As you know by now, euphonium master Arthur Lehman died recently. His funeral was just two days ago. Here is a link to a photo provided by Arthur's good friend, Keith Barton:

Post-funeral photo

Also, the Washington Post ran a nice article remembering Arthur. Read it here:

Arthur W. Lehman, 91 - Influential Euphonium Player With Marine Band

The Washington Post article mentions Arthur's writing, including the book The Brass Musician. This is one that I edited for Arthur and it contains good advice for euphoniumists (and most of the book applies to any brass instrument as well):

The Brass Musician by Arthur Lehman

The article mentions that Arthur was afflicted with pulmonary fibrosis. In fact, Arthur wrote a short story about his condition. His doctor believes that Arthur's euphonium playing was a significant reason that this disease did not both him sooner in life. Read Arthur Lehman's words here:

Playing Euphonium or Tuba Is Good for Your Lungs

Rest in peace, Arthur Lehman. You had a great 91 years!

Regular visitors will know that this site became inflicted with some kind of virus or malware. My site is hosted on a server that also hosts many other sites, which is necessary unless you can afford big bucks for your own server. It appears one of those other sites was infected and that spread to all other sites on the server via the Windows web server.


It took my hosting company a while to get everything clean and back to normal (it involved moving to a new server with a clean install of the operating system). They were not able to clean all my files after several attempts, so they restored my site with files from an earlier backup. Consequently I have lost a couple of recent blog posts.


As always, when you browse the web always make sure your computer is protected. Be sure to set your operating system, your anti-virus software, and your browser to update automatically. If you don't have good anti-virus software, a good source of suggestions is the Kim Komando website. She is a computer radio talk-show host. The page below has links to obtain some great FREE virus protection software:


Kim Komando Security Center


Thanks for your patience during this time.

Many people have mentioned that they would like to help support this site. The software and hosting for this site are not cheap and I do not sell anything directly to make up for the cost.

But I do have associations with other vendors by which I can receive a small royalty when you buy something from them. I ONLY deal with vendors I have thoroughly checked out and trust. In fact, I use them myself for my own purchases.

If you are going to purchase something from one of these vendors or if you are looking for a gift for someone, please use the links on the Gift page. It helps support this site, and you still get the same discount price that you would otherwise.

Links are here for the largest sheet music store in the world, Sheet Music Plus; Amazon.com gift certificates; and the Amazon Tuba-Euphonium Store.

Visit our new Gift page.

 

 

(Courtesy of the First Amendment Religion Clause blog at http://churchvstate.blogspot.com - used with permission)

On June 6, 1984, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. He was in France, on the site of the invasion.

President Reagan was not afraid to invoke the name of God. He was not ashamed of our past. In his speech he said:

"It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt."

And he recalled the words of Col. Wolverton to his parachute troops as he asked them to kneel in prayer with him:

"Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we're about to do."

Reagan recalled General Ridgway's faith:

"Also that night, General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: 'I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.'"

Read Reagan's entire speech here:

President Reagan's D-Day 40th anniversary speech

See also this previous post:

President Franklin D. Roosevelt - D-Day Prayer

On June 4, 1942, the Allied forces won a decisive victory in the battle of Midway. Our badly-outnumbered fleet succeeded in what has been called the most important military action of the 20th century.

Here is a recording of The United States Coast Guard Band performing Richard Rodgers classic "Victory at Sea." The piece was written for a multi-part TV series remembering our Navy's efforts in World War II.

Victory at Sea, USCG Band

Learn more about the battle here:
June 4th 1942 - Midway, the Forgotten Victory

With Memorial Day coming up it seems appropriate to get some good march music playing! This free download is of "The President's Own" United States Marine Band from Washington, D.C., playing National Emblem by E. E. Bagley. It's a great march and features a snippet of the National Anthem. You can also hear its memorable theme in the second strain, which is often sung with the lyrics, "Oh the monkey wrapped his tail around the flag pole."

National Emblem March by Bagley, U.S. Marine Band

Other versions are available in this player: