MUSINGS
Contributed By Jack Kopstein

Marches have a Role in Musical Tastes.

New research is shedding light on why not everyone swoons to the sounds of latest pop sensation Justin Bieber. In a study published in Current Biology researchers have found clues as to why some musical combinations sound so sweet, while others are downright awful. The simple answer is “musical experience.”

The key to the research project is that over the years there have been numerous claims why some people like one sound version over another. One method of measuring the musical significance of a harmonic frequency and in relation to sound and the other quality known as beating.

Thus if we rationalize the March form in the same context we can determine that the March experience began very early in the lives of children. Young people love parades, and throughout their early lives, numerous opportunities arise where they hear, see and beat their feet to an array of marching bands. Santa Claus parades and July 4th are a great example of the March form in action. Later as school students they are exposed to the sports venues where school and songs are played to develop an esprit de corps among the student body.

Nationalism in March music has been one of the most important aspects of musical experience that both children and adults are familiar. National anthems are often written in a dramatic march style. Another consideration is the number of people who have served in their countries military forces. In this area service people are exposed to the sound of drums, trumpets commands and full military bands marching troops in various employments.

The question of course arises which medium of music is an acquired taste. Music that appeals to individuals because of the style, harmonic content, solid beating, drastic counter melodies with dissonances, or simple pleasing harmony. Given for instance the jazz concepts and nuances of Charley Parker in the bebop era of the 1950’s and earlier the drum dexterity of Buddy Rich, we must conclude that this form is an acquired taste. The earlier Dixieland jazz, which it can be said was the origin of improvisation, blue notes, syncopation, and polyrhythm  most likely falls into the area of  universal  enjoyment  and requires no more than it is very pleasing to the ear.

Tonality and substance are words that are bantered around in relation to classical music, particularly found in music of the masters. Here we are often subjected to massive changes in harmonic content and dark nuances, but great symphonic marches have evolved, giving a spirited rise to the street and concert march. . Large works more often than not require a selected taste. Short program type music is understandable but despite simplicity need to provide a pleasing harmony before they enter into the human psyche.

Due to its diversity, popular music in the United States today challenges simple description. The history of popular music in the 1970s and ’80s is basically that of rock music, which has grown to include hundreds of musical styles. New styles such as folk, salsa, new wave, funk, reggae, heavy metal, acid rock, punk rock, rap, hip-hop, acid jazz and world music have developed. Country rock, a fusion of country and western and rock ‘n’ roll, grew popular in the 1970s. A blend of rhythm and blues and gospel music came to be known as soul. Disco, a repetitive dance music, and rap music are direct descendants. Rap developed in the mid-1970s among African-American and Hispanic performers in New York City. It generally consists of chanted, often improvised, street poetry usually accompanied by disco or funk music. The 1990s saw the birth of alternative music or grunge. Techno, a style of dance music that gained popularity in the 1990s, combines computer-generated, disco like rhythms with digital samples. Unfortunately sustainability within the format because of formula writing has hindered learning in modern popular music. However his constant style of the pseudo religious gospel voice inflection together with the use of drum patterns has created an uncomplicated and easily understood learning experience.

Next we examine the learning and experience of the Broadway Musical theatre, a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called simply, “musicals.”

Musicals are performed all around the world. They may be presented in large venues, such as big budget West End and Broadway theatre productions in London and New York City, or in smaller fringe theatre, Off-Broadway or regional productions, on tour, or by amateur groups in schools, theatres and other performance spaces. In addition to Britain and North America, there are vibrant musical theatre scenes in many countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia.Some famous musicals include Show Boat, Oklahoma!, West Side Story, The Fantasticks, Hair, A Chorus Line, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, The Producers and Wicked. Most of the music for the theatre  has had a long lasting effect on audiences. This  translates very easily  into the human memory bank and for which there is common  familiarity along with understanding.  The Sound of Music is the the best illustration of  a show which not only captured the world’s imagination for over fifty years but also introduced several memorable songs such as “Climb Every Mountain,” “Do-Re-Me,” and  “Edelweiss.”

Rendering a meaning for marches in terms of  musical expression is simply “beating  of the ground with feet”. The march has evolved  into a distinct style as well as a distinct form. In other words style may range from the works of Wagner(operatic) and Beethoven(Symphonic) to the numerous street and parade marches(Sousa) which were found to be a necessity for men to be kept in step. Thus the march is strictly rythmical. Strict rhythm is observed  regardless of the melody and counter melody  or accompanyment. We can conclude that the march is by far the simplest musical form to remember and to equate to daily life. The names of the marches often will elude us but we often know the tune.  We can whistle and hum the music,or fragments of it. The most well known perhaps of all marches is Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance No1 . Most of us find the name of the music or the  openng unrecognizable but it is in the overwhelming melody of what is known as “Land of Hope and Glory” section  that the march takes on a life of its own. Sousa’s march Stars and Stripes Forever has the same effect. Once it begins there is something  our experience tells us that we know it, and we love it. All marches however  do not excite or give us the same feeling of pleasure, however they fit the human desire to beat our feet and feel uplifted.

Antoine Joseph SAX – known as Adolphe – was born in Dinant, Belgium, on November 6, 1814, the son of Charles Joseph Sax, instrument maker to the king of The Netherlands. At 14, Adolphe Sax built his own clarinet of fine wood and soon was winning prizes at Europe’s new indus¬trial expositions. Sax was a rare young genius: an innovator whose hands were as facile as his mind.

When the Brussels Exposition denied his instruments a gold medal in 1841, Sax decided to seek his fortune elsewhere. He headed for Paris, penni¬less but rich in ideas. His favourite brain¬child was a matched family of valued brasses. These “saxhorns” were the ancestors of the tubas, flugelhorns, and baritone horns heard in modern bands.

The saxophone may have been born when Sax, while puttering in his shop, fitted a bass clarinet mouthpiece and reed onto an ophicleide, a big bugle-type horn with keys instead of valves. At any rate, by 1842 he had made a bass saxophone, pitched in the key of C. It drew praise from Hector Berlioz, the renowned French composer, who transcribed some of his own music for a demonstration concert with Chamber winds on February 3, l844, and the first time a saxophone was heard in public with Sax himself as soloist.

The saxhorns and saxophones attracted the attention of the French Army, who gave Sax the exclusive contract to outfit their bands. Established music firms couldn’t compete with his superior craftsmanship and modern production methods, so they organized to ruin him, but the charge did not hold up in court.

Sax patented his saxophones, by now an entire family on March 20th 1846. But even his most important friends could not protect the instrument maker from the jealousy of the entire industry, which paid musicians to boycott Sax’s products. Other problems ensued.

After 860 when his patents expired, anyone could copy Sax’s instruments. Deprived of revenues from his inventions, Sax slipped back into poverty. In 1870 his Army contracts were cancelled and his factory went under. Bankrupt he survived as a bandmaster at the Paris Opera until his death at 79 on February 1894.

Early saxophones were all French, Evette Shaeffer and Buffet Crampon. In the US Elkhart Indiana known as “Music City” boasted several firms whom manufactured saxophones including Conn, Buescher and Martin. In later years when the dance band craze began the Selmer saxophones was the instrument of choice of many of the performers.

Saxophones were first employed in military bands, where it was a voice of compromise between brass and woodwinds. The warmth and tonality of the instrument, particularly the alto and tenor, were mainstays in all of the French military bands beginning with its first introduction. But it took several years before it went into full usage in Britain.

Photographs of the Guards bands beginning in 1900 and later indicate that saxophones had not come into use. In the USA, the instrument was adopted by both school and military bands as early as 1880. Other countries such as Canada were very slow to move off the mark and the instrument did not make a showing until shortly before the First World War.

Today every band from High School to the professional level including community bands has full sections of Eb Alto (divided parts 1-2) with Tenor sax as well as Eb Baritone. Saxophone.

The solo qualities of the instrument were recognized shortly after it was introduced. The founders of the tradition of the classical saxophone include French military musician, later world concert performer Marcel Mule. American Cecil Leeson became one of the world’s most prestigious saxophonists as well. Sigurd Rascher a German born concert performer came to the USA in 1939. His amazing sound and magnificent technique made him into a household name.

No article on the saxophone would be complete without the mention of the world’s first modern saxophonist- Charley Parker. He left a legacy that significantly enhanced the instrument’s tradition. Several generations of great players have emerged including Saxophone Colossus Sonny Rollins and the man whom many call the “Last Messiah,” John Coltrane. The man considered to be the present day ‘public marketer” is the personable and magnificent Bradford Marsalis.

The great military bands pf the USA, including the United States Marine band, have strived to keep the memory and tradition of Adolphe Sax alive by developing wonderful saxophone quartets. The brainchild introduced by Adolphe  Sax was indeed an  instrument of the ages.

Contributed by Jack Kopstein

The Repasz Band: An American Treasure

The Repasz Band was founded in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1831 and is the oldest non-military band in continuous existence in the United States. What could be more American than Mom, apple pie, and a band playing in the park on a sunny summer day?

The Repasz Band of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, has been playing out that scene with a proud heritage stretching back over a century and a half. First organized in August 1831 in Williamsport by Jacob L. Mussina, its instrumentation consisted of flutes, clarinets, a piccolo, and only one brass instrument:  a French horn.

In 1840, Daniel Repasz became a member of the Band.  Recognized for his dynamic musical character, he became a major force behind the Band’s transformation into a fine brass band.  He was elected as the Band’s fourth director in 1856, and in gratitude for his dedication and accomplishments, the Band members adopted the name Repasz Band in 1859.

The Repasz Band has a proud musical heritage, having performed for a variety of civic and military events. Here is a sampling of some of the Band’s more notable engagements: The Band’s first appearance on a national occasion came when it traveled by canal boat to Baltimore, accompanying the Pennsylvania delegation to the Presidential Convention in 1844 where Henry Clay was nominated for President of the United States. In 1861, the Band enlisted in the 11th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, and after three months of service, enlisted in the 29th Pennsylvania Volunteers.  After the Band completed its second enlistment, the greater part of the musicians next enlisted in the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry and served until the end of the Civil War, seeing action in the Shenandoah Valley, as well as at Lee’s surrender.

At Appomattox Court House they played the “Star Spangled Banner” and “Rally Round the Flag” alternating with a Confederate Army Band who played “Bonnie Blue Flag” and “Dixie.] The Band performed at the original dedication of President Grant’s Tomb on April 27, 1897, in New York City.

One hundred years later to the day, April 27, 1997, the Repasz Band performed for the rededication of Grant’s Tomb.  At the conclusion of the official ceremonies, in which the Repasz Band was one of only two bands participating, the Repasz Band entertained hundreds of people with a concert of Civil War music.

During the Spanish American War, the Band played for the Pennsylvania National Guard from 1898 to the end of the war under the directorship of Herdic Wood (plus three enlistments between 1903 and 1912). In 1899, a spectacular pageant called “The Spanish War,” featuring a cast of nearly 1,000 was performed in various locations by the Repasz Band. In 1903, the Band became the official band of the 12th Regiment of the National Guard of Pennsylvania, and marched in that capacity in the inaugural parades of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt in 1905 and Howard Taft in 1909. During World War I, 32 band members (known as the Repasz War Band) joined the Navy on October 17, 1917.

Hazel dedicated his composition “Our Blue Jackets” to this impressive band. This contingent of the Repasz Band participated in patriotic parades and toured the country appearing in recruiting drives and Liberty Loan campaigns while stationed at the Pelham Naval Station near New York City.   In 1981, the Band played at the White House to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

Frederick E. Manson, in a short article entitled “Personal Recollections of the Repasz,” says that “perhaps one of the most splendid personal testimonies to the Repasz came from John Philip Sousa when Sousa’s band came to Williamsport in 1915. With his band he was being entertained in the Repasz rooms – the Repasz has entertained every band of prominence visiting Williamsport from Patrick Gilmore’s band to Sousa’s.  Addressing Mr. Harry Parker, its manager, Sousa said:  ‘You have what I cannot buy, a loyalty and enthusiasm without which an organization like yours must be mediocre.  Your band has risen above that.’”

And it was this loyalty and enthusiasm of the players themselves that inspired the people of Williamsport lately to rally to the support of the old Repasz” when the Lycoming Opera House in Williamsport burned on May 31, 1915.  The band had been based there and lost 84 years’ worth of records and memorabilia, its music library, trophies, and most of its uniforms and instruments.

Still the band filled an engagement the day after the fire, and in two weeks filled another with “all new equipment made in Williamsport.” As described in Edwin L. Suter’s article, “Priceless Relics and Famous Library Destroyed by Fire,” during the first year of its existence the Band began to gather a collection of music copied by hand into books for each instrument.  In process the “library” of the Band grew to great size.  It was said to be the largest collection of hand copied music in the country.  It represented the work of hundreds of men . . .  Groping among the ruins the other day Mr. Parker extracted an old singed, water-soaked book many years old.  It was all that was recoverable of the famous “library.”  In the list of the burned notes of melody were seven sets of instrument books, leather bound and dating back to 1831, and reaching down to the seventies [1870s].  There was no such thing as printed band music when the making of these books was begun and there was no such thing for many years after.  The musical collection of the Band grew with the organization.

Another precious relic lost was a banner that the “lady friends” of the Band gave it in 1837.  Back in the days of canal travel, the Band journeyed to Bellefonte by packet boat.  Its musical achievements on that occasion were commemorated by the banner.  Then there was an oil painting, Daniel Repasz and the Village Orchestra, by C. Lawrence, an original member of the Band in 1831, and it’s first and only “brass” player at that time (French horn).  There were also a baton and portraits of Captain W. N. Jones, one of the famous drum majors of Civil War days.

The organization had sacredly preserved an ancient key bugle, the first brass instrument used in the Band by Daniel Repasz.  Mr. Suter stated that “somewhere in the ruins there is probably a lump of brass representing the old time maker of melody.  The late Herdic Wood, director of the Band for many years, had contributed to the list of things valued – the Lord’s Prayer done in scroll work.  The prayer represented the labour of various odd times that, pieced together, made a month of continuous work.  It was destroyed by the flames.

A massive cut glass vase, presented to the Repasz musicians by the Corning Band, of Corning, NY, was lost with the rest.  The roster of the Band in Civil War days and other valuable records were burned.  The Band had a collection of portraits and letters of prominent bands and great bandsmen of this and other countries.  These represented Patrick Gilmore, John Philip Sousa, Innes, the Kilties of Hamilton, Ontario, and the “Bess o the Bairnes” from Scotland, and so on, and with them portraits and letters of commendation from United States Army and Pennsylvania National Guard officers.  The art collection comprised about 200 pictures.  They faded and shrivelled in a minute in the furnace of flame that took possession of the band room.

During the Depression, with nowhere to rehearse and no money to rent a room, the Repasz Band merged with the Elks Band.  Many of the members played in both anyway, and the Elks offered a home.  From the 1950s through the early 1990s, the Band became known as the Repasz Elks Band.

In the late 1940s the Band languished.  Rehearsals were held intermittently, and attendance was poor.  The future was in doubt.  A man named Earl Williams took on the task of saving the Band.  Occasionally referred to as “Mr. Repasz,” Earl has been a member since 1938 (an impressive 65 years).

Gene Bardo in “The Legacy of the Repasz Band” notes that when the Band was founded in 1831, there were no school bands, and the group was already 74 years old when the first high school band was founded in Connersville, Indiana in 1905.  Modern military bands and their music evolved over a long period of time and also includes groups like the Allentown Band.  Since the time when Daniel Repasz moulded his organization, others headed by such men as Patrick Gilmore, John Philip Sousa, Arthur Pryor, Edwin Franko Goldman, and Harold Bachman came, had their hey-day, and faded into history.  Only the Repasz Band has continued its lineage and to this day looks forward to a promising future.

Bibliography taken from the History of the band
Gene Bardo, “The Legacy of the Repasz Band,” The Instrumentalist, January 1983.
InSites, Vol. 5, No. 1, Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce Newsletter, 1989)
“A Short History of the Famous Repasz Band, The Oldest Band in America, 1831 – 1931″ from the Repasz Band’s 100th Anniversary Programme; 1931)
Edwin L. Suter, “Priceless Relics and Famous Library Destroyed by Fire,” Repasz Band booklet (Grit

The United States Merchant Marine Academy band
“GEORGE COHAN’S OWN”

Contributed by Jack Kopstein

During World War II, Maritime Training Facilities were placed in strategic locations around America. These stations included Pass Christian, Mississippi, San Mateo, California, Fort Trumbull, Connecticut, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn and Kings Point. At the larger locations, professional musicians were recruited to form marching, concert, and dance bands to play for the hundreds of seafarers in training. In 1943, the present Academy at Kings Point was established. With it, a 45 piece professional band, made up of the finest New York City musicians, was recruited and played for thousands of cadets during their intensified wartime training at the Academy. To this day, the raised platform in the mess hall at the Academy, where the present Regimental midshipmen officers sit, and the radio broadcasting booth are vestiges of that professional band. Their duty each day during the war was to play for the entertainment of the troops at all mess sittings and play additional music for dances on weekends, which was broadcast live over WCBS radio. After the war, the professional band was disbanded and music at the Academy became the responsibility of midshipmen. This program had varying degrees of success until 1971, when a full-time Director of Music was appointed and the band members were placed into their own company.

Since that time, the band has represented the Academy at all Presidential Inauguration Parades, as well as the Miss America Pageant, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Cotton Bowl Halftime Show on New Years Day, and countless other national events. In 1994, a 35-piece ensemble boarded the ocean-liner Queen Elizabeth 2 and traveled across the Atlantic to Normandy, France for the 40th Anniversary of D-Day, while entertaining the WWII veterans on board.  In June, 2000, the band flew to New Orleans and represented the Academy and U.S. Merchant Marine at the Opening Ceremonies of the D-Day Museum.

A  singular honor was bestowed upon the band in 1999 by the descendants of the “Man Who Owned Broadway,” the late Mr. George M. Cohan. The Band was instrumental in helping the local community and Park District of Great Neck save his former residence, which was slated for demolition.  Mr. Cohan was honored with a Congressional Gold Medal in 1936, in recognition for two patriotic compositions which have become synonymous with America: “Over There” and “A Grand Old Flag.” Helen Ronkin Lafaso and Ms. Mary Ronkin Ross, the grandchildren of Mr. Cohan, formally thanked the band for their support and gave the band the honour to be called, “George M. Cohan’s Own” for “now and in the future.” Thus, Kings Point became the first Federal Academy Band with an officially bestowed title.

The Band’s membership changes twice each year as the sea splits change. Thus, every fall and every spring a new band is effectively born. Due to this unique rotation, the band is never the same twice.

(website information) contributed by jack Kopstein

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