The Golden Age of Brass

This article is from the program notes for the Summit Records series of
recordings The Golden Age of Brass which take an American perspective on
vintage brass music

Contributed by Doug Bent

Doug Bent was a pilot for US Air and his family have had a long association with Brass music and performance in the United States.



The Keyed Bugle 

At the dawn of the 19th century, the keyed bugle was invented in Dublin,
Ireland. It caught the public's eye in 1815 when it appeared at
celebrations following the Battle of Waterloo. This new chromatic brass
instrument was an improvement on the common field bugle and soon became
known as the "Kent Horn" because its inventor, Joseph Halliday, dedicated
his creation to his military commander, the Duke of Kent. As various
military bands adopted the chromatic bugle, the stage was set for a new
musical ensemble, the all-brass band, to sweep Europe. As early as 1816,
the keyed bugle can be documented in America at the Military Academy at
West Point. Ensembles of all brass instruments became typical for military
bands the world over.



The B-flat keyed bugle (and its smaller version in high E-flat) was the
most popular solo voice in the brass band. This instrument should not be
confused with the alto keyed trumpet (in E-flat or E) for which the Haydn
and Hummel trumpet concerti were written.
In contrast, stringed instruments have always been the mainstay of symphony
orchestras. As strings dominate the indoor orchestra, so brass dominate the
outdoor band. Certainly there was military music before the brass band, but
the public's perception and appreciation of bands increased dramatically
with the keyed bugle's virtuosic display. Towards the end of the 18th
century, rythmic or "Turkish" instruments such as drums, cymbals, bells,
and triangle were added. For this lovely ensemble, Haydn, Mozart, and
others composed music which was used mainly for serenading royalty or
marching in front of small armies. In America, then and English Colony,
such ensembles could be found in Boston, Philadelphia, and Williamsburg,
Virginia, prior to the the Revolutionary War and after until about 1850.


The Ophicleide borrowed its technology from the keyed bugle and became the
bass member of the brass family. 
Families of trombones (including this B-flat soprano) have been used in
brass bands, orchestras, and Moravian trombone choirs. 


The Valve Development 1818-1838 

The 19th century brought about the industrial revolution with its many
technological inventions and mass migration to America. A new style of
music developed and found its expression in the all-brass band which took
root in America after the European Revolution of 1848. Edward "Ned" Kendall
from Boston, Richard Willis from West Point, New York, and a black
musician-composer-bandleader from Philadelphia, Francis Johnson, were
pioneers of brass bands in America. They were virtuoso keyed bugle players
who became the first public heros in the brass music world.



B-flat cornet with crooks to low F


Today, the B-flat flügelhorn is a popular jazz and brass band instrument.
It was developed from the military "grand bugle." 

Only five years after the invention of the keyed bugle, there was news
about another technical invention for brass instruments from Leipzig,
Germany. Valves had been added to a horn to make it chromatic and by 1818,
a patent was granted by the King of Prussia to two horn playters, Blühmel
and Stoezel. This was an invention which could be applied to all existing
brass instruments. A young and talented band leader in charge of all of
Prussia's military music eagerly grasped this idea and even developed a
sturdier version of the valve. Wilhelm Wieprecht's "Berlin Pistons" were
added to existing horns, trumpets, and even trombones. Also, larger and
smaller sized brass instruments were designed which led to whole families
of new instruments. Wieprecht is also credited with inventing a large bass
instrument called the tuba which provided a much needed big sound and
voluminous base upon which a large ensemble of chromatic brass instruments
could be built.

Early Brass "Cornet Bands" 

In France, valves were added to the circular posthorn in 1828. Halary's
"cornet ordinaire" thus became the first true cornet. The bell was later
pointed forward like a trumpet. This new instrument became knows as the
"cornet-a-pistons" and was immediately popular. Originally a high-pitched
(French) horn in Bflat, it soon attracted trumpet players and became the
star and solo voice of the all-brass "cornet bands" in Europe and America.
After the first valve patents in 1818, many other systems were developed up
to 1838. These first 20 years marked other improvements and many more
patents were granted up to the end of the century for all kinds of
technical improvements on brass instruments. With these improved brass
instruments, composers such as Berlioz, Meyerbeer, and later Franck,
Wagner, and Verdi began writing beautiful solo passages for brass.



Cornopeon (cornet) in B-flat with Stoezel valves. One of the first valve
designs patented, the valve itself was an actual wind-way and caused the
instrument to feel and sound congested 
The soon popular Sunday convert in the park seems to have started in a big
way with the Germania Serenade Band, the brass section of a larger
symphonic orchestra from Berlin, who had escaped religious persecution and
political recuitment in 1848. This fine band introduced the East Coast of
America to the classics of Mozart, Beethoven, and other in the 1850s. P. T.
Barnum engaged them to accompany the "Swedish Nightingale," Jenny Lind, on
her immensely successful tour of the United States. From France came
Monsieus Antoine Jullien, a splendid conductor who starte outdoor concerts
in New York's famous Castle Gardens. Jullien brought with him a well known
cornet soloist from Germany, Herman Koenig, who later became famous for his
composition, "The Posthorn Gallop," a solo for the short Engligh posthorn
(in A-flat) and band. One of Koenig's best know students was Matthew
Arbuckle (1828-1883), an Irish immigrant later known as the "Gentleman
Cornet Soloist." Arbuckle's lyric playing and musical renditions of songs
became a model for countless players to come.


The Germania Serenade Band brought the brass band concerts in the park to
great popularity 
Cornet with rotary valves operated by Allen levers 


Saxhorns 

With the outbreak of the Civil War in America in 1861, many soldiers wanted
to march to band music. In New York, a military bandmaster, Allen Dodworth,
had invented a new style of marching horn (patented in 1838) which was
based on an old style marching trombone where the bell pointed backwards
over the player's left shoulder. A complete family of "over-the-shoulder"
horns became the most popular band instruments of the Civil War period and
were made almost exclusively in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. There
were drawbacks, however, to the new design when it came concert formation.
This led to convertible designs where the bell could be taken off and a
forward pointed one substituted.



Tenor over-the-shoulder horn with rotary string action valves
In Paris, a well known instrument maker named Adolphe Sax invented a family
of brasses which included seven different sizes. The names of these
instruments were borrowed from choral nomenclature and included the
sopranino, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass horn. Other Sax instruments
included the flugelhorn, various sized drums, and the family of saxophones.
With the expansion of the Civil War bands by the various families of brass
instruments, the concert band was exstablished and gradually enlarged by
adding flutes, clarinets, and other woodwinds.



Civil War period band (family?) with cornets, saxhorns, and drums
Concert Bands 

After the long and bloody Civil War, the band movement soared to a new
height with "civilian" bands springing up everywhere. by the 1880s, the
piston valve became the fashion, and new brass instruments with silver and
gold plating and elaborate engraving could even be obtained through mail
order catalogs. Also, new designs such as the double-bell euphonium (the
smaller, forward pointing bell acting as a trombone substitute), orpheons,
sarrousaphones, and echo-bell instruments were often a part of enlarged
bands. To celebrate the ending of the Civil War, peace jubilees were held,
and Patrick Gilmore, then unquestionable the most famous conductor,
organized huge concerts in Boston and Chicago with thousands of singers and
instrumentalists participating. Afterwards, he would organize world tours
for his enalarged band. What P. T. Barnum was to the circus, Gilmore was to
the American band.

Another man was destined to become the greatest of all, with lasting fame.
John Philip Sousa, the "March King," equally remembered as a composer and
conductor, became the most highly regarded musician of his day. Becoming a
member or soloist of his band represented the pinnacle of any musician's
career. Sousa was able to engage the finest brass musicians in the world
including Herbert L. Clarke, Ben Bent, Walter Rogers, Herman Bellstedt,
Arthur Pryor, and Simone Mantia.

The late 19th century and the early 20th century constituted the Golden Age
for bands, brass instrument manufacturing, and brass soloists. Hundres of
military, civic, and private bands were formed and thousands of new
compositions were performed. Companies such as those started by Henry
Distin, Adolphe Sax, E. G. Weight, J. Lathrop Allen, Thomas Paine, Isaac
Fiske, and later by C. G. Conn, Vincent Bach, Tom King, and Frank Holton,
manufacutred millions of high quality brass instruments which were enjoyed
by professional and amateur musicians the world over. Music became the
number one art and entertainment in the lives of the middle class.
Conductors such as John Philip Sousa, Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, Frederick
Innes, Karl King, Edwin Franko Goldman, Giuseppi Creatore and Victor
Herbert became legends.

The Dazzling Soloists 

Crowds of thousands would mass for concerts by well known bands.
Highlighting these concerts were solo performances by famous cornetists,
trombonists, and b aritone horn players who had b ecome public heros. Some
brass soloists would receive fabulous salaries, such as the extreme egoist,
Jules Levy, who received a fantastic sum of $10,000 per year.



Jules Levy (1838-1903), the most celebrated corenetist of all time
Each soloist was a self styled performer who specialized in certain
acrobatic techniques such as triple tonguing, flying fingers, or incredible
intervallic leaps. Each soloist had a title (often self-endowed), such as
the "Paganini of the Cornet," the "Cornet King," or the "World's Greatest
Cornetist," and donned magnificent uniforms garnished with silver and gold
medals.

Some of the greatest cornet soloists included Jean Baptiste Arban, Henry
Maury, and Saint Jacome from France, Allesandro Liberati from Italk,
Hermann Bellstedt and Theodor Hoch from Germany, John Hartmann, George
Swift and Jack Macintosh from England, Bohumir Kryl from Bohemia, and Del
Staigers, Herbert Clarke, Walter Rogers, Framk Simon, Walter emerson, Ben
Bent, W. Paris Chambers, and Walter M. Smith from America. Other great
brass soloists included Arhtur Pryor, Henry Filmore, Somone Mantia, Frank
Holton, and Leo Zimmerman on trombone, and Joseph DeLuca and Thomas D. van
Osten on the double-bell euphonium.



The Double-bell Euphonium was also introduced as the "Doubleophone" and the
"Wonderphone." The fourth valve diverts sound from the main bell to a
smaller, trombone-like bell
End of an Era 

John Philip Sousa once said that the phonograph record ("canned music," as
he called it) was the doom of live music. In reality, the invention of the
grammophone in 1877 was only a small link int the chain of modern events
which ultimated spelled disaster for the Golden Age of the cornet and its
ilk.

Modern conveniences and electronic wonders such as the radio, television,
and motion pictures pampered the public and gave many new entertainment
options. Soon every household owned a telephone and an automobile.
Collegiate and professional sports became increasingly popular through new
mass communication technology. The Sunday stroll in the park, capped off by
a band concert in the gazebo, was gradually replaced by a drive through the
countryside followed by an afternoon of opera on the radio or a baseball
game on the television.

The popularity of jazz and swing music after World War One profoundly
influenced the public's taste towards brass music. Jazz, which Herbert
Clarke called the "devil in music," would soon bring the trumpet and its
more brilliant tone to great popularity, paving the way for such artists as
Lous Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, and Harry James. Other brass stars
included Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Jack Teagarden.

By the 1930s and 1940s, most public schools and colleges had active music
programs. The sounds of the stage band and marching band influenced the
tonal concepts of the brass musician. Instrument manufacturers, eager to
capitalize on this new demand, began glamorizing the trumpet and trombone.
Eventually, the cornet and baritone were considered old fashioned. Even the
deep, funnel-shaped mouthpieces of the cornet and baritone were given up
for shallower, bowl-shaped cup mouthpieces which added brilliance and ease
of upper range to these instruments. Subsequently, the mellow, sweet sound
of these conical bore instruments became piercing and harsh.

While it is true that the Golden Age has passed, it is important to note
that many bands and brass performers still preserve the original
instruments, music and performance styles associated with the likes of
Gilmore, Sousa, filmore, and clarke. Indeed, nearly all of the published
methods of technique development used by brass players today were from this
early tradigion (i.e., Arban, Saint-Jacome, Clarke, Goldman, Williams).
Like the paintings of Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Norman Rockwell,
the culptures of Constantin Brancusi, or the architecture of Lous Sullivan
and Frank Lloyd Wright, the music and musicians of the Golden Age deserve
their rightful spotlight in the annals of social evolution. It is an age
well worth remembering.