Amanda Aldridge (1866-1956) was a British singer, teacher, and composer whose works spanned from orchestral works to songs. She often composed under the pseudonym Montague Ring. Her father was Ira Frederick Aldridge, an African-American Shakespearian actor working in London, and her mother was Swedish opera singer Amanda Brandt. Growing up in this artistic environment, Aldridge went on to study voice and composition at the Royal College of Music, where Jenny Lind was among her teachers. Her singing career was cut short early by a throat condition, but she became a prominent composer and teacher in London, especially among the city’s Black community. See more about her at Wikipedia, …And We Were Heard, and the Composers of Color Resource Project,
Aldridge wrote On Parade in 1914. Kaitlin Bove’s 2020 edition includes the following program note:
On Parade is an English “quick step” march featuring a typical first and second strain, trio, and an unusual secondary trio (a trio-within-a-trio!) that modulates the piece to a third tonal area. The 2020 edition resolves several practical and stylistic issues with the available 1914 Boosey & Hawkes score-less parts that can be found through the US Library of Congress or IMSLP. Instrument parts have been struck or added to modernize the instrumentation. Stylistically, the dynamic range has been expanded and several courtesy slurs and articulation markings have been added to facilitate cleanliness of lines and phrases. Rehearsal letters, measure numbers, and a tempo marking have been added for convenience and errata has been fixed.
On Parade played by the United States Air Force Band:
Check out the pages at …And We Were Heard and the Wind Repertory Project for more on this delightful march.