Concert Band

Watch Your Step!

Grade 4 | 4.5 Mins

Watch Your Step! was commissioned by Stadtmusik Biel from Switzerland and is dedicated to the mayor of Biel/Bienne, Erich Fehr. The prize-winning band gave the premiere on 28th January 2017, under the direction of their conductor, Pascal Schafer.

The title was chosen to salute Biel as the watch-making capital of Switzerland, where brands such as Rolex, Omega and Tissot have their headquarters.

Watch Your Step! is one of a series of  ‘up tempo’ Sparke marches such as Slipstream, The Bandwagon and Jubiloso. After a bright opening, a syncopated first theme is played first by clarinets and saxes and then by the full band. A ‘bass strain’ is followed by a contrasting second subject, played twice. The bass melody returns to herald a truncated version of the main theme before the opening fanfare reappears as a coda.