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US Air Force Bands

(Thanks to Kenneth Berger’s Band Encyclopedia.)

The youngest of America’s major service bands (staff bands) was organized in June 1942 as the Bolling Field Air Force Band in Washington, DC., by Alf Heiberg. In March 1944, the band was taken over and reorganized by George S. Howard, Heiberg becoming the supervisor of bands for the newly independent Air Force 1944-46. The band has extensively toured overseas, in 1950, 1951 and 1953 in addition to shorter trips to Newfoundland and other locations. The first assistant director was Warrant Officer John R. Barrows. He was succeeded by John F. Yesulaitis. The band also formed itself into an orchestra.

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The Evolution of the Military Band in France (Part 2),

THE EVOLUTION OF THE MILITARY BAND IN FRANCE (Part 2)
Edward Bevan

If the turning point in the development of the modern military band was the hautbois band, then the turning point in the career of General Bonaparte was the French Revolution: a lesser upheaval would not have provided him with the impetus he required to gain a crown. His great opponent and ultimate vanquisher, the Duke of Wellington, had learned to play the violin as a youth but he appears to have left decisions on Army music and bands to his subordinates – although a request to be included in the Line at Waterloo, from an untried battalion of the 14th Regiment of Foot, was granted only after the Duke had observed them parade to the beating of The Grenadiers March.

The Corsican had very firm views on army bands and their function and his interest in military music is reflected not only in the splendid formal marches written whilst he was First Consul and then Emperor, but in orders that he issued, tastes he expressed and even jokes he cracked with his veterans – his ‘Grognards’ – about their songs. Before he left on the Egyptian expedition he gave special attention to the formation of good bands. In Cairo he ordered noonday concerts by regimental bands, stationed in public places near the hospitals, where they were to play ‘Various airs which will cheer the sick and recall to their minds the finest hours of past campaigns’. Sometimes he could demand the near impossible, as when he asked Lebrun and Rouget de Lisle to ‘compose a hymn based on a familiar tune like LA MARSEILLAISE or ~ DU DEPART to be used in combat and contain sentiments for any and all circumstances of war’.

Some marches had been composed for use in battle. LA MARCHE DE LA GARDE CONSULAIRE has had several arrangers but original composer is never indicated. The march is said to have been performed at the Battle of Marengo (1800), the ‘Pas de Charge’ being in the trio. The outcome was an important victory for France but it is ironic that the dispositions he had made caused Bonaparte to be surprised by the Austrians and he was saved only by the staunchness of the Guard and the brilliant action of a subordinate. Characteristically, Napoleon took full credit and named his celebrated charger after the battle. ‘Furgeot’ an arrangement of the march has often been recorded by leading French bands.

The Consulate had come into being in 1799 and as First Consul and General, Bonaparte suppressed the cavalry bends for a time, saying that by discharging the cavalry bandsmen the saving of horses would enable him to raise four extra regiments of horse. During the five years of the Consulate the Band of the Consular Guard, led by Gebeuer and Blasius established a high reputation. In the meantime, the high clarinet in F had been introduced and the oboe restored.

In 1802 the Gendarmerie de Paris was formed, a military body which carried out certain internal duties of a police nature. Its title underwent such changes as La Garde Municipale and La Garde Royale, until its suppression by the Provisional Government after the February Revolution of 1848. It had a Batterie-Fanfare (drums, bugles and/or trumpets) dating from 2 October 1802, and in 1804 a Fanfare de Cavalerie (mounted trumpet corps) was formed. In the same year Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French. A larger band for the Grenadiers of the Guard comprised twelve clarinets, two clarinets in F, two piccolos, four oboes, four bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two trombones, two serpents, one bass drum and two pairs of cymbals. It was headed on the march by drums and fifes. Cavalry bands were re-established and handsomely furnished with sixteen trumpets, six horns and three trombones, to which, in the cases of cuirassiers and caribiniers, kettle drums were added.

The years of the First Empire, and the decade before, were a golden age for the military band in France. Indeed, one questions whether any other country has ever enjoyed such a stimulating period. The bands lacked virtually nothing materially and the important factor of morale must have been braced by the fact that they were a necessity to the military and social structure. Even so, the claim that it was a golden age for bands cannot be sustained without the recognition that the cardinal requirement had been present — worthy music. This need was met in abundance by a group of fine composers such as Gossec, Catel, Mehul, Gebauer, Charubini and others. Their output was enormous. Quick steps and other items for military evolutions and arrangements of patriotic songs were to be expected but there were also suites, overtures and symphonies of the first rank composed especially for the military bend.

Francois Joseph Gossec (1734-1829) was already a pioneer before the Revolution and had been the first to regard the military band orchestrally; also to demonstrate the benefits of the clarinet and trombone in the orchestra. Mozart referred to him as ‘his very good friend and a dry man’ and he has been called the ‘founder of symphonic music in France’. He might equally be called the founder of French chamber music, as he wrote eighteen string quartets. With its positive cleavage from the past, the Revolution gave him his opportunity. Very active in composing in his early days, he made his first authentic instrumental arrangement of LA MARSEILLAISE. In terms of symphonic form, those of Gossec take first place, but Catel is more original and Louis Jardin bolder and more advanced in conception. Regrettably, little of their music, and music for band by Mehul and Charubini (whom Napoleon disliked, as being too independent!) is ever played. The band music of these ‘composers of the Revolution’ deserved a better fate at the hands of the later conductors of bands, whose programs suggest a preference for transcriptions from the popular classics, opera, the theatre and the dance. Perhaps one day a musician with a sense of history will be inspired to revive some of this unique music written for the bends of the Revolution and the First Empire.

From the time the first Napoleon left the stage at Waterloo (1815) until the end of the Second Empire (whose fall was caused by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71), military bands remained very much a part of the French scene, reflecting the country’s martial ardor and desire to re-capture ‘La gloire’, as well as her colonial aspirations. As the years progressed a greater diversity developed amongst the Army bands and the heavy stateliness of the earlier marches no longer predominated. A regiment or battalion had its military band (L’Harmonie) but it also had a separate musical unit known as a ‘clique’. With Infantry regiments the clique comprised drums and fifes, but in the Light Infantry and Chasseur (rifle) regiments the clique used a bugle termed a cornet’ (not to be confused with the present day cornet in bands) which was a small bugle shaped like a hunting horn.

In the days of the First Empire these bugles had only been used for field calls in battle or on maneuvers but, through ‘esprit de corps‘, they became the chosen marching instruments of such regiments: such was the origin of their use as we know it today. In 1830 France began her protracted conquest of Algeria, involving thousands of troops for many years and these campaigns speeded the official adoption of bugle bands. A company of the 8th Chasseurs distinguished itself at SIDI BRAHIM in 1845 and the march named after it by an anonymous composer and played by a Chasseurs clique is typical of the style. In the same year France appointed a special commission to enquire into the modernizing of its bands and its members included Auber, Carrefois, Onslow, Spontini and Adam. As a result the Infantry were allowed fifty-four players per band and the Cavalry and Chasseurs thirty-six. It involved the introduction of the new instruments of Adolphe Sax, who was strongly supported by King Louis-Philippe. The change was short lived as with the 1848 Revolution the king abdicated and the bands were ordered to return to the old instrumentation. However, Hector Berlioz blazed away furiously at what he regarded as the inferiority of the former French band instrumentation and, with the assumption of power by Louis Napoleon, Sax was entirely back in favor again. In fact his prestige was such that he brought about the closing of the Military School of Music, which he regarded as reactionary. It was replaced by special music classes at the Conservatoire.

Mention has been made of the disbandment of the Fanfares of La Garde Royale in 1848, but a few months later it was re-formed as La Garde de Paris and included twelve trumpeters under Trumpet-Major Jean Paulus, who composed a special fanfare for the presentation of Colors on the Champ de Mars, Paris in May 1852, by which time the Second Empire had been proclaimed by the new Emperor Napoleon III. The Military Governor of Paris, Marshal Magnan, publicly congratulated Paulus. Within two years the fanfare was enlarged to a full band and given the title of La Musique de la Garde de Paris. In 1871 it was changed to La Musique de La Garde Republicaine. France maintained her bands during the Crimean War (1854-56) and many went to the front. They gained high praise from her Allies whose own bands were organized far less effectively than the French. They continued to receive strong support, as a Decree of 1854 allowed a band of fifty-five for the Imperial Guard and bands of thirty-five for the Cavalry, with commissioned bandmasters. It was said that the music of the French bands at Inkerman did as much to drive back the Russians as the bayonet. Yet after the war in Italy (1859) there were drastic cuts and in 1867 the cavalry bands were abolished. Even so, in that same year a Military Band Congress was staged at the Paris Exhibition. The following countries competed and received awards in the order given: Prussia, France, Austria, Bavaria, Russia, Holland, Baden, Belgium and Spain. The smallest band was Bavaria’s – fifty-one. Austria had seventy-six, but Prussia combined two bands to make eighty-seven players. The judges were Ambroise Thomas, Leo Delibes, Felicien Cesar David, Franz von Bulow, Hansluck and Kastner.

France’s agonizing period from 19 July 1870 until 1 March 1871, from her declaration of war on Prussia until her acceptance of peace terms, has little relevance to this inquiry, except to observe that the country returned to its peacetime life rapidly. Even during the quickly ensuing blood-thirsty suppression of the Commune of Paris (when the barricades went up again) theatre and café life in the capital was hardly affected. The bands settled down again, the leaders being the Garde Republicaine under Paulus and the Mounted Guides under Cressinois. In 1872 the former represented France at the Boston Peace Festival. Sellenick took over from Paulus in 1873, to be succeeded by Wettge (1884), Pares (1893), Balay (1911), Dupont (1927), Brun (1945), Richard (1969) and Boutry (1973~ )- and names as famous in French military music as Sousa, Santelmann, Schoepper, Benter, Whiting and Gabriel in America, and Godfrey, Williams, Rogan, O’Donnell, Ricketts, Miller, Jaeger and Dunn in England. An American bandmaster named Cappa who visited Paris in 1889 described the ensemble of the Garde Republicaine as almost perfect. For well over a century it has been regarded as the premier bend of France and it remains one of the great bands of the world. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that today in France there are others deserving of equal approbation, such as the major staff bands of the French Navy, Army and Air Force, and Les Gardiens de la Paix de Paris and La Police Nationale. These high standards of rendition arise from the meticulous organization of military music in France and the methods of personnel selection. With growing record production this is being increasingly appreciated outside France. Yet coverage on French radio and television is surprisingly limited.

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The Evolution of the Military Band in France (Part 1)

THE EVOLUTION OF THE MILITARY BAND IN FRANCE (In two parts.)

Part One.

By Edward Bevan (an IMMS Reprint July 1991)

In common with military bands generally, those of France have their origins in the music of War, and beginning with a romantic example, we mention the sound of Roland’s horn at Roncevalles, in AD 778. This French soldier, killed by the Basques during Charlemagne’s invasion of Spain subsequently became the hero of the 11th century Chanson de Roland. At Hastings (1066) a Norman warrior, Taillefer, rode out from the ranks and entertained his comrades with some of its verses, dispatching two foes apparently not appreciative of music before being slain himself. It was a Norman custom to sound trumpets if they triumphed in battle or at a siege, and we may conclude that the practice was not confined to Norman France alone. However, this feudal custom was the prerogative of royalty and nobility. In France, as elsewhere, trumpeters were members of royal households and usually exempt from the normal military service. Their training and employment was often regulated by the trade guilds. As a rule trumpeters headed any royal procession or progress, even by water as on one historic occasion. On May 18 1588 when England was threatened by the Spanish Armada, Queen Elizabeth decided to visit her troops assembled at Tilbury. Both London and Tilbury being on the River Thames, the Queen’s Majesty entered her royal barge, hard by St James’s Palace, preceded by her musicians blowing loudly on silver trumpets, and the procession of barges proceeded down river on the ebb tide, cheered by the citizens who lined the foreshore, this stretch of the river being tidal.

For use in battle the primary instruments ware the horn or bugle ( the Roman bucan) and the drum, made of wood or metal with skin or parchment strained and tightened by crossover cords. Their function was to sound calls and rallying signals; to frighten or annoy the enemy; to encourage troops on the march and to set the pace. Relieving Orleans in 1429, Joan of Arc made a triumphal entry to music probably played on tambours (drums) and trumpets or bugles. We know that the tune was a Scottish air which France had adopted and called La Marche de Robert Bruce. In the medieval wars Scotland and France usually united against their hereditary foe, England. This tune is more widely known as “Scots Wha Hae Wi’ Wallace Bled”, from verses written after a lapse of about four centuries by the poet Robert Burns (1759-96). Sir William Wallace, a Scottish patriot who had been executed in 1305, was a staunch henchman of Robert the Bruce, who is said to have used the tune at Bannockburn (1314). Le Marche de Robert Bruce is still played by French Service bends and it has been recorded by La Musique Principale des Troupes de Marine, in tones more dulcet than Joan of Arc and the Orleans populace would have heard.

The passage of time saw the development and growth of regiments and armies in Europe and with these, the introduction of more varied instruments that emanated chiefly from Asia, via those countries of Eastern Europe exposed to the depredations and invasions of the Ottoman Empire. The first example to arrive in France is believed to be a kettledrum from Turkey, presented to the Court of France by an ambassador from Hungary, in 1471. It was described as a ‘tambour des Perses’, but the Persian name was ‘timbale’ and by that name the instrument has been known in France ever since. Another Turkish innovation, the fife, was first seen in the hands of Swiss Mercenaries in France towards the end of the 15th century. Fifes came into use fairly quickly, but they were not used for drill purposes but as ‘instruments of pleasure’. Following the reign of Francis I (king from 1519-1547) the large bands of trumpets and kettledrums were favored but by 1588 there had been a marked change. On May 12 1588 a later king, Henry III, gave the people of Paris the opportunity of indulging in what was to become one of the capital’s most popular pastimes in the ensuing centuries – the erection of barricades. The king had ordered his Swiss and French Guards to take up positions at vantage points in the city.

The outcome was a disaster that sent the king scurrying off to Chartres, but an account of the day’s events includes a reference to the Guards marching along the Rue St Honore to ‘the rolling thunder of 20 tambours and the shrill squealing of a score of fifes’. Another very important introduction was the oboe, derived from the Turkish zurna. In archaic English this double wood reed woodwind instrument was called the hautboy (pronounced 0 Boy!), from the French hautbois, which I shall not presume to translate.

Coming to the 17th century we find further innovation and development. Louis Quatorze (1638-1715) is justly praised for the enhancement of military music but he was only five when he became king and there had been noteworthy progress during the reign of his father, Louis Treize, who had assumed the royal power in 1617. The infantry fife and drum bands had remained but the trumpet and drum were of prime importance to the cavalry. The King’s Trumpeters only numbered four, plus a kettle drummer but in addition there were the musicians of the Garde du Corps, amounting to 28 trumpeters and four kettle drummers. Of far greater musical importance was the King’s Hautbois Band, of eight hautbois (2 treble, 2 alto, 2 tenor and 2 bass), two cornettes and two trombones. It seems that the idea came from the shawm, zurna and drum bands of the Turkish Janissaries. Before the end of the reign several regiments had hautbois bands, and this may be regarded as a turning point for the military band as we know it. Nevertheless, the trumpet retained its prominence and before leaving Louis Treize we refer to two trumpet fanfares of this period -La Guet (a watch or look-out) and La Cavalquet (a mounted scout).

During the infancy of Louis Quatorze the country was ruled by Cardinal Mazarin, as France had been ruled in the previous reign by another cardinal, Richelieu. After Mazarin’s death, in 1661, Louis never appointed another first minister but took full control himself in concert with his own saying, “L’etat c^‘est moi’. He took great interest in the music of his regiments and saw the bands were organized to his liking. He engaged the celebrated Jean-Baptiste Lully to supervise the army bands and to compose suitable music. The King’s Musketeers were allowed three hautbois and five drums per company, and by 1672 the Dragoons were similarly equipped. The Garde du Corps had its bands playing in choirs, viz. using music written in four parts. Among the military music written by Lully (1639-87) was La Marche des Mousquetaires du Roy which has been recorded by La Musique da la Garde Republicaine. There is also a fanfare version and this can be heard on record by the Fanfare Trumpets of the French Air Force.

Louis Quatorze was succeeded by his great-grandson, Louis Quinze, whose indolence and frivolity were coupled with misgovernment and unsuccessful wars, leading to increasing discontent and laying the foundations for the French Revolution, which finally erupted in 1789. By then military music had reached a low ebb in France, but it was to have a phenomenal revival during and after the Revolution, when the pre-eminence of French bands caused astonishment and admiration in the rest of Europe. The Revolutionary leaders seem to have had little to learn as regards the value of audio-visual instruction in educating the new citizenry and consolidating the revolution. The process often took the form of great national fetes, such as the Fête Funebres for Mirabeau and Voltaire, or such philosophical and doctrinal events as the Fête de la Federation and the Fête de la Raison. Held in the open air with monster bands and choirs, they were spectacular. An outstanding feature at these fetes was the band of the National Guard, massed with other bands. This band had been raised in 1789 by Bernard Sarrette, with 45 performers and in the following year was taken over by the Paris Municipality. The massed bands for the fetes were enormous. At one there were 10 flutes, 30 clarinets, 18 bassoons, 4 trumpets, 2 tubae curvae, 2 buccins, bass trombones, 12 horns, 3 trombones, 8 serpents, 10 percussion, bass, side and kettle drums; cymbalists and triangle beaters. 300 drummers could be added for the more prodigious occasions. The National Guard and their band also attended the numerous ceremonial plantings of ‘Trees of Liberty’ by the mayors of the various communes and we read of the accompanying brilliant ceremonial music’. The National Guard was not a police force but it had obligations to help maintain public order. In Paris it was commanded by one not unknown in America, Marie Joseph Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, until his hurried departure for Austria in 1792 after his attempt to restore the monarchy.

Returning essentially to the military music scene the regiments of the Revolution soon discarded much of the music of the old regiments, whose fine uniforms gave way to the blue great-coats of the new demi-brigades. The popular revolutionary songs were played by the bands and we can have a taste of them by listening to some verses of La Garmagnole, then to be combined instrumentally with the rabble-rousing Ca Ira and to be followed by the emotive La Marseillaise, which Rouget de Lisre (1760-1836) wrote for France’s Rhine Army but was adopted by all revolutionary France. Two years after the Paris Municipality had taken over the band of the National Guard they decided to disband it to economize. Fortunately, Sarrette was able to create from it the Ecole Gratuite de Musique de la Garde Nationale Parisienne, which in 1795 was amalgamated with the old Ecole Royale, at the Conservatoire de Musique. Both the Ecole and the Conservatoire were the mainstay of military music in those stirring times and supplied all the French armies with their bandsmen. As recommended by the Conservatoire at this time a military band comprised one flute, six clarinets, 3 bassoons, one trumpet, two horns, one serpent and bass drum and cymbals. There had been a temporary eclipse of the oboe by the clarinet, because the latter instrument, played with the reed uppermost and open embouchure (as in jazz bands today), produced a clarino high trumpet tone. The trombone and serpent gave greater weight to fundamentals. In spite of the various forms of administration which succeeded each other in the unsettled final decade of the 18th century in France – the National Assembly, National Convention, Committee of Public Safety, Directory and Consulate -military music never flagged and the emergence of Napoleon Bonaparte was to ensure even greater vigor. Much had been owed to such composers as Gossec and Nehul. The latter, in collaboration with the poet Marie-Joseph Chenier, had written the famous Chant du De-part to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Fall of the Bastille. It rivaled La Marseillaise in popularity.

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Pipers and Pipe Bands 2

We are deeply indebted to Wikipedia for this article which is an overview of pipe bands world wide: Editor

A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term used by military pipe bands,Pipes and Drums, is also common.

The most common form of pipe band, the Scottish pipe band, consists of a section of pipers, a section of snare drummers (often referred to as ‘side drummers’), several tenor drummers and a single bass drummer. The entire drum section is known collectively as the drum corps. The tenor drummers and bass drummer are referred to collectively as the ‘bass section’ (or in North America as the ‘midsection’). The band follows the direction of the pipe major and when on parade the band may be led by a drum major, who directs the band with a mace.

Standard instrumentation for a pipe band is from 6 to 25 pipers, 3 to 10 side drummers, 1 to 4 tenor drummers and 1 bass drummer. Occasionally this instrumentation is augmented to include additional instruments (such as additional percussion instruments or keyboard instruments), however this is typically done only in concert settings.

History of the Pipe Band

The pipe band began life in the military, but its origins are obscure, and historical records exist mostly in hints gleaned from contemporary regimental records that had no direct interest in pipes.

It is known that pipers served in regiments from the earliest times; the Royal Scots have records referring to pipers dating back to the early seventeenth century. Where pipers were employed as pipers (rather than just happening to be a soldier that also was able to play), they were employed by the officers of the regiments as private pipers. This situation continued until the 1840s, when Queen Victoria‘s enthusiasm for all things Highlandwas instrumental in the War Office‘s decision that each regiment be allowed five pipers and a Pipe Major, which continues to be all that the British Army provides funds for to this day.

By this time, pipers were already playing together with drummers, probably modeling themselves on the fife and drum bands which had existed in Switzerland since the fifteenth century. Drumming is, of course, as ancient as the concept of formed military units, and their original purpose on the battlefield was to signal tactical movements and keep cadence on the march.

At the time of the Crimean War, pipe bands were well established. The first civilian organizations to adopt pipe bands were police and fire brigade bands; even today, several forces maintain bands that play to a very high standard.

By the time World War I broke out, the pipe band represented a popular image of Scotland, both internally and externally.

Military pipers were killed and injured in significant numbers in the Great War, before the War Office banned the practice of playing in the trenches in 1915. The ban was often not observed; Canadian piper James Richardsonwas awarded the Victoria Cross for playing in action in 1916. Although that ban still stands today, pipes have occasionally played into battle, notably at El Alamein, Dieppe, the Normandy beaches, and the crossing of the Rhine.

Military pipers have also served in both Gulf Wars.

WWI also created a huge demand for pipers, and huge numbers had been taught to play by the end of the war. This and the similar effort which went on during WWII ensured that there was a critical mass of people able to play and create a thriving pipe band scene from the 1950s onwards.

Military Pipes and Drums

In military and Para-military organizations the term Pipes and Drums is used when referring to an ensemble of Highland bagpipes and drums, however the majority of modern military bands are quite similar to their civilian counterparts in terms of their instrumentation and music. Many of the same standard tunes are found in both the military and civilian pipe band tune books, and many similarities exist in terms of musical style, historical and musical influences, and dress and deportment.

Unlike civilian pipers however, pipers in military bands have additional military responsibilities. To-day some musicians in British Army bands are normally required to take on a secondary role in the battlefield as medics. However, in most cases the pipes and drums in a Scottish or Irish infantry regiment constitute a machine gun platoon (as the Corps of Drums does in an English or Welsh infantry regiment). As a result, in addition to being musicians, members of the pipes and drums must also be qualified fighting soldiers. Unlike musicians, who belong to the Corps of Army Music, where they are full time musicians, the pipers and drummers belong to the regiment in which they serve and are infantrymen first and foremost.

The British Army runs its own pipes and drums training facility, the Army School of Bagpipe Music and Highland Drumming, in Edinburgh, Scotland. To be qualified as a Pipe Major or Drum Major in the pipes and drums of a regiment of the British Army, candidates must successfully pass a series of courses at the school.

Pipe Band Music

The music played by pipe bands generally consists of music from the Scottish tradition, either in the form of traditional folk tunes and dances or music from the Western tradition that has been adapted for pipes. Examples of typical pipe bands forms include marches, slow airs, up-tempo jigs and reels, and strathspeys. In recent years there has been a great deal of emphasis placed on new forms, especially the suite. A good example of a suite for pipe band is Don Thompson’s composition Journey to Skye (1987).

In conventional pipe band music, each section of instruments has a different role in the music. Generally speaking, the pipers deliver the melodic and harmonic material, while the side drummers provide a rhythmically interactive accompaniment part. The tenor drummers provide the fundamental rhythmic pulse with the bass drummer anchoring the rhythms and providing a strong and steady beat. The roles of each section are broken down further below.

The Pipe Section

Since the bagpipe is the only one of the pipe band instruments that is capable of producing distinct pitches, the pipers in a pipe band are responsible for providing all of the melodic and harmonic material in the music. Generally speaking, all of the pipers play a unison melody on their chanters, with their drones providing the harmonic support and filling out the sound. These unison melodies are often quite complex and demanding. It is this complexity that provides much of the musical interest.

When harmony is written within the pipe section, it is usually only two-part harmony, and is usually scored in a 2:1 ratio (with two thirds of the players on the melody, one third of the players on the harmony part). Because of the limited range of the chanter, the harmonic possibilities are somewhat limited, but well-written harmony in a pipe band setting can be quite effective. Pipe band harmony is sometimes referred to as “seconds”, although this simply refers to a second part and not to the interval of a second. In fact, intervals of a second are rarely found in pipe band harmony parts, except in passing. Instead, it is the consonant intervals which are stressed, perfect fourths and fifths, and even more commonly, parallel thirds and sixths.

The Drum Corps

The drum corps of a pipe band consists of a section of drummers playing Highland snare drums and the bass section (see below). In the early days of pipe bands, rope tension snare drums were common, but as the technology evolved, so did the music. Pipe band drummers now play on drums with very tight, knitted kevlar heads, designed for maximum tension to create a very crisp and strident sound. Due to technological innovations and changing aesthetics, this crispness has become an integral part of the pipe band sound. Since today’s drum is so facile as a result of its design, players are often able to execute extremely complicated and technically demanding rudimental patterns.

The pipe band drum corps is responsible for both supporting the piping with a solid rhythmic foundation and sense of pulse, and creating an interesting contrapuntal line unto itself. The line played by the drum corps (referred to as the “drum score”) is usually based on rudimental patterns and can often be quite involved, with solo, unison and contrapuntal passages throughout. A popular pattern in many scores is for the lead drummer to play a phrase, and the section to play in response. This technique is known as “the chips”.

While standard practice in pipe bands is for the pipe section to perform the traditional or standard arrangements of the melodies, including even the gracenotes, drum scores are very often composed by the lead drummer of the band. In competition, one of the adjudicators grades a band on how creative their scores are and how well they fit the piping – this aspect of the judging is known as ‘ensemble’.

The Bass Section

The bass section usually consists of a section of tenor drummers and a bass drummer. Their role is to provide rhythmic support to the entire ensemble. In this respect, the bass section allows the drum corps to delegate their timekeeping responsiblities and allows more freedom in the drum scores.

Generally, the bass drum provides a steady pulse, playing on the downbeat and on the strong beats of the bar, and the tenors support that pulse, often adding supporting beats, accents and dynamic interest.

Tenor drums in their modern form are a relatively new addition to the pipe band. While pipe bands of yesteryear would often include tenor drummers, they would usually be “swinging tenors”, players who would swing their sticks for elaborate visual effect but who would rarely play. Today’s tenor drummers play pitched drums, and careful thought is given as to which pitches to use and at which times. In some cases, five or six tenor drummers have been used, providing a palette of individual pitches for use in a variety of musical situations. The swinging also known as flourishing has developed somewhat into an art form with drummers playing and swinging in unison or sequential flows.

Competition & The World Pipe Band Championships

Main article: World Pipe Band Championships

Competition is a primary focus for many pipe bands throughout the world. Since 1930, when the Scottish band association (today known as the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association) was formed, there has been an event known as the World Pipe Band Championships held in Glasgow every August. For competitive bands, the title of World Champion is highly coveted, and this event is seen as the culmination of a year’s worth of preparation, rehearsal and practice.

The entirety of the World Championships takes place on one day in August, on Glasgow Green. Typically several hundred bands attend, travelling from all over the world. Bands arrive early and are required to perform in a qualifying round which takes place in the morning. The top bands at the end of the qualifying round play in a second event in the afternoon to determine an aggregate winner. To win, Grade One bands must perform in two events, a March, Strathspey & Reel event (known as a “set” or “MSR”) which consists of three pre-arranged tunes, and a Medley event, which consists of a short selection of music chosen and arranged by the band.

	Great Highland Bagpipe
	Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association
	List of bagpipers
	List of pipe bands
	Types of bagpipes
	Canntaireachd

Title	Composer/Arranger	Remarks
A New march	Mr Mckenzie
Military Concerto	Signor Dussek
Overture Introducing ‘La Theodora’	Mr Linley
A Sett(sic) of waltzes	Mr McKenzie
Concerto for Flute	Genrl Reid
Overture	Mr Arne
Concerto for Violin	Mr Festering	Mr Mori Soloist
Symphony by	the Lord Kelly
Gavott	Capt Quist

Title	Composer/Arranger	Remarks
Overture ‘Le Nozze di Figaro	Mozart
First Symphony	Romberg
Solo and Chorus ‘Come if you Dare’	Purcell
Solo Kent Bugle Original Air	Logier	Mr Stevenson
Galopp	Eisenhardt
Overture ‘Anacreon’	Cherubini
Aria ‘Ah dov’è il cimento	Rossini	Mr Sinclair
Two Sonatas for violin and bass	Corelli	Mr McKenzie(the Bandmaster),Mr S Collins, and Colonel Drummond
Glee ‘Here [in cool grot’	Mornington
Final from Clock Symphony	Hadyn
Trio for Voices	Stevenson	Mr Sinclair,Mr McKenzie,Mr Reeves
Quadrille	Mckenzie

Title	Composer/Arranger	Remarks
Overture	Clementi
Quintette	Mr McKenzie(bandmaster) Capt Wright,Dr Kenning,W Collins Lietenant Thorndike
Symphony	Hadyn
Overture Jessonda	Spohr
Glee ‘Breeth Soft Ye Winds’	Webbe	Master Reeves,Corpl Smith,Serjt Wilkinson,John Reeves
Theme and Variations for Eb Clarinet	Berr	Serjt Collins
Woolwich Warren Quadrilles	McKenzie
Chorus	Hallelula	Handel

Title	Composer/Arranger	Remarks
Symphony No 4	Haydn
Glee “Let me Careless’	Linley
Quintett for Violins,Tenors and Violincello	Mozart
Bass Song Why do the Nations	Handel
Symphony No4	Beethoven
Cello Fantasie	Lindley	Mr Lindley
Glee Up Quit the Bower	Bishop
Overture Fanscon	Himmel

Note: This concert may have been mixed concert of both band and orchestra

Archive for the ‘World Bands’ Category

US Air Force Bands

The Evolution of the Military Band in France (Part 2),

The Evolution of the Military Band in France (Part 1)

Pipers and Pipe Bands 2

History of the Pipe Band

Military Pipes and Drums

Pipe Band Music

The Pipe Section

The Drum Corps

The Bass Section

Competition & The World Pipe Band Championships

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Programs of Music for Military Bands

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Title	Composer/Arranger	Remarks
Sinfonia Alla Turca	Romberg	1st Movement
Chors-The Tempest”Around and Around We Pace”	Purcell
Aria-A te reido	Mercadanye	Miss Dolby
Waltz Emilie	Collins(bandmaster)
Cavatiuna from Maritana	Wallace	Mr Wilkinson
Song Oh Araby-Oberon	Weber	Miss Dolby
Solo Violin Sixth Air	De Beritot	Mr Wilkonson
Overture	Collins
	Intermission
Overture William Tell	Rossini
Scena All is Lost from Sonnambula	Bellini
Solo Cornet à Piston The bannks of Allan water	B. Lee	Mr James Lawson
Ballad Primroses deck the bank’s green side	Linley	Miss Dolby
Solo Flute Original Air	Richardson	Mr Bellingham
Trio Turn on,Old time from Maritana	Wallace	Miss Dolby,Messrs Wilkonson and Browning
Quadrille Brtish Navy	Jullien
Polka Comic American	Jullien
	GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

Title	Composer/Arranger	Remarks
Overture Zampa	Herold
Solo and Chorus -Come if you dare	Purcell
Waltz -Margarita	D’Albert
Solo Clarionet,11th Air Varie	Berr
Gallop,di Bravura	Schulhoff
Overture Anacreon	Cherubini
Madrigal Soldiers brave and Gallant be	Gastoldi
Quadrille	Flic Flac
Cavatina In questo semplice	Donnizetti	Madame Alboni
Polka Chinese Junk	D’Albert

Title	Composer/Arranger	Remarks
March The Prince Consort	W. Collins
Overture Lucia di Lammermoor	Donizetti
Aria for Cornet à Piston Ah te Riedo	Mecandante
Selection Dinorah	Meyerbeer
Polka Emily	Capt Tylden arranged Collins
Zampa	Herold
Polka Comic American	Jullien
Selection Ernani	Verdi

Title	Composer/Arranger	Remarks
Camp Overture – Jubilee	Lindpainter
Grand Selction Robert le Diable	Meyerbeer
Walzer -Stars of the West	Montague
Scena ed Aria Tovotore	Verdi
Galop The Light Cavalry	Smyth
Grand Selection-Huguenots	Meyerbeer
Overture Zampa	Herold
Grand Selection-Il Barbiere di Deviglia	Rossini
Polka-Schone Minka	Smythe
Meange-Lieder ohne	Mendelssohn	Saxophone soloist not given
Quadriille Friedrich Wilheml	Bilse