municpal Archives.Â
Andy Lanset
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