Goldene Kameraden - James Barnes

"Goldene Kameraden" was commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Musikverlag RUNDEL. The title of the piece is a combination of the golden anniversary of the company and all my friends who work there - but it is also a humorous pun on one of my favorite German marches: "Alte Kameraden". Although marches are rather out of favor in the U.S. these days - unless they are by John Philip Sousa - I love to write them. And so I was happy to have the opportunity to compose this for Thomas Rundel, his family and the team at Musikverlag RUNDEL. The strict form of marches and the necessary march-like clichs required may seem restricting to other composers, but I perceive this as a musical challenge. It is like completing a crossword puzzle: one must go by all the traditional rules" but still produce something creative.