The Parade of the Tin Soldiers - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

"The Parade of the Tin Soldiers" (Die Parade der Zinnsoldaten), also known as "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers", is an instrumental musical character piece

Character piece

Character piece is a literal translation of the German Charakterstück, a term, not very precisely defined, used for a broad range of 19th century piano music based on a single idea or program...

, in the form of a popular jaunty march

March (music)

A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...

, written by German composer Leon Jessel

Leon Jessel

Leon Jessel, or Léon Jessel was a German composer of operettas and light classical music pieces. Today he is best known internationally as the composer of the popular jaunty march "The Parade of the Tin Soldiers," also known as "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers." Jessel was a prolific composer...

, in 1897.

"The Parade of the Tin Soldiers" was originally composed for solo piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

. Jessel later published it for orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

in 1905, as Opus 123. Today it is also a popular tune for marching band

Marching band

Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...

s, concert band

Concert band

A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...

s, and small orchestras, and for extremely diverse alternate instrumentation

Instrumentation (music)

In music, instrumentation refers to the particular combination of musical instruments employed in a composition, and to the properties of those instruments individually...

s as well.

Since the early 1920s, the piece has been very popular in the U.S., and has also been frequently performed and recorded worldwide. A song, "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers," was also created from the piece in 1922, with English lyrics by Ballard MacDonald

Ballard MacDonald

Ballard MacDonald was a Tin Pan Alley lyricist.Born in Portland, Oregon, among his credits are:Beautiful Ohio, Rose of Washington Square, Second Hand Rose, Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, Back Home Again in Indiana, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, Play That Barbershop Chord, Clap Hands, Here Comes...

Rise to international popularity

Recordings of the "The Parade of the Tin Soldiers" were made in late 1910 and in 1911 and distributed internationally, and Jessel republished the sheet music internationally as well in 1911. In 1912, John Philip Sousa

John Philip Sousa

John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....

and his band played it at the Hippodrome Theatre

New York Hippodrome

The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theatre in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the world's largest theatre by its builders and had a seating capacity of...

in New York City.

In 1911, Russian impresario Nikita Balieff

Nikita Balieff

Nikita Balieff , was an Armenian vaudevillian, stage performer, writer, impresario, and director best known as the master of ceremonies and creator of La Chauve-Souris theater group.-Theatrical career begins in Moscow:...

chose Jessel's whimsically rakish "Parade of the Tin Soldiers" for a choreography routine in his The Bat vaudeville revue

Revue

A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...

, changing the title to "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers." Balieff's wooden-soldier choreography referenced a legend regarding Tsar Paul I

Paul I of Russia

Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...

: that he left his parade grounds without issuing a "halt" order to the marching soldiers, so they marched to Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

before being remembered and ordered back.

In December 1920, Nikita Balieff's La Chauve-Souris (The Bat) revue reached Paris, to great acclaim, and in 1922 it was brought to Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

. Balieff's entertainingly choreographed wooden-soldiers showpiece, with Jessel's popular tune, was a sensation, and a by-demand mainstay of his extremely long-running U.S. production.

Balieff's Chauve-Souris routine greatly popularized Jessel's music, and in 1922 multiple editions of the sheet music were published in the U.S. — in fox-trot, march, and concert arrangements, and for numerous instrumentations: voice and piano, with lyrics by Ballard MacDonald

Ballard MacDonald

; male quartet; small orchestra; full orchestra; violin, piano, and cello; military band; mandolin solo; mandolin and guitar; mandolin and piano; and mandolin, guitar, and piano. In 1923, Lee DeForest filmed "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers", performed by Balieff's company, in the DeForest Phonofilm

Phonofilm

In 1919, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patent on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from a microphone, which were translated back...

sound-on-film process. The film premiered on April 15, 1923 at the Rivoli Theater in New York City, and is now in the Maurice Zouary collection at the Library of Congress

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

.
In 1922, the instrumental version of "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" was a hit single performed by Carl Fenton

Carl Fenton

Carl Fenton born as Walter G. Haenschen, was an American bandleader, composer, and radio musician.- Name origin :The Carl Fenton Orchestra was a title given to Brunswick Records studio bands through the 1920s...

's Orchestra. Hit versions were also recorded by the Vincent Lopez

Vincent Lopez

Vincent Lopez was an American bandleader and pianist.Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York and was leading his own dance band in New York City by 1917...

Orchestra in 1922 and by Paul Whiteman

Paul Whiteman

Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...

and his Orchestra in 1923.

A Betty Boop

Betty Boop

Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...

cartoon, Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, was created with the music in 1933. Also in 1933, The Rockettes

The Rockettes

The Rockettes are a precision dance company performing out of the Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, New York City. During the Christmas season, the Rockettes have performed five shows a day, seven days a week, for 77 years...

began annually performing their own choreographed version of the piece, based on Balieff's original, in their Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular is an annual musical holiday stage show presented at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The show features over 140 performers, lavish sets and costumes and an original musical score. The 90 minute revue combines singing, dancing and humor with traditional...

Song

Though far less often heard than Jessel's original instrumental piece, Ballard MacDonald wrote charming English song lyrics for the tune, in 1922.

The toy shop door is locked up tight

And everything is quiet for the night.

And suddenly the clock strikes twelve,

The fun's begun!

The dolls are in their best arrayed,

There's going to be a wonderful parade.

Hark to the drum,

Oh, here they come, cries everyone

Hear them all cheering,

Now they are nearing,

There's the captain stiff as starch.

Bayonets flashing,

Music is crashing,

As the wooden soldiers march;

Sabers a-clinking,

Soldiers a-winking,

At each pretty little maid.

Here they come!

Here they come!

Here they come!

Here they come!

Wooden soldiers on parade.

Daylight is creeping,

Dollies are sleeping.

In the toy shop window fast;

Soldiers so jolly,

Think of each dolly,

Dreaming of the night that's past.

When in the morning,

Without warning,

Toyman pulls the window shade,

There's no sign the Wood brigade

Was ever out upon parade.

The song is often used as a Christmas piece. A version sung by The Crystals

The Crystals

The Crystals are an American vocal group based in New York, considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era of the first half of the 1960s. Their 1961–1964 chart hits, including "Uptown", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron " and "Then He Kissed Me", featured three successive female lead...

is on the 1963 album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector

A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector

A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records is an album of Christmas songs, produced by Phil Spector, and originally released as Philles 4005 in 1963...

. Harry Connick, Jr.

Harry Connick, Jr.

Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...

sings it on his 1993 album, When My Heart Finds Christmas

When My Heart Finds Christmas

When My Heart Finds Christmas is American artist Harry Connick, Jr.'s first Christmas album. Released in 1993, it is among the most popular holiday collections of the past two decades in the United States. Connick Jr composed four songs for the album: "When My Heart Finds Christmas", " Santa...

. It is also on Disney's Very Merry Christmas Songs DVD.

Notable later uses of the instrumental piece

The work is a staple of the Boston Pops orchestra. They have recorded it at least 10 times.

In Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, The Parade of the Tin Soldiers was used for many years in BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

radio's Children's Hour

Children's Hour

Children's Hour—at first: "The Children's Hour", from a verse by Longfellow—was the name of the BBC's principal recreational service for children during the period when radio dominated broadcasting....

to introduce the series Toytown

Toytown

Toytown was a British radio series for children, based around a set of puppets created by SG Hulme Beaman, broadcast by the BBC for Children's Hour, which ran from 17:00 to 18:00 on the Home Service. There were also some short films made during the 1970s which were broadcast on ITV...

, based on stories by S. G. Hulme Beaman

Sydney George Hulme Beaman

Sydney George Hulme Beaman, born in 1887 and who died 4 February 1932, was an author & illustrator best known as the creator of the Toytown stories and their characters including Larry the Lamb.-Life and work:...

. The recording used was by the New Light Symphony Orchestra.

External links

1911 recording of "The Parade of the Tin Soldiers" (audio)
"The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" (orchestral)
Harry Connick singing "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" on Rhapsody
Rhapsody (online music service)
Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
History of and complete lyrics to The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
Essay on Leon Jessel and The Parade of the Tin Soldiers
"March of the Wooden Soldiers" by Tchaikovsky

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Rise to international popularity

Song

Notable later uses of the instrumental piece

See also

External links