Product Description

This album takes the listener on a musical excursion through the history of the famous Regiment-, Division- and Panzerkorps- "Grossdeutschland", presenting military marches and soldiers songs in a compilation that chronicles this elite German military unit's evolution from the "Wachtruppe" - the army guard detachment stationed in Berlin during the Weimar Republic - to the mighty combined arms force of the late war years.

Brandenburg Historica has searched the globe to assemble the priceless 78rpm records (dating from 1928 to 1943) that at we have transcribed for this compilation. Eighteen of this albums TWENTY tracks feature marches and soldiers' songs that are performed by the unit's own choruses and/or bands, while the remaining selections highlight central aspects of Grossdeutschlands unit history and wartime career. These rare source recordings have been restored for maximum fidelity while preserving their unique period ambience.

Included in this collection are not only "Grossdeutschland's" official parade march and its presentation march (presented in a rarely heard "honor guard" arrangement with the German national anthem), but also a rare transcription of "Grossdeutsche Grenadiere", the regimental song of GD that features music by GD Obergefreiter Hans-Martin Majewski and lyrics by Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland's commander in the French Campaign, Oberst Gerhard Graf von Schwerin. Also presented is a selection of the parade marches and songs of the German mechanized forces of the Second World War (including a rousing vocal version of the much requested "Panzerlied"), as well as those traditional marches played during guard changing ceremonies and parades in which the "Grossdeutschland" units were regular participants.

Painstakingly researched and produced, the album is accompanied by a lavishly illustrated twenty four-page booklet that presents a detailed overview of "Grossdeutschland's" career, the history of its two bands and detailed background information on the featured musical selections.

Review

'The music is very well played, consisting of marches and also soldier s songs.... this CD is truly amazing in its quality... you would be hard pressed to realize that most of the recordings are over sixty years [old].... [The CD also includes] a very informative and well-illustrated booklet.... Grossdeutschland is a superior product worth having.' --November 2006 Issue of RVS (Newsletter of the Robert Hoe Branch of the International Military Music Society)

'An interesting piece of musical history, concluding impressively with Wieprecht s Zapfenstreich-Marsch! The [CD] booklet is not only very lengthy at twenty-four pages, with a historical dissertation on the military orchestras of the period as well as an outstanding discussion of each musical piece, but also includes a selection of photos. The technical quality of the CD is outstanding in light of the antiquity of the original recordings. In short, for connoisseurs of historic recordings, this CD is certainly worth it.' --September 2006 Issue of Defilé (Official Publication of the International Military Music Society, Netherlands Branch)

'The productions of Brandenburg Historica are always something special. Often, they cover terrain upon which we in Germany do not dare to venture…. Like those before it, this release is distinguished by solid research [and is] Illustrated in exemplary fashion…. A focused and outstanding musical compilation.' --2007 Issue of Mit Klingendem Spiel (Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Militärmusik e. V.)

From the Artist

Brandenburg Historica LLC was founded in 1996 by a group of longtime and enthusiasts of German military music. In 2005 we launched our in-house Brandenburg Music Label, which specializes in archival reissues of vintage German military music recordings from 1900 - 1945.

We intend to portray this important musical genre in its proper historical context through a lengthy series of scholarly reference CDs, each presenting a comprehensive depiction of the martial music of one particular era, military unit or branch of service. Each Brandenburg CD features definitive, fully restored and remastered performances of classic German marches (and/or important period vocal works) accompanied by detailed liner notes that encompass all information relevant to the musical period or subject presented. Our huge in-house archive of over one thousand 78 RPM shellac records from the golden age of German military band music, including vocal and instrumental performances of songs and marches from both world wars and featuring recordings by such legendary bandmasters as Adolf Becker, Fritz Brase, Friedrich Ahlers, Carl Woitschach and Hermann Mueller-John, is available to producers for use in film and television productions requiring historically accurate, period musical accompaniment.

Brandenburg Historica's bilingual staff is well versed in German cultural- and political history, being able to draw on over thirty years of collective experience in studying and retailing German military music, German language books and German military artifacts.

About the Artist

Stabsmusikmeister Friedrich Ahlers was born on June 9, 1882 in Luthe, near Wunstorf in Hanover and entered military service as a musician in the band of the Infanterie Regiment Nr. 4 (1st Hannoversches) in 1901. He later studied at the Royal Music Academy in Charlottenburg and was named conductor of the band of the Colbergschen Grenadierregiment "Graf Gneisenau" Nr. 9 at Stargard in Pomerania in 1914. Ahlers served in the First World War on both the Eastern and Western Fronts and, after 1918, remained in service in the 100,000 man Reichswehr. In 1921, he was ordered to establish a Musikkorps for the army guard detachment stationed in the German capital, and within a short time had established a band that attracted wide acclaim as it performed at ceremonial functions for the republican government. Ahlers was deeply committed to the musical traditions of the Prussian- and German armies and made certain that these traditions would be preserved and carried on in the Reichswehr. In 1936, he was promoted to Stabsmusikmeister while a second "Wachtruppe" band under Guido Grosch was established to share ceremonial duties. By June 1939, these bands were known as the First and Second Musikkorps of the Infantry Regiment "Grossdeutschland". With the outbreak of war in September 1939, both bands remained in Berlin, though Ahlers and his Musikkorps later participated in the French campaign of 1940 and would serve as stretcher-bearers and guardians of IR Grossdeutschland's baggage train in the Russian campaign. He and his band would remain with the Grossdeutschland Motorized Infantry Division in Russia until August 1942. Obermusikmeister Guido Grosch was born in Berlin on June 25, 1910 and was transferred to the Wachtruppe Berlin in 1936 to take over the unit’s Second Musikkorps. He had previously served as the conductor of the band of the Heeres Unteroffizierschule at Potsdam-Eiche. Grosch remained with the Second Musikkorps throughout all of Grossdeutschland's expansions until the summer of 1942, when he was transferred to the Rzhev sector of the Eastern Front. Serving as chief of staff to the commander of Infantry Regiment 1 Grossdeutschland, he was killed in action on September 19 1942. Returning home after being relived by Grosch, Ahlers spent the next two years traveling the length and breath of Germany giving concerts for the civil population and soldiers on leave and performing live on radio. He retired from the army in November 1944 due to age and ill health and lived as a civilian with his wife and two young daughters in the western sector of Berlin during the Russian occupation. He died of a heart attack on November 9 1945. Brandenburg Historica, which produced this compilation, was founded in 1996 by lifelong enthusiasts of military history and martial music who take an interdisciplinary approach to music production, creating albums that integrate authentic period sound recordings with detailed historical narrative in a manner that places the music of a given period firmly within its historical context.