Historical Notes
THE GENIUS of MOZART
IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MILITARY MUSIC.
France was not only leading the wind-instrumental world at the opening of the eighteenth century but she was looked upon as the fount of this art. Both England and Scotland had been influenced in their adoption of oboe bands. Even Germany was as affected by Gallic military modes, in its music if in nothing else. Yet the lands beyond the Rhine were already displaying themselves to advantage in the higher branches of the art and were certainly busy in improving their bands, so much so that they were soon to leave France behind. Many changes had been forced upon instrumentation. Crumhornes and cornetts had passed out of use by the turn of the century, although Gluck was using cornetts much later. With the oboe becoming a simpler instrument to play it soon was able to push itself in a melodic sense to the forefront. The bassoon also became a very useful instrument replacing the bombard instruments and also the trombone fell into neglect. The alteration in the coiling of the tube of the horn (and this was why it became known as the "French horn") gave this instrument a new and useful position in wind bands. The greatest novelty was the emergence of the clarinet, an instrument said to have been "invented" in 1696. When all these band instruments appeared in the military band is not certain yet one feels instinctively that most of them spent their prentice years in open-air bands before they were patronized by indoor orchestras. Unfortunately we are denied complete documents from French sources regarding the state of military music during the first half of the eighteenth century. German army bands of 1706 consisted of 2 oboes, 2 trumpets or horns, 2 bassoons plus drums ordered or fixed by Frederick the Great by the mid 18th c., who was quite familiar to Mozart and Beethoven.
In Britain there is a fund of documents about regimental bands although not so complete in the earlier years as available elsewhere. As late as 1731 the band of the Honorable Artillery Company was confined to "one curtail, three oboes, and no more". In 1746 there is reference in a parliamentary report to the music, hautbois and fifers of the Foot Guards. It is not until 1762 when the famous Royal Artillery Band was formed in Germany that we get a precise instrumentation of 2 trumpets, 2 French Horns and 4 hautbois or clarinetts. The Artillery band increased in size to 10 players in 1792 and twelve in 1798. Many of the British Regiments had at least 8-10 musicians in their ranks. Cavalry bands also moved with the times and adopted oboes into their bands along with trumpets and kettledrums. Also, they were augmented by bassoons. In 1767 the Horse Guards had very strong combinations which included trumpets ,oboes, bassoons and drums. A rather stimulating combination even without a trombone-but in 1769 two bassoons were added. At the same time it must be understood that excepting the Royal Artillery, the Life Guards, the Horse Guards, the Horse Grenadier Guards and the Foot Guards, all "Bands of Musick" in the army were unofficial although tolerated. This was also the rule in France to some extent. Here, military bands, and even military music in general, had deteriorated. The Uhlans of Marshal Saxe in 1741 the Gardes Francaises and a regiment of Croats had bands of horns, bassoons and cymbals. Whilst a Harmonie-Musik formula was still the rule, the Instruments were frequently doubled, as in 1762 when the French Guards had the performers in their bands increased from eight to sixteen, and in 1738 to twenty-four.
Thus far we have been able to comprehend the growing strength and the widening instrumentation of the military band. This name had now come to mean in Britain the army band, because the latter had quite eclipsed the old town band, which had almost died out. In most instances the membership of army bands consisted of hired professionals, a position which stood military musicians in good stead occasionally. When the Swedish garrison of Demmin capitulated in 1759 the ARTICLES OF SURRENDER read "The hautbois and musicians being paid by the officers shall be at liberty. In one of Marlborough's campaigns, when the oboes of a French regiment were ordered to strike up battle music to cheer their comrades they couldn't be found. It appears that after the first shots had been fired the the oboes made their exit. Evidently they were pleased with the "pomp"' but not the "circumstance". In Britain, it is said, the first band of enlisted musicians was the 1st Foot Guards (Grenadiers) in 1749.
The rising importance musically of the military band brought the definite recognition of its leader or director who, throughout the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century, led his band with his instrument, often the oboe. He was dubbed the Master Musician or Music major in Britain, Kapellmeister in Germany, and Capo-Musica in Italy. In the United Kingdom there was a craze for foreigners as bandmasters, usually Germans and Italians. Among these aliens were some names of eminence. The famous astronomer Sir William Herschel, a Hanoverian, was bandmaster of the Durham Militia; John Kohler an instrument maker was bandmaster of the Lancashire Volunteers; Johann Logier, an early musical textbook author was in a similar position in the Killkenny Militia. The appeal of the military band because of its portability was lending to its success. True, the primary purpose of this institution was army duties, that is to provide music for the marching, lifting the spirits of the soldier in battle and to brighten and comfort soldiers in their bivouacs and in barracks. Yet there was considerably more to the new art form.
Kipling once wrote "there is no greater asset to recruiting than the band". Since the officers supported regimental music by contributions to a "band fund", they took every opportunity of using the regimental band for their own pleasures, even to have the band perform on civic or private occasions. In other words, they began to enter the orbit which had been the purview of town bands. In many centers of music the bands began to have regular subscription concerts. This fact is born out by the programs of the Royal Artillery Band in England. The Terraces of Versailles held numerous concerts featuring first the French Gardes du Corps and later colossal bands of the National Guard who played for the festivals of the Republic.
The actual music played by military bands of the period does not reveal any drastic departure from the music which preceded it. The most important element being the march, and this was practiced in two, if not three forms the slow march, which the Germans called the parade march the quick march which the French called the pas redouble and the double quick march which was called the pas de charge. The slow march was taken at 80 paces to the minute in Britain. Examples of the slow march can be found in march books from the past including a book called WARLIKE MUSIC … a collection of marches and Trumpet tunes. The contributors to this collection included the venerable Mr. Handel, and the book contains slow marches which were from the realm of opera including SCIPIO and RINALDO. The quick march with a tempo of MM.=100 was in 2/2 or 2/4 (6/8 marches were mostly in vogue in Britain). Prussia originated the quick march in the 6/8 meter and the idea spread rapidly through Europe. The custom of units employing distinctive folk songs as regimental marches both in quick and slow time began during this period (circa 1760-1800) The marches were often in the 6/8 meter and were performed during regimental occasions. Most of these marches have been preserved. Germany prized it's historic marches -Der alte Deassauer (1705) Hohenfriedberger(1745) and Coburger (c 1750). Austria also developed some glorious marches including The Prinz Eugen March Pappenhiemer and the Musketiers von Friedland.
Despite the artistic progress of the military band the movement had not attracted the great composers. Reinhard Keiser(1674-1739) the creator of German opera was the first to patronize the wind ensemble by composing two suites for military band most likely based on his operas and dated 1715 noted as Kayserliche Friedens Post. Nicholas Hasse is the composer of an AUFZUG (fanfare style) for 2 trumpets and two kettledrums (1750).The British Museum houses several early numbers for military band including Handel's overture to his Fireworks Music (1749) scored for 3 trumpets, three horns, 3 oboes, 2 bassoons with a contra-bassoon and kettledrums. In browsing the score one is taken with the massive tutti scoring that must have given listeners an earful at this very early period.
C.P.E. Bach wrote numerous compositions for the smaller Harmonie Musik combination of six, as well as for seven and eight players. Johann Christian, the London Bach, composed marches for this type of band, whilst Michael Haydn did a Turkish March for twelve instruments and percussion. His brother, the greater Haydn, contributed divertimenti and Feldpartien items for the military band, and when in England he wrote two marches for the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV, and another two for the Volunteer Cavalry of Derbyshire.
The divertinmento was, like the partita, a suite of several movements, whilst the equally favored Military Concerto was an instrumental solo, usually with variations. The only other music of the concert type for the military band was for the most part arrangements from operas and oratorios. One recalls how this is illustrated in the second act of Mozart's great opera where Don Giovanni's band of Harmonie-Musik entertains him at dinner with extracts from current operas including Figaro. On the whole it cannot be said that there is anything arresting in the wind-band music of the period. Gluck might have done something, and we know that he was invited to contribute to French military music. Of course he may have been made aware of France's slow development in this sphere, and Rousseau had been cruelly contemptuous of this music. Even later, if one peruses the marches of Pugnani (he was director of militarv music to the Duke of Piedmont), the suites by W. F. E. Bach a grandson of Johann Sebastian or the works of Sussmayer the friend of Beethoven, it is crystal clear that no great progress had been made in wind-band music since Lully's time.
It was not until Mozart's genius streaked across the sky that one discerns fresh ideas in the treatment of the instruments of the wind band. His ten years' experience (1773-82) in composing a score of divertimenti and serenades and the like for the wind ensemble had enlightened him on the wider capabilities and the greater beauties of its instruments. That for which he scored was the ordinary town band--2 oboes, 2 horns, and 2 bassoons--although after 1781 he preferred clarinets to oboes, except when he used both. Occasionally he added 2 cor-anglais or 2 basset horns, Even the cavalry band instrumentation fascinated him, 5 or 6 trumpets and a pair of kettledrums, with 2 flutes, these latter were probably fifes, which had become popular with cavalry bands, even in Britain.
"I have now no light task to get my opera (Il Seraglio) arranged for military hand," wrote Mozart in July 1732 ''You cannot Imagine the difficulty of arranging an opera for military hand, to make it fit for wind instruments without sacrificing any of the effects." Whatever the difficulties in this task of arranging, Mozart was certainly a master hand at scoring in this domain, a trail which he was to blaze for others, It was just as well perhaps that Mozart came at this particular time to break down the conservative notions of writing in the monotonous vertical treatment of military literature up to that point. In any case, there had been scarcely any recognition of the precise characteristics of individual instruments in pre-Mozart days. The use of clarinets in his symphonic works and his concerti for clarinet changed the entire perspective for the military band. The employment of the full dimensions of this instrument was one of the most important catalysts in the development of the wind band . There were other vital changes coming to the military band, for the most part extrinsic, but fortunately the Salzburg master had already settled what was intrinsic before these changes came.