Musing

By Jack Kopstein

The Culture of Concert Band music

Band music in the form of concert band repertoire and military band journals of band music were evident in the early eighteenth century. The first real breakthrough came in 1909 when Gustav Holst composed the British band classic First Suite in Eb which has become a staple in the band library. He added his Second Suite in F in 1911.

Original music for band was available in vast quantities from publishers as early as 1851(Groves), but unfortunately most of the material was boring and dull. The only real contribution was in the field of marches where there was an enormous proliferation. Some European band composers were responsible for tuneful overtures and waltzes such as Czech composer Julius Fücik. But by and large the concert band programs were filled with transcriptions for band of piano and symphonic music particularly overtures from opera.

In 1915 the well known composer Camille Saint-Saëns composed Hail Columbia for band, orchestra and organ for the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. However, the first pattern entry into the concert band publishing field began with the works of Australian-British composer Percy Grainger publishing his work in the United States in 1918. The next year, Richard Franko Goldman instituted the first American competition for serious concert band work. The judges were Percy Grainger and Victor Herbert.

In 1922 British classics are embraced by North American bands including Gordon Jacob’s William Byrd Suite and Ralph Vaughn Williams English Folk Song Suite. In 1930 Igor Stravinsky composed a major work for band with his Symphony of The Psalms for chorus and winds. Another world class composer Ottorino Respighi was commissioned by Goldman to write a new piece for band in 1932 which was titled Huntingtower Ballad. In the same year Gustav Holst composed the band classic Hammersmith Prelude and Scherzo, and it was premiered by the United States Marine band at the American bandmasters Association convention.

One of the major works for band was completed in 1939 when William Schuman composed Newsreel in Five Shots and it is premiered by the Penn State University band. Band favourite Suite Francais is composed in 1944 by French composer Darius Milhaud who has taken up residence in San Francisco. Although there were a few major composers who are writing serious works for band the number remained a trickle and bands in North America and abroad still continued to play transcriptions and marches. In 1946 Edwin Franko Goldman makes a huge leap into the development of the concert band music by commissioning major composers such as Thomson, Piston, Mennin, Persichetti, Hanson, Creston, and Gould to write for the band repertoire and premiered by the Goldman band.

In 1949, composer Owen Reed composed La Fiesta Mexicana, a Mexican Folk Song Symphony, and his endeavour became the defining moment for concert band works. It heralded the new era of magnificent musical performance pieces for band. Subsequently a number of superior publications are released including in 1951 Darius Milhaud’s West Point Suite and Mennin’s Canzona for band. In Britain, composer Gordon Jacob wrote the amazing military band composition Music for a Festival and it is premiered by fanfare trumpets and bands of the Brigade of Guards

In 1954, composer Howard Hanson continued to advance the band repertoire with his classic creation “Chorale and Alleluia” based on a Swedish Hymn. The following year, two major works of enormous popularity for all bands in North America are written – Frank Erikson’s Toccata for Band and Joseph Wilcox Jenkins rousing and glorious piece American Overture for Band.

By 1962, the number and quality of the music especially written for concert band had reached epic proportions and included Norman Dello Joio’s Variants On A Medieval Tune and the magical Incantation and Dance by John Barnes Chance. Barnes repeated this successful piece in 1965 with Variations on a Korean Folk Song.

To illustrate some of the dramatic changes that were undertaken in the field of concert band music below is a portion of a program from March 16, 1948 by the University of Illinois Concert band under Dr A.A. Harding:

Overture to the Wasps of Aristophanes                 Ralph-Vaughan Williams

(Orchestral Transcription for band)

Excerpts from Symphonic poems “A Heroes Life”    Richard Strauss

(Transcription for band)

Symphony in Eb 3^rd Movement opus 4                       Tikhon Khreniko

(Unknown work)

Danse (Tarantella styrienne)

(Orchestral transcription for band)                           Debussy-Ravel

Psyche and Eros from Symphonic Tone Poem         Cesar Frank

(Orchestral transcription for band)

Three dances from ballet suite Gayne                     Avram Khactaturian

Orchestral transcription for band

The program sample below is by the Belle Isle Concert band (later the Detroit Concert band) on Sunday June 12, 1960 under Leonard B Smith.

The Overture Ill Guarany                                        A Carlos Gomez

(Original band music)

On the Trail from Grand Canyon Suite                   Ferde Grofe

(Orchestral Transcription)

Blue Tail Fly                       Clare Grundman

(Original band composition)

Original Cornet Solo Fantasie in Eb           Edward Barat

(Band work)

Edwin Franko Goldman continued to champion original band music and his son Richard Franko Goldman repeated earlier concerts which featured a complete program of band compositions in 1962 as depicted below is the same as the Silver Jubilee Concert of 1942:

Christmas March                 E F Goldman

Spring Overture Leo Sowerby

Canto Yoruba                                                              Pedro Sanjuan

Rhapsody Jericho                      Morton Gould

A Legend Paul Creston

Newsreel William Schuman

Fist Suite in Eb Gustav Holst

Festive Occasion Henry Cowell

A Curtain raiser and Country Dance     RF Goldman

Lost lady Found Percy Grainger

English Folk Song Suite R Vaughn Williams

By 1971, original band music publications had increased ten fold, and much of the music became classics of the band repertoire including Tull’s Sketches on a Tudor Psalm (1971) and John Barnes Chance Blue Lake Overture.  In 1972, it was stated that American and Canadian wind bands had become part of the largest commissioning program in the history of music.

Concert band music through the 1970’s took on a renaissance of the celebration of America.

In 1975 William Schuman composed the final movement of his Trypitch Be Glad America  called New England, and Karl Husa wrote An American Te Deum.

During the 1980’s, composer Gunther Schuller contributed some wonderful compositions to the band repertoire with his symphony In Praise of Winds. In 1984 Warren Benson composed his elaborate piece “Wings.” In 1986, David Holsinger won the American Bandmasters award with his challenging piece for concert band In the Spring, at the Time When Kings Go Off to War.

In 1987, Warren Benson contributes a valiant composition called Dawn’s early Light, and in 1989, Gunther Schuller is commissioned by the United States Air Force band to compose On Winged Flight A Divertimento for band.

Through the 1990’s vast numbers of concert band music sprung from the pens of America’s composers. However, the impact of English composition on the literature of the wind band has been most significant and cannot be overlooked.  There has been an effort in recent years to encourage British composers of some note to write with the military or wind band in mind. Included in this newer group are Timothy Reynish, Thea Musgrave, Alun Hoddinott, Edward Gregson, David Bedford, Derek Bourgeois, Stephen Dodgson, Philip Sparke and Adam Gorb, to name several. The result was a new body of creative writing making its mark on the band movement worldwide for years to come.  In particular Philip Sparke and Thea Musgrave compositions have found their way into the repertoire of North American bands.

The new millennium has been an age of discovery as good band music from the past has often been reprieved.  A few of the programs over the past few years will demonstrate that the field of concert band writing has reached epic proportions. We welcome readers to search out band concerts from community, High School, College, University and Service bands. You will never be disappointed.

Recent Programs

April 24, 2009

• Toccata Marziale – Ralph Vaughan Williams; Zachary deVries, conductor
• Lied ohne Worte – Rolf Rudin
• Cajun Folk Songs II – Frank Ticheli
• Bandancing – Jack Stamp

March 3, 2009

• Toccata for Band – Frank Erickson
• Three London Minatures – Mark Camphouse
• Hymn for Band – Hugh Stuart; Zachary deVries, conductor
• A Dakota Rhapsody – Mark Camphouse

November 19, 2008

• A Festival Prelude – Alfred Reed
• Moon by Night – Jonathan Newman; Zachary deVries, conductor
• Crystals – Thomas C. Duffy
• Colours – Roger Cichy

October 18, 2008

• Sun Dance – Frank Ticheli
• O Magnum Mysterium – Morten Lauridsen
• Armenian Dances – Alfred Reed

April 25, 2008

• Der Traum der Oenghus – Rolf Rudin
• Loud Sunsets – George Lam (World Premiere)
• We’ll Say Goodnight, But Not Goodbye – David William Faleris
• Canzona – Peter Mennin; Jason Wang, conductor
• Ride – Samuel Hazo

February 22, 2008

• Kaddish – W. Francis McBeth
• Ballad For Band – Morton Gould
• “Gandalf” from Symphony No. 1: The Lord of the Rings – Johan de Meij

December 7, 2007

• Festive Overture, Op. 96 – Dmitri Shostakovich
• Chorale Prelude on a German Folk Tune – James Barnes
• Sonatina, Op. 13, No. 1 – Dmitri Kabalevsky, trans. B. Holcombe; Jason Wang, conductor
• GAME ON – Matthew Raskopf (World Premiere)
• Bryn Calfaria – William Owen, trans. B. Holcombe
• Three Sketches for Winds – Clare Grundman

October 28, 2007

• Emperata Overture – Claude T. Smith
• First Suite in E-Flat – Gustav Holst; Jason Wang, conductor
• From Every Horizon (A Tone Poem to New York ) – Norman Dello Joio

October 16, 2007

• Evening Hym from Hansel & Gretel – Eglebert Humperdink (BU Bands Horn Choir)
• First Suite in E-flat op. 28 – Gustav Holst; Jason Wang, conductor

End Notes:

The Wind bands-EF Goldman1961 Ayllin and Bacon-Boston, Program notes re the Goldman band Concerts, The American Wind band –Richard K Hansen, published GIA Publications 2005

Our company president (and a few of us) got to see two of the military bands play recently. Here is a review he has written to share his experience with you:

I had the rare privilege of hearing two of the greatest touring big bands in the past week. Last Wednesday, March 23, I attended a concert by the superb US Air Force Airmen of Note at Ingram Hall at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. This past Tuesday, March 29, I was equally lucky to hear the US Army Field Band Jazz Ambassadors at Centennial High School in Franklin, TN. Both concerts were magnificent.

The Airmen of Note under the musical direction of SMSgt Joe Jackson (also lead trombone) was so good it made me want to sing and dance. Highlights included a wonderful flugelhorn solo by the SMSgt Kevin Burns on “Always and Forever.” As an old guitar player, I just really loved the extended solos by TSgt Geoff Reecer. Of particular interest was vocalist TSgt Paige Martin. Her uniquely unusual and beautiful voice was amazing. She is also the only white female vocalist I have ever heard scat. It was something to hear. Another highlight was an extended electric bass solo by CMSgt Paul Henry on Eric Clapton’s “Change the World.” It was a special pleasure for me to meet CMSgt Dudley Hinote (bass trombone) who is also the NCO in Charge of this great band. The performance was superb, and the CD with the program was a nice plus.

The Jazz Ambassadors gave a great concert as well even though the acoustics of the multipurpose room at the high school were quite inferior to those at Ingram Hall at Vanderbilt.  That didn’t stop me from enjoying a fantastic band and a fantastic performance.  Under the direction of CWO Gordon Kippola, the band was tight and really rocking. Every player was really strong with numerous extended solos. Big complements to the Rhythm Section of SGM  Jeff Lopez (bass), MSgt Tim Young (piano), SFC Todd Harrison (drums) and SSG Stephen Lesche (Guitar). They were solid and inspiring all night. Vocalist MSgt Marva Lewis has a sublime voice and made me cry when she did the Barry Manilow song “All the Time” with just a piano accompaniment.  The band did a nice tribute to David Hale, the Centennial High Band Director who is retiring this year.

So two great bands in less than seven days! Hard to beat that experience. If you have never heard either of these bands, do yourself a favor and go to a concert when they are in your town. Touring info for each group is below.

http://www.USAFBand.af.mil/events/index.asp

http://www.armyfieldband.com/pages/schedule/ja_sched.html

Al McCree

President

Altissimo! Recordings

The First in a New Series of  Famous Bands of the World

Presented by MilitaryMusic.com
Contributed by Jack Kopstein

Republican Guard band

With over one and a half centuries of experience behind it, the Republican Guard Wind Orchestra is one of the figureheads of French cultural heritage.

On the 4th of August 1855, Jean-Georges Paulus was appointed at the head of the “Paris Guard Band.” On the 12th of March 1856, the decree making the orchestra official was signed by Napoleon III

The Conservatoire National de Paris and the Musical Gymnasium trained up new musicians taken from the populace and Adolph.Sax provided new wind instruments for the military bands.

Paulus, as orchestrator, adapted symphonic works for his new wind orchestra. This group rapidly made a reputation for itself, and on the 21st of July 1867, the Republican Guard Band carried off its first success at the international military band competition at the Grand Palais in Paris, playing the opening of Oberon and extracts from Lohengrin.

On the 18th of September 1870, the Paris Guard became the Republican Guard. The “Republican Guard Band” was immediately raised to the status of a veritable cultural ambassador for the French Republic.

Wherever they went, from the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1871 to the Peace Jubilee in Boston in 1872, Paulus and his “soldier artists” were a resounding success, firing public enthusiasm and making all the headlines, including A 70-day tour across the United States with 25 concerts between the 6th of June and the 14th of August 1874.

“…At one point catastrophe threatened as the hall (the Pittsburgh Opera house), which was of very light construction, started to crack under the weight of the audience. Nothing disastrous happened though, and the theatre held firm, despite creaking out its complaints. Even the noise of the thunderous applause did not cause it to collapse.” Report of the concert held on the 24th of July 1872

The status of the musicians from the Republican Guard was rather different. At that time, military bands recruited “simple soldiers” to swell their ranks but the State offered the musicians from the Republican Guard a more attractive career as an NCO, thus attracting the musical elite of the time such as Henri Paradis (solo clarinet) or Léon Fontbonne (solo flute).

A. Sellenick was the first composer-conductor at the head of the Republican Guard Band. He was the very prolific author of lyrical works and light music, some of which was specially written for the band. The care taken in recruiting the musicians and in the musical and professional qualities of the conductors reflects the artistic ambition of our band.

“The soldier venerates his standard but he loves his music. He is proud of it, fusses over it and is indulgent towards it because it moves him, encourages him, consoles him, reminds him of his native country and inspires him with patriotism.” “La semaine musical” from Lille, 9th April 1882.

The Marseillaise became the French national anthem in 1879, but its final version, tune and orchestration arranged by G. Wettge and A. Sellenick for military bands was not official until 1887. At this period, each concert given by the Republican Guard Band opened with the national anthem, putting the national values and Republican ideal to music.

Thousands of musical societies organised the cultural life of the country at the end of the 19th century, relaying or succeeding the popular choral movement. For thousands of amateur musicians, the Republican Guard Band represented an inaccessible dream of artistic and social success. This “model” of the popular orchestra, exported by the band when it journeyed abroad, helped to spread the international reputation of French culture.

•            1893 Gabriel Parès

•            1911 Guillaume Balay

•            1927 Pierre Dupont

1893 Gabriel Parès

“I was twelve when I suddenly fell head over heels in love with music (….) The Republican Guard Band, playing in the gardens of the Palais-Royal, opened my eyes for me. The orchestra was playing Lucie de Lamermoor. (…) Something inside me broke free and just one week later I bought a cornet mouthpiece with my meagre supplies of pocket money…”

Louis Ganne, author of “les Saltimbanques” and the famous Lorraine March

The “Belle Epoque” was to be a period of resounding success for our orchestra. The presence of the Republican Guard brought the prestige of the Republic into popular events: concerts in parks and bandstands, inaugurations, festivals, etc. and 72,000 spectators at the exhibition in Tourcoing in 1906! The cornet reigned over the light music of the period and cornet players had “star” status.

G. Pares, author of a treaty on “instrumentation and orchestration” enriched the repertoire of the orchestra still further, and the Band brought the works of “wise” composers to a huge variety of audiences, spreading and democratising the wide repertoire which held an important place in concert programmes.

It was also under the baton of G. Parès that the first recordings of the Republican Guard Band were made under contract to the Pathé firm. Several thousand titles were soon available.

The Republican Guard Band accompanied many diplomatic missions, which were becoming more and more urgent as the First World War loomed on the horizon.

1899, St Petersbourg: invited by the Tzar / 1902, Turin: international exhibition / 1904: Saint-Louis exhibition (USA), 41 concerts including Montreal and New York / 1906: 22 concerts at Covent Garden: Entente Cordiale / 1907: Valence …

“It would be an error to think that all orchestras must be organised according to a system based on the predominance of stringed instruments. Extremely good results can be obtained with the opposite balance of instruments.”  Hector Berlioz, Treatsie on orchestration.

The Republican Guard Band accompanied the patriotic fervour in the aftermath of the victory of the Allies, just as it had after the First World War. A new type of popular music had crossed the Atlantic and the Republican Guard Band had to win back its place in a new cultural environment.

In 1948, F.J. Brun was appointed to direct an orchestra of 40 strings which was created in addition to the 80 wind players in the Band. The idea of joining the two groups into one immense wind and string symphony orchestra was born in the Champs Elysée theatre on the 26th and 28th of April, 1948 for the orchestra’s centenary.

Adaptations written for this new orchestral group were added to the repertoire.

Unfortunately, the symphony orchestra did not inspire the composers of the period and in spite of a certain amount of success and trips which led it as far afield as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, this orchestra was to remain a musical curiosity with no future.

1953 was to go down in history as the great tour of the century, organised by the Columbia Artiste Management. It covered 38,000kms across the United States over three months, 80 concerts and 178,000 spectators…

In 1961, Japan discovered this “French-style” wind orchestra and its repertoire for the first time.

1973 Roger Boutry

“When the Republican Guard Band came to Japan for the first time, we were far from imagining that its presence would put symphony orchestras into the shade. (…) Moreover, whatever the genre of the pieces they played, the sound and expression of the soloists had a particular charm and their ability to create an overall harmony and subtle balance evoked a true ideal for the genre.”  Band Journal, Japan 1984.

The activity of the Republican Guard Band was now fully concert-orientated and no longer took part in military ceremonies.

R. Boutry, a talented composer and arranger, adapted the orchestra’s repertoire for the public of his time. His original compositions for wind groups gave the band a new flavour, sometimes inspired by contemporary composers and sometimes by American musicians and jazz.

The organisation of the orchestra on the stage was inspired by the symphony orchestra: the desks of the violins, violas, cellos and double basses were taken over by the clarinets, saxophones and euphoniums and the woodwind and brass soloists placed behind the tutti.

A succession of trips to Japan was embarked on in 1984 and continued in 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2007. There are many wind orchestras in Japan and a public of true connoisseurs rushed to see the Republican Guard Band in concert during its trips.

The Republican Guard Band became the Republican Guard Wind Orchestra in 1993, thus confirming its artistic and cultural vocation.

1997 François Boulanger

F. Boulanger obtained the creation of an administrator’s post for the orchestra, to be in charge of communication in order to satisfy the requirements of an orchestra seeking to uphold its reputation on the national and international stage.

Japan, Korea, China, Russia and Kazakhstan are the latest places to be visited by the Republican Guard, still enthusiastically sharing with its public a musical heritage which has been shaped by generations of musicians of whom we are the heirs and guarantors.

We would like to recommend the very well-researched book by Sylive Hue entitled “150 ans de Musique à la Garde Républicaine” (150 years of Music in the Republican Guard) for a full history of the orchestra.

For more information on this incredible and interesting band, check out this website:

http://www.lesmusiciensdelagarde.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=19&Itemid=54