The Royal Besses O' Th' Barn March (1907). J.E.Dodd.

[Steve Harrison]

Besses O' Th' Barn was once a village in what is now the Whitefield district Of the City of Manchester. It is the home of one of the oldest brass bands in the world which takes its name from the village.

The Besses as they are called, were formed in 1818 and are still an active band today. In 1906-1908, they toured Australia, this march was published in Melbourne in 1907 and was written by the Australian composer Joseph Eustace Dodd. I presume therefore that this was written for the band whilst they were on tour.

It's a lively 6/8 march with a good bass/treble solo at the end. I could only get hold of a piano midi of the tune and so I extracted the dots from the midi and worked my arrangement that way...The score and midi are in the library....Steve.