Back to the Music of the bands.
MILITARY MUSIC IN AUSTRO-HUNGARY EMPIRE (an IMMS Reprint)
By approximately the year 600, Austria had become the ethnological meeting place of the Germanic and Slavic peoples. Inside these large groupings, all involved in various types of interaction as various rulers strove to enlarge their spheres of influence. These manipulations, among other things, led to almost continuous wars and disagreements. Naturally wars created a need for organized armies, and in turn, armies needed hands to provide stirring music for ceremonies and marching.
With the 19th Century rise of nationalism, each country of the Empire seemed to be creating music unique to itself. Yet the ever-present reassignment of bandsmen, bandmasters, and even hands allowed each to absorb musical traits of their new assignment environment. Consequently music which was composed, mostly by bandmasters, for military use - primarily marches - cannot be safely, said to be "characteristically representative of any particular nationality. "This multi-national character becomes most evident in the marches of the late 19th and early 20th Century composers (e.g., Fucik).
When discussing hand music of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is of major Importance to keep in mind that this huge territory contained all, or parts of, what are now the following countries: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia. Following World War 1, in 1918, this central and eastern European Empire was partitioned to form, or change the size of, these nations. Since the end of World War 11, in 1945, some of the original territory of the Empire has been possessed by the U.S.S.R. So, any discussion of the hands and music must first take into consideration that national boundaries as we know them DID NOT EXIST at the time these marches were written; hence, conclusions relative to national musical styles must be made with extreme care.
Early hands seem to be similar to those of other countries - a small group (about a dozen) of heterogeneous wind players. Experimentation with chromatic brass and improvements in woodwinds in the early 1800's led to a standardization of instrumentation by the middle of the century. Oriental percussion, which dates hack to the Turkish invasions of Europe, was accepted into bands about the end of the 18th Century.
The authorized size of a hand was about 43 members, and - dependent upon the authority consulted - consisted of the following: 2-4 Db piccolos and flutes:
9-10 clarinets, mostly in Bb, but frequently using EL, soprano and often using Ab sopranino; 4 horns in EL,; 2-4 Bh flugelhorns; 2 Bb bass flugelhorns; 1-2 euphoniums; 3 trombones; 5-6 Hb trumpets; 1-2 Bb bass trumpets; 2-4 basses, in Eb,, F and/or BBb; and 3 drummers. Some instrumentation lists include 2 bassoons; an Eb, piston; and an Eb, alto flugelhorn. Though no list included oboes, it is known from biographies that some bands did indeed include oboes.
One cause of variation in size seems to have been the size and prestige of the regiment's station. A regiment stationed in a large city would usually have many more than 43 members in its band, whereas smaller stations would have only the authorized strength. The largest military band was the Navy Band of 120 members stationed at Pola on the Adriatic Sea; Franz Lehar was conductor of this group between 1894 and 1896.
The literature (music) of the early hands was meant to serve strictly military functions. Mostly this meant providing marching music for troops and additional military ceremonial music. Marching music for different regiments might necessitate different tempi (for instance, cavalry marches were not played at the same tempo as infantry marches). Review ceremonies generally included a variety of tempi. Select instruments (e.g. trumpets or drums) were used for transmitting signals.
As bands increased in size and attempted to project sounds better in their outdoor functions, more and better brass instruments were added. The standards of musicianship, once entrusted to the senior members of the band, rose; players were entering hands after training in some of the major conservatories of the Empire. In particular, mention should be made of the large number of band conductor/composers who had attended the conservatory at Prague.'
With improving capabilities of instruments and instrumentalists, the caliber of compositions rose to a new level. Many of the older marches (as well as other works, we may assume) were forgotten as new ones replaced them. Schooled musicians - for political, nationalistic, and other reasons (financial rewards?) - began to write marches titled for, or dedicated to, the regiments' patrons. Arrangements of popular works of the day were made; these ranged from folkdance tunes to opera overtures. (In the days before radio and television, bands did more to popularize orchestral literature than did orchestras). It is also an interesting sidelight that many military music organizations performed both as orchestras, with some wind players doubling on string, as well as bands.
Great discrepancies existed between bands' instrumentation, tuning and literature until about 1860. At about that time Andreas Leonhardt, besides having developed the helicon and written compositions for hand, standardized these areas for Austrian bands. Interestingly, Wilhelm Wieprecht had made almost identical contributions at just about the same time for German hands. (In England, the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall was founded in 1857 for much the same reasons).
Many town bands were in the process of forming at about this same time, mostly through the efforts of military musicians whose terms of service had expired. These groups numbered about 15-20 players, which made performance of the literature of their service days almost impossible. So in the small towns there was a return to the march and dance literature, which was particularly appropriate, in that these bands performed mainly at local festivals.
An interesting example of the pendulum constantly swinging is that after World War 1, Austrian band society took a position against transcriptions, favouring the use of marches, polkas, etc. This set composers to writing in this genre, and with the great number of small bands, publishers did not hesitate to keep up production. This same society, after World War 11, leaned toward developing a band literature of a more symphonic character! This movement is still underway, but as is evident in all nations, the idealist requests have not met with realistic demand. So large scale works are not being published in great numbers.
Almost without exception the regimental band directors were products of the military hand system, having enlisted and performed as military bandsmen. A sizable number were capable composers, at least in the smaller forms, and all were skilled at arranging for their hands. Many had studied at conservatories.
The bandmaster was both administrator and musician, with responsibilities delegated in varying degrees and in various ways. As a bandmaster in Austria, he was no longer considered an enlisted man, but neither was he an officer! A contract between him and his regiment outlined the regulations of his employment; these regulations generally differed from regiment to regiment.
The military bandmaster was obliged to conduct himself as an officer, bet he did not rate a salute, nor could he mete out disciplinary measures. His uniform, modeled after that of an officer, contained enough discrepancies to keep him from being mistaken for an officer; yet it was gaudy enough to mark him as someone of importance. Quite in contrast, his musical duties and status have always been very clear and well defined.
At this point it might be wise to include a caution to the researcher involved in bend music. The term "Bohaischer Musikant", which translates as Bohemian (or Czech) musician, is still used idiomatical to describe an outstanding musician. It does not necessarily mean that the person was Bohemian, not does it imply that other countries of the Empire were not capable of producing fine musicians.
An aspect of military music frequently misunderstood, especially in the U.S., are the "numbered marches". In Austria these are the older marches assigned to particular regiments of the former Austro-Hungarian Army. In some cases their use was restricted to that particular regiment exclusively, which is similar to the regulations governing bugle, trumpet and drum signals. This kind of restriction seems to be a valid reason why some of the marches have fallen into disuse.
The yardstick by which past generations judged marches was by their appropriateness as marching music, i.e. did the march make the listener want to get up and march? Tempos were firmly dictated and adhered to. As examples, defiles at one point were mandated at 113; 1846 regulations set ordinary marches at 95, maneuver marches at 108, and the double march at 120.
These "numbered marches", where the numbers correspond to the number of the regiment to which they are assigned, often have historically interesting titles or dedications. Some are named for, or dedicated to, the regiment's patron - a nobleman of high rank. Some are based on a motive or theme of historical significance. Often the regiment's unique trumpet and/or drum signal is included in the march.
Some of the marches, although assigned to one infantry regiment, have been adopted by others. A case in point is the "Erzherzog-Albrecht Narsch" of Karel Komzak (jr.). Composed in 1888 it is the regimental march of the 44th Infantry Regiment which was stationed at Kaposvar. But it is also used as the official march of the 9th Dragoon Regiment and the 5th Artillery Regiment. To add to the possible confusion in the German Army March Collection it appears as 11/263.
The "heart" of the Austrian and Slavic hands is the brass quartet consisting of first and second flugelhorns, bass flugelhorn, and what I will functionally call "tenor tuba". In marches the voice parts for which they are responsible roughly correspond to soprano, alto, tenor and bass, respectively. All other parts are doublings, either in unison or at the octave, or a rhythmic elaboration of the chord structure.
Barring nationalistic tendencies, different pedagogy, and other similar excuses for not attempting to analyze what one hears, there are some definite characteristics that contribute to the uniquely different sound of Austrian and Slavic bands. The above-mentioned "heart" has a more mellow and broader sound than that produced by our modified cornets. When trumpets are allowed to predominate, they are encouraged to do so with a brilliant sound. The use of many more instruments, including cylindrical brasses, on the off-beats serve to make them more prominent. In Austria particularly the valve trombone is used more frequently than the slide variety, contributing to a difference in low brass sound. The harder, crisper, shorter articulations create a rhythmic feel and a more energetic rendition; generally slurs are avoided in favour of a true legato articulation. The use of so-called "German" clarinets creates a much more mellow sound, particularly in the upper register, than our French-styled instruments. The snare drum is generally thinner than those used for marches in American bends, but the snares are looser. The bass drum is comparable to the Scotch bass drum used by American marching bands, but the heads are not tight. Cymbals are of a small diameter.
Much information concerning European bands exists in the language of the countries concerned. An exciting amount of research is underway in many countries, being undertaken through the auspices of varying agencies. It is hoped that a significant amount of the resulting material will find its way into the English language.