Musings
Henry Fillmore
By Jack Kopstein

As an American musical icon, Henry Fillmore’s musical career spanned over fifty years. He continuously flooded the band music market under several names. For easy band music, Mr. Fillmore used the name Harold Bennett. He used the names Will Huff and Al Hayes for band music of medium difficulty. For the more difficult repertoire, Henry Fillmore used several names: Gus Beans, Ray Hall, Harry Hartley, and Henrietta Hall! He probably wrote and arranged more band music than anyone in the history of the art. Fillmore’s biographer, Paul Bierley, figures that Fillmore wrote 250 original compositions for band and arranged 750 other pieces. Fillmore wrote or arranged over one thousand pieces of music in his musical career with his work amounting to at least 20 compositions per year, almost 2 compositions per month. How prolific; it remains an incredible feat, particularly since he no doubt wrote, arranged, and copied his own compositions for publication. Fillmore had a wide range of interests in composing and arranging. He wrote hymns, fox-trots, waltzes, marches, and overtures. Fillmore arranged several classic compositions as well as classic reductions. Henry Fillmore was the name most associated with band music in the golden age of concert/parade and military band music in the late 1800′s and early 1900′s.

Henry Fillmore was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1881. He was the eldest of 5 children. His father was a partner in the Fillmore Religious music publishing house. Henry Fillmore had a well-trained singing voice, and he sang in church choir. He dabbled with the piano and mastered the flute, violin, and guitar. He also became fascinated with the slide trombone, an instrument his father believed to be too evil for any righteous person to play. The instrument was often associated with street corner musicians whom were known to imbibe “the demon rum”. But Fillmore’s mother prevailed, and he earnestly began to study the trombone. He was educated in Cincinnati public schools. In 1901, Fillmore graduated from a junior college with a “Bachelor of Arts” degree. The succeeding Fall he attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, studying trombone with Charles Kohlman and composition with John Broekhoven. He worked for a time in his Father’s publishing firm but left in 1905 after an argument over his love affair with exotic dancer Mabel May Jones. Love prevailed and Henry proposed to Miss Jones by mail. They were married in St Louis.

Fillmore then began a career in circus music, gaining employment with the Lemon Brothers Circus. Both he and his wife were hired. Thus began an association with American circus life, which continued for several years. By 1910, Fillmore resolved his differences with his father and returned to music publishing. Since his salary was very low and his royalties were not yet large enough to sustain himself, Fillmore began to teach trombone and perform in private groups. At some point he gained sufficient skill in conducting, that he led the Syrian Temple Shrine Band from from 1921 to 1926. In 1927, Fillmore organized his own professional band, which was the last in a long line of great professional bands of its type in America. The great Gilmore and Sousa bands had passed into history when Fillmore began his band in Cincinnati. Fillmore’s band became immensely popular. Fillmore’s band did more than play music. It entertained the audience. He often turned directly around to the audience and conducted the band, finishing numbers with long fermata (holds or pauses), and demonstrating how much he enjoyed the audience’s presence. Henry Fillmore was called “Showman Supreme.”

Fillmore was well ahead of his musical time, in regards to what he considered the entertainment value of a conductor. Many of his conducting characteristics were adopted by American bandmasters years later, including the eminent Major Mark Azzolino who conducted the NORAD band of Colorado Springs during the 1960’s and 70’s.

Fillmore developed cardiac problems and moved to Miami, Florida in 1938, for his health. He had made a decision to retire, but soon he was employed with the University of Miami band. Fillmore ended up traveling extensively in the United States, adjudicating musical competitions and guest conducting. In addition, between 1939 and 1942, he assisted in the development of 32 high school band programs in Florida. Henry Fillmore willed the bulk of his estate to the University of Miami. At the age of 75, he died in 1956.

Henry Fillmore began composing at age 18. His first known publication is the march Higham, named after a line of brass instruments. His last composition was dedicated to the President of Miami University at the time, Jay F.W. Pearson. It was titled the Presidents March. Altogether, Fillmore composed 113 marches. His most well-known marches include “Americans We,” “Men Of Ohio” (excerpted for the Blue Dragon Fight Song), “His Honor,” “The Footlifter,” and “Military Escort.” “Military Escort” has been called the best easy march ever composed. John Philip Sousa told Henry Fillmore that he wished Sousa’s name was on this march. Men Of Ohio was dedicated to President Warren G. Harding, who had played the Alto horn in his Marion, Ohio, high school band.

www.MilitaryMusic.com features several albums containing Fillmore’s work. Such albums include: The Golden Age of the Concert Band, Ceremonial Music (2 Disc Collection), Footlifters!, and also the all-Fillmore album Military Escort, available at iTunes!

The National Game
John Phillip Sousa – 1925

Contributed by Jack Kopstein

With its popular reputation and good wages, the Sousa Band was able to recruit some of the best musicians around.

For 39 years, this large group toured the country by train. A Sousa Band tour would last for many months, often with several performances each day and only a few days off for travel between cities. The band traveled to every corner of the United States and did several European tours and one world tour. Together they traveled more than 1 million miles, and they still managed to find the time for other fun.

The Sousa Band had its own baseball team, and Sousa was often the pitcher. They played against local baseball teams and those of rival bands. Sousa composed the piece featured here, “The National Game.”

Sousa and his Baseball Team

Music and baseball have played an integral role in the life and culture of America for nearly two and a quarter centuries, but it was not until the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when the two forms of popular entertainment became fully entwined as the country’s greatest past times. One of the earliest references to baseball in the United States can be found in a 1791, Pittsfield, Massachusetts ordinance banning the playing of the game within eighty yards of the town meeting house. The earliest music composition dedicated to the sport is J. R. Blogdett’s 1858 song, “The Base Ball Polka.” During the Civil War, it was not uncommon for soldiers from different parts of the country to come together to play games of baseball; this eventually lead to a more unified version of the game and its rules across the country. In 1869, the National Association of Base Ball Players permitted professional play. In 1876, the National Baseball League was formalized, and in 1901, the American Baseball League was created just two years before the two leagues played their first World Series. While baseball quickly evolved into a highly professional sport, the rivalries between followers of both professional and amateur leagues became legendary during those early years.

Sousa and Judge Kenishaw Mountain Landis

Landis was the man with the iron fist that saved baseball after the Black Sox debacle of 1919. Babe Ruth was instrumental in bringing the game back on the field with his mighty clouts.

Sousa wrote the march “THE NATIONAL GAME” at the behest Kenishaw Mountain Landis, the Commissioner of Baseball.
For music and sports scholars and aficionados the years 1900-1920 are considered the golden age of the John Philip Sousa Band and baseball in America. The 1908 World Series is considered the greatest and most controversial baseball series of the twentieth century and the Sousa Band’s World Tour of 1910-1911 is undoubtedly one of the most unique music public relations efforts by a single individual to introduce the early twentieth-century world to American music, culture and baseball. John Philip Sousa’s band also served as his baseball team whenever they had a chance to play a game of baseball against another team from a community in which they were performing a concert. This special exhibition in the Center’s museum combines historical documents, photographs, music manuscripts, sound recordings and artifacts from the John Philip Sousa Music and Personal Papers, Herbert L. Clarke Music and Papers, Paul Bierley Papers, Student Life Archives, University Archives, as well as other newly acquired collections of the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music. In addition the exhibition includes historical documents and rare baseball cards from the Smithsonian Institution’s Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, and the Ronald S. Gabriel Baseball Memorabilia Collection. Join the staff of the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music as we uncover interesting stories about the John Philip Sousa Band and early baseball.

“The National Game” is available on the Altissimo! album entitled Sousa 3, the third in a series of albums dedicated to the compositions of John Philip Sousa. Click here to see it at the Altissimo website.

With Files from the Smithsonian Institute and Sousa Archives
Contributed by Jack Kopstein

The 1st Co GFG BAND
1st Company Governor’s Foot Guards

Contributed by Jack Kopstein

When the General Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut passed the resolution in 1771, which formed the First Company Governor’s Foot Guard, no mention was specifically made of a band of musicians, although a petition by commandant Captain Samuel Wyllys in the Company’s first year of operation sought reimbursement for monies spent on fifes and drums.  Thus, it is clear that music has always been part of the Foot Guard.  It was not until 1904 however, that the First Company formed its own permanent band with its members a part of the rank and file of the Foot Guard.

Today, band members are enlisted personnel of the Company, full members of the First Company and of the State Organized Militia, who train and drill side by side with the Foot Guard’s infantry unit.

Since 1904, the band has marched parades and performed concerts at many prestigious events, adding the color, ceremony, and precision associated with rich military tradition. In 1907, the newly-formed band performed a concert at  a special ceremony held at Gettysburg, and in 1908, Foot Guard Bandmaster Francis Sutherland performed as guest cornet soloist with John Philip Sousa’s band when they performed at the Foot Guard’s Armory on High Street in Hartford. Through the years, the band has represented the State of Connecticut in several Presidential  inaugurations, at the New England Governors’ Conference, and in escort duties for foreign dignitaries and European royalty.

Led by Captain David Carlson, today’s band performs many concerts, parades, ceremonies, and special events throughout the Northeast. The band also participates frequently in joint concerts with college and public school bands throughout Connecticut.

Recent memorable band performances include the launching and commissioning of the submarine USS Hartford; the 350th Anniversary celebration of York, Pennsylvania; annual appearances at Hartford’s Riverfest; the “Convergence” parade at Lincoln Center in New York, the 225th birthday of Connecticut’s Old State House and July 4th parades in Philadelphia and Washington DC, and its Centennial Concert at the Bushnell Memorial’s Belding Theater.

Of course, every four years the Band participates in the Governor’s Inauguration Day ceremonies as the First Company Governor’s Foot Guard upholds its chartered duties and commitment to the Governor and the State of Connecticut.

For more information, please visit the band’s website at http://www.governorsfootguard.com/

A Brief History of the Marine Band of Allentown
1903-2010
Celebrating Over a Hundred Years of Service to the Community

Contributed by Jack Kopstein

One of the outstanding qualities of Allentown, PA, is its bands and love of band music. The Marine Band of Allentown is an important part of that tradition and our history is a reflection of the musical growth of the city.

The band was first organized on Jan. 19, 1903, when a group of musicians headed by William Wereley met at the Friendly Inn on North 7th Street. Wereley, a fine cornetist, was selected as the first conductor, a position he held with the Liberty Band until it disbanded. The 23 charter members selected the following officers: William Hoover, president; Charles Long, vice president; William Gruver, secretary; William P. Long, treasurer; Peter DeLong, manager; Monroe Harring, assistant manager; and Solon Boyer, George Hoover and Charles Ruhle as trustees.

The band was in popular demand almost immediately, playing 131 engagements in its first year. In 1907, the band became affiliated with the Sons of Veterans Reserve. Led by William Werkheiser, it was known as the 2nd Regiment Band, S.V.R. Through World War I, the band was a popular attraction at all veteran and military functions. Members of the Marine Band performed faithfully with the United States military bands, serving this country in both World Wars and the Korean conflict. One member, Henry Herlicker, was killed while sounding the charge at Sedan, France only one day before the First World War ended.

In May of 1928, the Marine Band purchased the Morris Hoats homestead at 27-29 South 7th Street. The building was remodelled as a rehearsal hall and storage area by Butz and Clader Company at a cost of over $100,000. More than $20,000 was spent on the purchase of new uniforms and instruments. The band was under the direction of Joseph Ricapito.

In October of 1928, the Marine Band became nationally known when it performed for the National Convention of the American Legion in San Antonio, Texas. During this trip, the band played in Buffalo, New York, Chicago, Springfield, Illinois, St. Louis, Missouri, Houston, Galveston, Dallas and Ft. Worth, Texas and Little Rock, Arkansas.

In 1929, the Marine Band Auxiliary was formed, and for a number of years this group supported the band with many fund raising projects.
Tragedy struck in April, 1931, when fire swept through the three-story Band Hall. The loss of instruments, music, and damage to the building was $33,000. Fire insurance and the help of the good people of Allentown soon had the band back on the bandstand.

August 1965, saw the band sell its rehearsal hall to H. Leh and Company because of rising operating costs. The band found a comfortable home in the East Allentown Fire Company building on Walnut Street. In 1994, through the efforts of band president Martin Karess, the band relocated to its present headquarters, “The Band Barn”, on Academy Road in Lehigh Parkway.

The band has had 12 conductors since 1903. The early group (1903-1935) included William Wereley, John Meyers, William H. Werkheiser, Edwin Gangawer, Alvin C. Hoover, Charles Kehm, Vermond Knauss, Theodore Otto and Joseph Ricapito.

In 1935, Albert Marchetto took over the podium. Arguably the most famous of Marine Band leaders, this well known composer and conductor held the baton until 1960. Valgene Routch followed and conducted the band until 1962.

Since 1962, the band has been under the direction of Raymond S. Becker, Jr. A composer in his own right, Mr. Becker is in his 41st year as director, the longest tenure of any Marine Band conductor. During his leadership the band has gained recognition for its musical growth, quality of performance and diversity of programming. Mr. Becker credits the efforts of our talented membership as the most important factor in the organization’s artistic growth.

Over the years, several members of the band are credited with more than 60 years of service. The longest serving active member is Garner Ellis, who joined the band in January 1943. Next on the list is Frank Mesaros, Sr., who joined the band in March of the same year. Current members who have been active for 25 years or more include: Raymond S. Becker, Jr. Robert Billig, Jr., Russell Braun, Robert Danner II, Thomas Heinick, Louis Laubach, Kent Ruch and Burton W. Swayze

Today, thousands of people hear the band in its many venues, which include annual spring and Christmas concerts, West Park, the Festival of Bands, Mayfair, and other locations throughout the Lehigh Valley.

For more information, visit the band’s website here