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    The Mad Major: Cooley-Selland Collection

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    Albert Lilly
    The document provides biographical information about British composer Kenneth J. Alford, who wrote marches under the pseudonym. It then describes Alford's march 'The Mad Major', explaining that the title refers to Major Graham Seton-Hutchison and his exploits during World War I.

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    The Mad Major: Cooley-Selland Collection

    Uploaded by

    Albert Lilly
    97 views42 pages
    The document provides biographical information about British composer Kenneth J. Alford, who wrote marches under the pseudonym. It then describes Alford's march 'The Mad Major', explaining that the title refers to Major Graham Seton-Hutchison and his exploits during World War I.

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    Mad Major

    Original Title

    cs-MadMajor

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    The document provides biographical information about British composer Kenneth J. Alford, who wrote marches under the pseudonym. It then describes Alford's march 'The Mad Major', explaining that the title refers to Major Graham Seton-Hutchison and his exploits during World War I.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    97 views42 pages

    The Mad Major: Cooley-Selland Collection

    Uploaded by

    Albert Lilly
    The document provides biographical information about British composer Kenneth J. Alford, who wrote marches under the pseudonym. It then describes Alford's march 'The Mad Major', explaining that the title refers to Major Graham Seton-Hutchison and his exploits during World War I.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    The passage provides background information on the composer Kenneth J. Alford and details about his famous march 'The Mad Major'.

    The title of the march 'The Mad Major' actually refers to Major Graham Seton-Hutchison, a British military officer whose daring exploits during World War I earned him honors and the nickname 'The Mad Major'.

    Major Graham Seton-Hutchison was known for his gallant exploits with the Machine Gun Corps during World War I, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Military Cross.

    Mad Major, The Alford, Kenneth J.

    The Mad Major


    by: Kenneth J. Alford (Frederick J. Ricketts)

    Original Copyright: 1921


    By: Boosey & Hawkes

    BandMusic PDF Library

    Cooley-Selland Collection
    Music Preservation Team: Tom Pechnik, Senior Archivist; Mary Phillips; Wayne Dydo;
    Bill Park, Director; Marcus Neiman, Program Notes

    North Royalton, Ohio


    www.bandmusicpdf.org
    Alford, Kenneth J. (Frederick Joseph
    Ricketts)

    DOB: February 21, 1881 (London, England)


    DOD: May 15, 1945 (Reigate, England)

    Kenneth Joseph Alford is a pseudonym taken by Major Frederick


    Joseph Ricketts. As a composer, he was best known for his
    marches, the most famous of which was Colonel Bogey. British
    officers of the day were not encouraged to pursue interests outside the
    Army so, as a Lieutenant, he published works under a pseudonym.
    The first name, “Kenneth,” was that of his eldest son, and the
    surname, “Alford,” was his mother’s maiden name.

    He joined the Royal Irish Regiment as a musician in 1895 and was commissioned into the Royal
    Marines as a director of music in 1927. He retired in 1944 with the rank of Major. Ricketts/Alford is
    1
    known as “The British March King.”

    Mad Major, The (march) was published in 1921 by the Boosey, Ltd. Company. The march was
    written while Alford was still bandmaster of the Second Battalion, Argyil and Sutherland Highlanders.
    It was his first post-World War I march. Although rumored to refer to himself, or to a dare-devil
    British military pilot, the title actually refers to Major Graham Seton-Hutchison whose gallant exploits
    with the Machine Gun Corps in the “Great War” earned him the Distinguished Service Order and the
    Military Cross as well as the title of “The Mad Major.” After the war, Seton-Hutchison wrote “W Plan”
    2
    (later turned into a movie) and several other books.

    Program note researched by Marcus L. Neiman


    Medina, Ohio

    Additional information on either the composer or composition would be welcomed. Please send
    information to
    marcusneiman@zoominternet.net

    1
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Alford
    2
    Rehig, William H., Bierley, Paul (editor). The encyclopedia of band music, Integrity Press,
    Westerville, OH. (2005), p. 7.

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