Hoch Deutschlands Flotte! Music of the Imperial German Navy in Archival Recordings, 1907-1917

"Hoch Deutschlands Flotte!" features not only the most famous parade- and presentation marches from the core repertoire of the Kaiser's "High Seas Fleet", but also many forgotten treasures of nautically flavored German martial- and patriotic music. Included here are period pieces celebrating the First World War-era exploits of the SMS Emden, Otto Weddigen s U-9 and the raider SMS Moewe; a 1907 recording of the "Flag Parade" of the Imperial German Navy (complete with drill commands and including the "Hollaendischer Ehrenmarsch", which was designated as the presentation march for all naval units by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1901); and a super-rare 1915 version of Hermann Loens battle song, "Wir fahren gegen Engelland", set to a score that has been completely overshadowed by Herms Niel s famous setting of that song from 1940. In addition to these rarities, the album features numerous German naval marches and concert band pieces of the Imperial era that are endowed with a distinctive maritime ambiance, but are virtually unknown to today s listeners

The performances assembled in this compilation were originally recorded between 1907 and 1917, and though the extremely rare early discs from which they have been transcribed date from the acoustic age of recording (that is, before the invention of electric microphones and pick-ups), they have been laboriously restored and reengineered to maximize the considerable fidelity already inherent to them without altering their historical authenticity in any way whatsoever.

"Hoch Deutschlands Flotte!" is accompanied by a TWENTY-FOUR PAGE BOOKLET (lavishly illustrated with many rare, never-before published photographs) which features detailed historical notes on the development of the Imperial German Navy during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II, its musical traditions and the background of the featured musical selections.