Concert Band

Step by Step

Grade 4 | 3 Mins

Step by Step was commissioned by the Sony Concert Band to celebrate their 60th anniversary in 2018. The band was established in 1957 and held its first rehearsal in January 1958, conducted by Toshio Akiyama, the band’s Founder and Honorary Life Conductor. All the band members are, or have been, employees of Sony Corporation; they gave the premiere of Step by Step in their 60thanniversary concert in June 2018.

Step by Step is an up-tempo concert march. The title was chosen as it has obvious associations with marching but also as a salute to the constant improvement and development that makes the products of Sony Corporation famous around the world.

After a short introduction the main them appears in clarinets and saxophones, featuring much syncopation and some surprising changes of meter. This is then taken up by the whole band with a florid woodwind descant. A short bridge passage leads to a change of key and a new, legato theme in euphonium and bassoon. Again this is taken up by the full band and is followed by a new section which features various sections of the band in turn. The main theme then returns to bring the march to a rousing clo