Frank White Meacham (1856-1909) lived and worked in New York City for most of his life. His most famous and enduring composition is American Patrol, which he wrote and published as a solo piano piece in 1885. It was first published in an arrangement for wind band in 1891, and has been released in several editions since then. The Patrol was a common musical form in the late 19th century, designed to depict a band passing by on parade. True to the form, American Patrol in its original form begins with a hint of distant drummers, gradually intensifying in texture and dynamics until a full band appears for the listener. In the process, we hear a medley of familiar American tunes, including “Columbia, Gem of the Ocean,” and “Dixie” (although this was not part of the first piano edition.) The original piano version then fades out as the band passes into the distance. Every wind band version adds an accelerating coda to the tune of “Yankee Doodle“ that ends the piece in a flourish.
See more about Meacham at Wikipedia. American Patrol can be further investigated at Wikipedia, J. W. Pepper, Band World, 8notes, Wiki Jazz, and IMSLP.
Wind band version:
Original piano version:
Someone also made an 8 bit version!
Here is an old-timey recording of “Columbia, Gem of the Ocean,” which was something of an unofficial national anthem at the time that American Patrol was written:
As mentioned above, “Yankee Doodle” figures prominently as the coda of the piece:
“Dixie” shows up in several band editions, although it was not part of the first piano edition. For that reason (and the song’s origins in blackface minstrelsy, and its subsequent association with the Confederacy and white supremacy) I omit it from performances of American Patrol. It’s a very easy, 16-bar cut.
Bonus material: Glenn Miller’s swing version of American Patrol (in which “Dixie” is replaced with “The Girl I Left Behind“):
There is also a Morton Gould sendup of the piece: American Patrol for 3 Bands.