Australian Military Bands in Brief

Military music

On 2 February 1788 at Sydney Cove, the reading of the Governor’s Commission was accompanied by music from the fife-and-drum corps musicians.

Military music, beginning with the fife-and-drum corps of the First Fleet, was the only public music-making apart from folk music sung in the public hotels. Both the fife-and-drum corps and the regimental band gave open-air concerts. The few musical instruments brought with them, including pianos, were often dragged overland to new homes.

Military bands have accompanied Australian ceremonies, parades, church services, mess dinners and performed at concerts on innumerable occasions since then. Musicians have long been incorporated into active armed service units, often doubling as medics. They have accompanied troops into action, sometimes as part of a fighting unit, and sometimes as a band.

Civilian pipe and drum bands have had a long and successful history in Australia, with some bands having performed continuously for over 100 years. … Continue Reading »

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