« Prospect Street March » features five melodies that make reference to towns named Newmarket or have a direct connection to the town of Newmarket, Ontario. The first two melodies, « Newmarket Boys, » and « Bonnie Kate (of Newmarket) » refer to the town of Newmarket, England and its famous racecourse. Horse racing was an important part of the Fall Fair in Ontario’s Newmarket as demonstrated by the many early pictures of the Newmarket Citizens’ Band that use the former track and grandstand as backdrops. The third melody, « Newmarket Polka, » makes reference to an Irish town of the same name, while the last two melodies, « The Maple Leaf Forever » and « The Newmarket Raiders » have a direct connection to Newmarket, Ontario, and its early educational facilities.
« The Maple Leaf Forever » was premiered at the laying of the corner stone of the Christian Church on Main Street Newmarket on June 25, 1874. Muir, the composer and an elementary teacher in Newmarket at the time, brought the school choir to sing his work. By all accounts this was the first public performance of what was to become an unofficial Canadian anthem. At a later date the original elementary school on Prospect St. was named after Alexander Muir, and the retirement home currently on the site of that school was also named after him as is a recently constructed Newmarket public school.
Newmarket High School is the third oldest high school in Ontario. While currently located on Mulock Drive, it was located, like Alexander Muir P.S. for most of its history, on Prospect Street. Like many high schools in Canada it adopted a university fight song as its school song with new lyrics and an appropriate title that reflected the school’s traditions and history. In Newmarket’s case the song chosen was the fight song of Wisconsin University, renamed « The Newmarket Raiders. » The closing section of Prospect Street March features these two melodies. Each is stated separately but in the end the two melodies are combined in a final statement, bringing the march to a close much like the schools shared their Prospect St. locations.
This work is dedicated to the members of The Newmarket Citizens’ Band, Canada’s oldest continuously-operating community band under the direction of Dale Matsushige.
The Music
Prospect Street March features five melodies that make reference to towns named Newmarket or have a direct connection to the town of Newmarket, Ontario. The first two melodies, Newmarket Boys, and Bonnie Kate (of Newmarket) refer to the town of Newmarket, England and its famous racecourse. Horse racing was an important part of the Fall Fair in Ontario’s Newmarket as demonstrated by the many early pictures of the Newmarket Citizens’ Band that use the former track and grandstand as backdrops. The third melody, Newmarket Polka, makes reference to an Irish town of the same name, while the last two melodies, The Maple Leaf Forever and The Newmarket Raiders have a direct connection to Newmarket, Ontario, and its early educational facilities.
The Maple Leaf Forever was premiered at the laying of the corner stone of the Christian Church on Main Street Newmarket on June 25, 1874. Muir, the composer and an elementary teacher in Newmarket at the time, brought the school choir to sing his work. By all accounts this was the first public performance of what was to become an unofficial Canadian anthem. At a later date the original elementary school on Prospect St. was named after Alexander Muir, and the retirement home currently on the site of that school was also named after him as is a recently constructed Newmarket public school.
Newmarket High School is the third oldest high school in Ontario. While currently located on Mulock Drive, it was located, like Alexander Muir P.S. for most of its history, on Prospect Street. Like many high schools in Canada it adopted a university fight song as its school song with new lyrics and an appropriate title that reflected the school’s traditions and history. In Newmarket’s case the song chosen was the fight song of Wisconsin University, renamed The Newmarket Raiders. The closing section of Prospect Street March features these two melodies. Each is stated separately but in the end the two melodies are combined in a final statement, bringing the march to a close much like the schools shared their Prospect St. locations.
This work is dedicated to the members of The Newmarket Citizens’ Band, Canada’s oldest continuously-operating community band currently under the direction of Dale Matsushige.
