The Bandmaster Files
Jack Kopstein

Military directors and bandmasters are often faced with nearly impossible tasks to provide music almost in an instant. As a former bandmaster, I can vouch for the difficulties associated with music requests on impulse. On one occasion I was requested on a slip of paper passed to me while performing with a small dinner group in the officers mess to play the tune “Drop me Jesus through the Goal Post of Life©” by country artist Bobby Bare. Fortunately, one of the musicians in the group knew the tune and within a few minutes he had one-fingered the tune on the piano. We quickly wrote down the simple 3/4 melody and a few chords, and I sat down and scored it out for our small seven piece group on some scrap manuscript paper. We blared it out to the officers who were dining in the main dining room on the next set. They applauded as if we had played Beethoven’s ninth, and I had a great laugh with the musicians.

The great John Philip Sousa no less had a similar request by the President of the United States when he was the leader of the United States Marine Band. President Chester Arthur handed Sousa a request while the band was playing at the White House. The President announced to Sousa that a professional dancer from Spain was to entertain the invited guests for a dinner. She would dance to the “Cachuca,” a word that was scribbled on a piece of paper. Sousa responded that he did not have the music for the tune, but the President replied to Sousa by saying, “Well, Sousa, I thought you could play anything,” and returned to his guests.

Sousa was dismayed by the request because he felt it his duty to honour all Presidential wishes when one of his musicians, a cornetist, rose quickly and declared that he knew the tune and played it softly for bandmaster Sousa. He immediately sat down and wrote out several main parts for trumpet, clarinet, and saxophone and told the rest of the band to vamp, meaning of course to just play the chord tones. Thus the piece was scored on the spot. The Spanish dancer appeared and moved to center floor, and the band burst forth confidently with the tune, both bcoming instant hits.

The American composer Meredith Wilson was a member of the Sousa band in the 1920’s. His wonderful musical ‘The Music Man” gave him an opportunity to introduce some of Sousa lore into his production, and as a result the “Cachuca” “was used as a dance number in the stage version.

2.National Anthem Debacles and Grace-Saving Events

It was only last year that a bandmaster in Grenada became confused about the national anthem of the Peoples Republic of China and the Taiwanese national anthem, “The Republic of China.”

Prime Minister Keith Mitchell promised an investigation into the diplomatic incident, in which the Taiwanese national anthem was played at the official handing over of the Chinese-funded national stadium. The gaffe by the Royal Grenada Police Force Band caused deep embarrassment to officials of the government and the Chinese ambassador and other representatives who attended the ceremony on Saturday.

A most unfortunate incident

Mr. Pierre called it a most unfortunate incident which had left the country’s prime minister and the police commissioner with ‘egg on their faces.’ But there were harsher comments from Grenadians on the streets. One man told BBC Caribbean, “I’m not accepting any apology from the police force; this is a sabotage by the police,,” and another woman observed, “Whether it was sabotage or mixup, I think it’s distasteful.”

The police received some support when one man insisted that they shouldn’t be made a scapegoat: “Somebody gave the police the national anthem to practice.”

Correct anthem played eventually

The correct Chinese anthem was played after Saturday’s ceremony to hand over the US $40 million facility which will host matches of the cricket world cup which starts next month.

China does not recognise Taiwan as an independent country, regarding it instead as a renagade breakaway province.

The two have played out their diplomatic struggle in the Caribbean, and Grenada had again switched their support.

They resumed diplomatic relations with Beijing in 2005, breaking off a 15-year relationship with Taiwan.

Prime Minister apologises

Dr. Mitchell, who alerted the hundreds of invited guests at the ceremony to the mistake, said it saddened a happy moment.

“On behalf of the Government and people of this very happy country, a country that recognizes the warmth of its friends and respect its friends, I deeply apologize to the Chinese Ambassador and the entire Chinese people,” Dr. Mitchell said.

The Colonel Bogey Fiasco

Programmes of music by bands often have to be clearly thought out . This is particularly important when a guest is from a foreign country. It is even more important as well if the country was a war time enemy. On May 5, 1980, a top-ranking visitor from Japan came to Canada on a formal visit. Everything went well until the Japanese minister agreed to a special arrival at the Parliament buildings in Ottawa. The military band selected for the occasion marched from the east gate and proceeded to play the COLONEL BOGEY march by Kenneth J Alford.

Here is the article which appeared in numerous newspapers in North America

If Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira was offended, he didn’t show it. But Canadian officials were red-faced when the armed forces marching band greeted. Ohira in Ottawa with the “Colonel Bogey March,” the tune whistled by defiant British prisoners of war captured by the Japanese in the film “Bridge Oa the River Kwai.” Ohira had not yet arrived yesterday for the ceremonies on Parliament Hill when the band began to play, but assembled Japanese dignitaries heard strains of the march. “We are extremely embarrassed,” an armed forces spokesman said. “In the long, meticulous planning for this visit, this particular portion slipped by.” The Japanese delegation has said nothing about the incident, the Canadian spokesman added.

If you are a band director with a story, please contact us. Names of the bands and the band directors will be edited out.

All information is subject to editing for length and content. We will not add your name to the article unless you want it to appear.

Interview with Roger McGuire, Pipe Major of the Canadian Scottish Regiment pipes and Drums, Victoria, BC

Q: Tell us a little about yourself.

RM: I was born in Ottawa, Ontario and grew up in the Ottawa area. My father was on staff with the Army Historical Section at the time, where he was primarily involved with the writing of the Official History of the First World War. He had various side interests which included military music, and he was a huge Sousa fan.

He took me to concerts frequently. Seeing as Ottawa is the Capital City, there were lots of touring bands as well as local bands like the Governor General’s Foot Guards.

I also loved going to see the Changing of the Guard at Parliament Hill. In those days, the regular battalions of the Canadian Guards performed most of the time. I distinctly remember asking my mother why there weren’t cymbals in one of the bands marching by. I would have been about three I think. Anyway, the reason was it was the Canadian Guards pipe band! I thought it very strange that a band wouldn’t have cymbals.

The old Auditorium in Ottawa was where I first saw a British Band’s touring show. It was the place where the Ottawa Senators last won the Stanley Cup in 1926, and it was a typical arena of its day, filled, as I recall, with thick smoke.

Anyway, when the bands entered, one of the bass drummers was wearing a white bearskin! It was an impressive and colorful show, the Royal Scots Greys and Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. It was around the date considered the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

A year or so later, the Black Watch came to town. When the band entered the arena, the combination of sight and sound was such that I knew I was going to be a piper one day. I believe there were 23 pipers in the band for that show. The big story of that tour was the fact that 9 pipers left the tour at one point to participate in President Kennedy’s funeral.

My mother was the kind who wanted her boys to try whatever activities interested them. I wanted to be a piper, but I was considered too young. So I became a highland dancer instead, which I continued with until the early teen years.
At ten years old, I finally began taking lessons on the chanter from Pipe Major JT MacKenzie of the RCAF Rockcliffe Pipe Band. He had been pipe major of the 2nd Bn. Scots Guards in the immediate post-war years, and a tremendous individual who was to have a huge impact on the pipe band community of Eastern Ontario. After retiring from the Canadian Forces, he and his family moved to Maxville where he began teaching in the area high school. His autobiography is a great read.

When he retired, I started taking lessons from Pipe Major Sam Scott, wartime pipe major of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa. He had a big teaching program going with dozens of students, but he died following a minor traffic accident in about 1972. For a couple of years, I went down to Maxville every Saturday, to take lessons from JT MacKenzie. It was an all day journey through country roads.

I joined a kids pipe band around 1972 called Camp Argyle #26. We were somehow affiliated with the Service Battalion but were not forced to cut our hair. Anyway, we had a great time and even made a trip to Scotland in 1974 and played in the World Pipe Band Championships in Grade IV.

Following my university years in the late 1970s, followed by an extended bout of travelling, I decided to join the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa in 1981. We participated in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 1983. During the show we had to play one 12 minute segment of non-stop marches at 120 for the Lochiel Marching Team.

By 1988 I had moved to Victoria with my wife Sally. I joined the Canadian Scottish Regiment. In 1992 I was appointed Pipe Major. I set about trying to get our band involved in events all over the place. We went to Monterey, California in 1993, which was the beginning of what was to become a long series of visits to California over the next few years.

A tattoo started up in Memphis in 1993 with Major Michael Parker of Royal Tournament fame as producer/director. We were invited to perform the second year. It was a legendary band trip. Unfortunately the tattoo had cost a lot more money than it brought in, and there hasn’t been one since.

In 1997 we were invited to be the guest military pipe band at the Pleasanton Highland Games in California. We were to play some combined band pieces with the 3d Marine Aircraft Wing Band. It was a magical weekend. The audience loved it, and we did a lot of performing together and socially things sparked also.

That was also the weekend that the Princess of Wales died. So one of our pipers played Amazing Grace at the closing ceremonies, and that moment was broadcast throughout California if not across the USA.

Following our performance with the Marines at Pleasanton, the relationship continued, and we performed together many times on both sides of the border between 1998 and 2001. In 2000 we recorded a CD together, but that’s another story.

The Canadian Scottish Regiment performed for the first time at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 2004, which is the last time to date that a Canadian band has appeared in this prestigious event. In 2005 the band returned to Holland for the first time since World War II, where we played in the Netherlands National Tattoo.

Personally, I was a member of the Canadian Forces Pipe Band for both the 60th Anniversary of Holland celebrations in 2005 and also the Vimy Ridge Monument Rededication in 2007.

While a Pipe Major, I have also been involved with a society promoting the vision of creating a west coast international military music festival or tattoo since about 1993. Several events took place during 1994 when the Commonwealth Games occurred in Victoria.

Things began to get rolling in 1998 when we were able to stage concerts involving the Prince of Wales’s Division (Clive) Band along with British Columbia bands, and later the US Army Field Band and Soldier’s Chorus. The year 1999 was a particularly good one with concerts by the Grenadier Guards Band, Welsh Guards Band, 1st Bn. The Highlanders Pipes and Drums and a Sunset Tattoo commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the founding of Fort Victoria.

Despite a record of successful events, financial support was slow in coming. With very modest financial support we held a festival for most years between 2000 and 2006. Bands we were able to include are a long list, including a return performance by the US Army Field Band and Soldier’s Chorus, Third Marine Aircraft Wing Band, US Navy Band Northwest, French Navy Pipe Band, Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, Invercargill Caledonia from New Zealand, and numerous Canadian regular force and reserve bands.

With the opening of a new modern arena in Victoria just over 2 years ago, we now have a facility in the community in which to stage a world-class tattoo. Consequently plans for “The Pacific Tattoo” are underway with the intention that the first performance will take place in 2010. Date and venue has not been set, but will be passed along as soon as they are known.

Q. What is your daily band routine?

RM: Owing to financial circumstances, as well as being a “Reserve” band, we rehearse one evening a week for 3 hours.

Q. Do you select the music played for concerts or was it done by committee?

RM: I do it

Q. Are auditions for new band members done collaboration with section leaders?

RM: Yes, we have auditions.

Q. How important are recordings to you and the band?

RM: Not a factor at the moment. Making a CD was a rewarding and time consuming effort, but circumstances have not allowed us to do another recording since we made Canadian Bagpipes, American Brass.

Q. How important to you are the various small ensembles that are often employed?

RM: In our case, we occasionally have the traditional 4 pipers for a mess dinner. Most of the time we are full band.

Q. What is your view on the future of pipes and drums and military bands in the world?

RM: We are in a period of transition for sure. Playing standards are going up, but there are lots of internal and external things that make it difficult to practice and perform as often as we would like. I believe in retaining the traditional elements of performance and dress as well as acknowledging there is a “progressive” pipe music direction going on. At one time you could predict what the first 20 tunes a new piper might learn. Not so today, with a distinctive “civilian” approach. When I started, it was considered mandatory to acquire the Scots Guards manual.
Full dress is an important component of the traditions we are upholding. We have very stringent control over what kit we purchase, and how its to be worn. There is a lot of shoddy items being produced, as buying the best means paying what at times seems extortionate amounts of money.

Q. What type of music do you feel most comfortable with?

RM: Personally I am a fan of traditional military music. Some Jazz, Pop and Broadway is ok, but I’d prefer that it doesn’t dominate a performance.

This may be the opportunity to make a comment about the playing of marches in touring performances or concerts. Seems that they are often viewed as being nothing more than a musical accompaniment for getting the band on or off the stage or parade square. I consider it to be an artistic flaw to cut off a march without playing it in full in anything other than a parade where the music is being used for the marching of troops. In that situations it’s understandable. Otherwise it’s not.

Not so long ago I heard a performance where the narrator gave a 30 second illustration of “Semper Fidelis” which was followed by the band performing the march for no more than 30 seconds and cutting off! (I think I have a tape somewhere to prove it.)

In the brass-reed band world, medleys are another area I’m not fond of. I’d rather hear one or two full selections rather than 10-20 snippets jammed into a 5 minute medley. Imaginatively conceived medleys can be effective, but most medleys leave me cold.

Finally on combined pipes with brass-reed, the feature items are particularly popular with audiences worldwide. With the rising pitch of pipe chanters over the past two decades or more it has become mandatory for bands to consider adopting two differently pitched chanters. “Orchestral” chanters are being manufactured to blend with brass-reed and other instruments. Especially in hot weather, the pipe chanter pitch rises to the point where the “unsuccessful blend” becomes admittedly painful to listen to.

Q. What is your opinion of the world of music today?

RM: Exciting time, for sure. If there is one general thing I would like to see happen though, it’s to see bands not lose sight of their military roots. Marches should be a staple of most types of performance, and light classics. I’ve heard concert performances where the objective seemed to be “let’s show how we could be mistaken for anything but a military band”.

Band Talk

This month, instead of an interview, we present this wonderful painting created by American illustrator Paul Stahr (1883-1953). This painting depicts John Philip Sousa marching through the streets of the city with the US Navy band that he trained at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station outside Chicago during World War I.* The painting can be found hanging in the library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

*Thank you, John Johnson and Jack Kopstein, for submitting this information!*

On Sunday April 5th 2009 the West Point Glee Club performed with Trace Adkins to help support the Wounded Warrior Project.   

Read More On the West Point Glee Club’s Performance 

For More Music by the West Point Glee Club Check Out:

Stand Ye Steady

West Point on the March

Technorati Tags: west point glee club,acms,acm awards

BAND TALK – JACK KOPSTEIN
STRIKE UP THE BAND

It is a distinct pleasure to present Lt. Col. Timothy J.  Holtan, Commander  of the WEST POINT BAND, as the subject of our interview for this issue of STRIKE UP THE BAND.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself – background including education, schools, instrument(s), career in the army, how long served, where you have served, if retired how long retired, and what are you doing in retirement?
A: Public school band director for eight years prior to joining the Army
Bachelor of Music Education, Montana State University
Masters of Music Education, University of Montana
Joined the Army in Fall of 1988 – over 20 years in Service
Assignment History:
Armed Forces School of Music, Norfolk, VA
Fort Monroe, VA (twice)
US Army Band, Ft Myer, VA
Dallas Wind Symphony/University of North Texas – one year Army “Training With Industry” program
Department of the Army Staff Bands Officer, Alexandria, VA
US Army Field Band, Ft Meade, MD
US Military Academy Band, West Point, NY

Q. What is your daily (weekly) band routine?
A: Rehearsals are usually 0900-1130, about four days per week.  Chamber groups rehearsal in the afternoon.

Q. Do you select the music played for concerts or is it done by committee?
A: I select the music for my programs, but I get input from a repertoire committee and the ensemble senior musicians.

Q. Do you have to spend a lot of time making arrangements for ceremonial performances?
A: We do more ceremonies than many bands, and as such don’t need too much additional training and unpublished arrangements.

Q. Are auditions for new band members done in collaboration with section leaders?
A: Section leaders choose music, select finalists from applications, and conduct the live auditions.  Section members, group leader, NCO-in-charge, and officers attend the auditions – by regulation, the commander is the final decision-maker unless there is a reason to temporarily delegate that authority.

Q. How important are recordings to you and the band?
A: Quite – they are very good for pushing the ensemble to higher levels of performance execution and the distribution of the recordings to libraries, radio stations and educational institutions is a less expensive way to connect with the American people.

Q. How  important to you are the various small ensembles  ie dinners etc which are often employed?
A: Chamber music is a thriving part of our organization.  Through active recitals and community performances, the small groups build a substantial repertoire that also serves well in military protocol situations.  They are a part of the job, which everyone understands and accepts.   It is also an excellent opportunity for our musicians to interact with senior leadership.

Q.  What is your view on the future of  military bands  worldwide?
A: I expect that they will be around for many years.  Bands are an inherent part of the culture, and as the culture evolves, so do the military bands.

Q. What type of music do you feel most comfortable with? –Classical, Jazz Popular, Broadway, various?
A: I like it all.  That said, I do so much music at work, I don’t listen to much music at home.  When I do, it tends to be more classically or vocally focused.

Q. Briefly what is your opinion of the world of music today?
A: A mighty broad topic which I will narrow – I am very excited about music-making today.  This is primarily because of the increasingly high level of musicians that the universities and conservatories are producing.  Our organization has benefitted tremendously and the level of musicianship is increasing exponentially.  I’m extremely proud (and humbled) to be associated with these tremendous musicians, who do a great job a keeping live music vital in today’s society.

Lt. Col. Timothy J. Holtan
Commander
West Point Band

STRIKE UP THE BAND

BAND TALK

An Interview with a Retired Military band Director of Music

By Jack Kopstein

This interview is the first in a series of interviews with Directors and band Commanders, Pipe Majors of military bands across a wide spectrum of both Domestic and International bands.

It is a distinct pleasure to present in this interview Major retired Leonard Camplin. He is a graduate of the world-renowned Royal Military School of Music (RMSM) Kneller Hall, in Twickenham England, a Fellow of London’s Trinity College of Music and Conductor Laureate of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra.

He began his musical career as a choirboy at St. Marks Church, London, and studied violin at the Guildhall School of Music. At age 17, he joined the British Army and was posted as an oboe pupil to the RMSM, Kneller Hall, and on completion of his studies was posted to the Royal Fusiliers Band in Germany. While there he continued his studies under Herbert Schmidt, oboist of the Berlin State Opera.

Four years later, in 1952, Camplin was selected as a candidate for the bandmaster’s course at the RMSM, Kneller Hall, where he completed the three-year course in 1955 and appointed bandmaster of the North Staffordshire Regiment stationed in Hong Kong. The appointment made him the youngest bandmaster in the British Army.

While in Hong Kong, bandmaster Camplin combined his army duties with performing principal oboe with the Sino-British Orchestra and the Hong Kong Concert Orchestra as well as performing solo recitals and broadcasts.

In 1957, the North Staffordshire Band returned home to England where the band was housed in the Tower of London from where it found itself busy playing at various functions: leading London’s annual Lord Mayor’s Show Parade, BBC live broadcasts and performing for Princess Margaret and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The year 1959 brought about the amalgamation of British regiments and their bands, and it was at this time that bandmaster Camplin decided to immigrate and accept a position of music supervisor in the province of Saskatchewan.

In 1961, he joined the Canadian Army as Director of Music and Commanding Officer of the Royal Canadian Engineers Band in Chilliwack, British Columbia. He subsequently became the Director of Music to the Naden Band in Victoria BC and later the Director of Music of the Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry Band in Calgary before retiring from the Canadian Armed Forces in 1978.

During the 1960’s and 70’s Captain Camplin was in demand in the civilian music field both as an adjudicator and conductor. He has been guest conductor to the Kitchener-Waterloo, Saskatoon, Century Calgary and Vancouver CBC Symphony Orchestras and accompanied a great many of Canada’s leading solo artists.

He was music director of the Vancouver Metropolitan and Okanagan Symphony Orchestras and foundered the Kelowna Mozart Festival, the Kelowna Canada Day Concerts Society, and the Burnaby Symphony. At the age of eighty he continues to lead a fairly busy conducting life including yearly appearances in Australia.

.

SUPTB: What was your daily routine as a Director of music and Commanding Officer?

Leonard Camplin: I usually arrived at the band facility at 0800 and undertook the administrative tasks with my staff before beginning rehearsal at 0900. Rehearsals went to noon, and afternoons were spent studying scores and conducting interviews or participating in sports events. I had passion for making music with the musicians and continue that same enthusiasm to this day.

SUPTB: Did you select the music played on concerts and ceremonial events or was it done by committee.

LC: It is assumed that as the Director of Music that I always made the music selections based on the music which would be both popular and had intrinsic value. There was, however, opportunities for musicians to make suggestions or I made choices in collaboration with the assistant director of the band…

SUTB: Did you have to spend a lot of time making arrangements for Ceremonial performances?

LC: Ceremonial events usually spelled out within their parameters the type of music required such as regimental marches, inspections music and so forth. Music for these occasions was almost always done in consultation. There was a protocol within ceremonial requests. There was some obvious music however that we played for special arrivals such as for President Lyndon Johnson when he arrived at the Vancouver Airport as we played “The Yellow Rose of Texas.”

SUPTB: Were auditions for new band members done in collaboration with section leaders.

LC: It was part of my responsibility to audition musicians for my own band and also other bands of the Canadian Forces, but section leaders were never called upon to provide input. I must say, however, that in hindsight that in today’s world I would have opened up auditions so that the principal players would be invited. I did call on my assistant to be present on several occasions.

SUTB: How important were recordings to you and the band.

LC: By nature recordings lack the spontaneity of live performances but properly engineered can leave a long lasting footprint of your work. We always had Canadian Broadcasting System technicians for our recordings and they are excellent lasting mementos of the military band performances. The recording is an idea of how the bands play.

SUTB: How important to you were the small ensembles which are often employed by military bands?

LC: They were very important because they would take responsibility for their own performance. There were always requests for the services of small dance bands, and I often was tasked to provide groups for various functions. In Britain, we would often have bands play for royalty.

SUTB: What is your view of the future of military band in Canada and in Britain?

LC: Bands do have tenure, but both in Canada and Britain bands are fewer and smaller and don’t have the resources to play music that could be played in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Today, they do not have a second oboe or second bassoon and the much larger scores call for these instruments particularly the wonderful American compositions for band. The future is very hard to predict.

SUTB: What type of music do you feel most comfortable with-classical, jazz, popular Broadway?

LC I certainly do like the music of Broadway but I am devoted to symphonies and concertos. My love of classical music began when I was a student on violin and I had the opportunity to attend concerts at Albert Hall and heard the London Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and the London Symphony on many occasions. When I joined the Canadian Army from 1961-78 I was moonlighting with a few orchestras and when I retired in 1978 I was appointed resident conductor of the Okanogan symphony where I retired in 1996. Since then I have had the opportunity to conduct and work with several orchestras including the Chilliwack Symphony, the Burnaby Symphony and to make gust conducting appearances in Australia.

SUTB: Briefly what is your opinion of the world of music today?

LC: Symphonic and band music continue to thrive in Europe today and remains consistent, places like Vienna, London. Paris still has large audiences attending concerts, but in North America there have been serious problems in attendance mainly because of pop music. It is sad to say that pop artist who very often lack training make huge salaries and orchestral musicians and operatic singers who have dedicated their lives to music are having difficulty eking out a living.

SUTB: On behalf of ALTISSIMO RECORDINGS AND DISTRIBUTION our sincere thanks for this wonderful opportunity to speak to you, and we wish you continued success.