Vorwärts! - MVSR2490 | Musica

Josef Biskup is the classical example of a military musician who has survived musically on account of one single march. Its title is “Forward!”, and it is still extremely popular today. This unrivaled popularity of the march is the reason why this composer is considered to be on a par with the great representatives of Austro-Hungarian band music. We do not know very much about Josef Biskup. He already had been a band boy in Infantry Regiment (IR) No. 24, before he formally enlisted there as a musician in 1883. Some seven years later he was promoted to platoon leader with the brevet rank of sergeant in IR 59 and performed under the baton of the famous military bandmaster Gustav Mahr. Following this period he served in Lwiw with IR 30 for some time. The daughter of Josef Štepnicka, the last regimental drum major of IR 30, wrote down the memoirs of her father. According to her story, Biskup’s great march “Forward!” was originally composed as “Fire”, and it aptly used the fire brigade signal “Fire Alert”. The march was allegedly both dedicated to the Voluntary Fire Brigade of Louny as well as to the same institution of the Upper Hungarian city of Salgótarján. Additional evidence that might support this report could not be traced down up to now. This also pertains to the date of composition of this “march gem”. The date never could be identified, though it is generally believed that the march was written prior to 1907.