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

Starting Thursday July 1st, the world’s largest classical music label Naxos will feature Altissimo! album downloads for 25% off* on their classical music website!

A selection of some of our best selling titles is being featured in this promotion. Click the image below to check it out!

*Discount valid July 1st through July 6

Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
Contributed by Mary Godwin and Laurie Brisson

Graduates of the famed Palm Beach High School loved music and performing in the high school band so much that in the summer of 1961 they founded the Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches in order to continue playing together.  The Symphonic Band has spent the past 49 years performing for the community and giving back to the community by awarding scholarships to local students and grants to band and general music programs in the Palm Beach County (FL) school district.  Next year the Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches will be celebrating their 50th anniversary.

Scholarship Program
For nearly 18 years the Band was under the capable direction of Rudolph von Unruh.  When Mr. von Unruh’s life came to an untimely end in 1982, the Band took the step of formally recognizing Mr. von Unruh’s long-term contribution to the Band by establishing the Rudolph von Unruh Memorial Scholarship which is awarded at the Annual Memorial Scholarship Concert. The proceeds of this concert are awarded as scholarships to deserving local students pursuing a college degree or attending a summer music camp.

In 2008 the Band established the Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches’ Rudolph von Unruh Young Musicians Scholarship, a $20,000 endowed scholarship.  For the past couple of seasons, the concert series has been co-sponsored by Palm Beach State College allowing the Band to add money to the principal of its endowed scholarship in addition to funding an annual scholarship.  To date over $230,000 has been awarded in scholarships and grants to benefit the youth of our community.

Concert Series
Since 1999, the Band has presented a full 5-concert series at the beautiful Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens and offers an additional 3-concert series at the Duncan Campus Theatre in Lake Worth. To expand the audience base and make the concerts more enjoyable and interesting to our patrons, the band brought in guest artists of local and national acclaim. Internationally renowned conductors, including Colonel Arnald Gabriel, Dr. Alfred Reed, Dr. Paul Yoder, Dr. Harold Walters, Loras Schissel and Commander Alan Beck have been guest conductors with the band.

The Baton is Passed
Mr. Mark Humphreys was appointed the Symphonic Band‘s conductor in May 2008.  Nearing completion of his second season with the Band, the group continues to grow and has increased in size and instrumentation.  Our programming continues to include a wide variety of music styles and genres ranging from Masterworks to Pop and Jazz, and music from Broadway, and the Movies, composed and arranged by internationally renowned composers and arrangers.

Because of their amazing dedication to furthering music education and appreciation in the youth of America via their successful scholarship program, the Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches is Altissimo!’s July Community Band Spotlight. To learn more about the band, you can visit their Website at www.SymBandPB.com.

In honor of Independence Day, our contributing writer Jack thought it would be nice to give a short history of American march music. The following is an informative article he found for us to present.

A Short History of Marches

The origins of European and American march music can be traced to the military music of the Ottoman empire. The martial purpose of the music was to regulate the functioning of armies in the field by communicating orders, and keeping time during marching and maneuvers. The extensive use of percussion, such as cymbals, was also used for psychological effect as their use, especially in Western Europe, was unknown and had the capacity to frighten opponents. Indeed, the subsequent use of cymbals and other such percussive instruments in European ‘classical’ music was a direct importation from the Ottomans. In the early 1700s Europeans were first exposed to this type of music and interest would continue to build into the early 1800s when a vogue for Turkish marching bands swept through Europe. Pieces displaying this Turkish influence can be found in the works of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven with a notable example being “Turkish March” by Beethoven (part of Op. 113): Overture and incidental music for Die Ruinen von Athen.

The origins of march music began before the Gunpowder Age during which armies would maintain their troops’ morale by marching with music playing, whether that be from the beat of a drum or fife. American march music showed during the Revolutionary War and earlier wartime conflicts, in which a fife and snare drum would play while the troops marched to battle. This is why it can be said that march music is a military’s music.

While the tradition of soldiers playing music while marching into battle had ended soon after the American Civil War (mid 1800s), military bands continued to perform marches during related ceremonies and other events. This actually spawned a whole new tradition of playing marches as a source of entertainment.

Marches and the Concert Band
Around the late 1800s and early 1900s, most towns, organizations, theaters and even companies would have their own band. These bands, currently known today as community bands, would perform their music at special events much like the military band, but would often play at simple scheduled concerts and tours (such as the traditional gazebo concerts). By this time, published marches were plentiful due to prolific composers such as John Philip Sousa, Karl L. King and Henry Fillmore. Marches became a staple in the repertoire of these concert bands and can hence explain how the popularity of the march spread so rapidly across the world.

Marches and the Circus
Marches were further popularized with performances by circus bands. During the same period of the community band/concert band, circuses such as the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Circus would have live music being performed by their own bands. The marches played were often a special variety of the march known descriptively as “Screamers”, “Two-Steps”, and “Cakewalks”. These marches served the purpose of exciting the crowd while circus acts were taking place.

Marches and the Marching Band
Again, during the same period college marching bands were also beginning to form. March composers would often dedicate marches to university bands. Marches were performed during half-time shows and pep-rallies. Marches were indeed heard everywhere.

The John Philip Sousa Revolution
American composer John Philip Sousa did indeed strongly revolutionize the march. His overall prolific writing of said quality marches added that much to its popularity. According to Sousa researcher Paul Bierley, Sousa’s marches were gems of simplicity and understatement, with rousing counterpoint and overall energy. Sousa also is said to have standardized the traditional march form. American march music was forever immortalized with Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever, a patriotic march which became the official march of the United States of America.

March Music Composers
Most march composers come from the United States or Europe, and have some sort of musical background to them. The most popular march composers existed in the late 1800s and early 1900s, mainly because modern march dedicators are hard to come by. The following is list of march music composers whose marches are frequently performed in the United States.
• Russell Alexander (1877-1915)
• Kenneth Alford (1881-1945) “The British March King”
• Edwin Eugene Bagley (1857-1922)
• Hermann Louis Blankenburg (1876-1956)
• W. Paris Chambers (1854-1913)
• Charles E. Duble (1884-1960)
• Henry Fillmore (1881 – 1956) “The Trombone King”

A full article on this topic can be found by clicking here