El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-01-16
CONCERT FANDS.
Sketch of the Development i'll Military
COncert-Band Instrumentation.

| COncert-b&llu INSTRUMENTATION.
Military band concerts have come to
be a permanent and fixed feature in
American musical life In fact the
older the country grows, the greater
becomes the popularity of this style of
musical performance, ana the more
persistent the endeavOr to perfect 1t.
One noticeable feature in the improve
ment has been'the steady aim to refine
| the Instrumentation, to produce string
ed effects and to eliminate features that
| become upcoutb as the public ear and
the taste and appreciation OF band con-
| cert music become more cultivated.
| When Gilmore, Cappa and Reeves,
| but especially the late lamented Gil
more, began their great work in mill
tary concerts and development, the
street instrumeO citation was of course
] used on the concert stage; and with
amateur bands this still largely obtains
| for obvious reasons. But street insJru-
mentation in concert work was not tcl-
Grated long with the great bandmasters,
as the educated ears OF these leaders
aud their musicians, and the improv-
| ing musical ear of the public as well.
| brought about changes for the better
| in Instrumentation.
| First, the E flat cornets-wild screech-
| ing instruments of torture, had to go,
! land there was Joy in heaven thereat."
| The trombone section was thinned out
and cooled down, there was a shifting
! around of the reeds, and a progressive
read ustment and classification in the
| various sections involving a more in
| telligent harmoniZing of the different
classes of instruments, the correction
| of Overbalancing, and the perhaps slow.
| but sure addition of new and improved
| instruments. This last has often a
marked influence, neceSSi tating at times
where instruments OF great power or
pronounced individuality are added, a
more or less redrafting of the entire
Instrumentation.
Concert room acoustics have proven
al effective aid in determining effects;
and in general it may be said that our
bandmasters have neglected no oppOr-
tunity to avail themselves of all posi-
BILE aids in their constant aim to i'm
prove the quality of tone, of execution
and general performance. SOusa, in
redrafting his Instrumentation. reduc-
ed the number of his slide trOmbOnes
to three in a band of ifty-two men: and
not only has he squelched the E fiat
comets, but he has reduced the num-
Der of his B fiat comets to four, sub |
shutting Hungarian trumpets for the |
fifth and sixth comets. He has also |
cut out the alto horns in concert work, |
substituting, therefor, a quartet of |
French horns 1t was his intention TO |
add bass flutes. a pedal bass clarinet, |
and q cornuphOne, and an English horn |
hitherto q purely orchestral instrument |
and alto of the oboe.
The discoveries and inventions of |
late years have added instruments |
hitherto uudreamed of, and by the aid |
of which, concert band performance
has been made to closely approximate !
the finish and execution Of strings to a
surprising extent. The wood wind
/ n StTI1T n "a ted n U
the alto, bass and pedal bass clarinet,
the surasuphone and tue contra bassOon
There was an attempt al tenor clari-
net, but it seems to have fallen by the |
wayside, and the Octavin clarinet has
proven failure. Bass flutes, referred
to above, DO not seem to have made
much of an Impression. To the brass
wind instruments have been added, the
trumpets, the cOrnuphOne noticed
above, and that quiTk OF p. S. Gil
antOniophone-whic has
not cut any ice to speak Of in band
Instrumentation. though Gilmore did
have a quintet of them. The saXaphOne
however, has come to stay. Cappa
fought its introduction as long as he
could, though the reasons he gave the
writer never seemed clear. Cappa |
claimed it was no use to bring in
saxaphODes as the same effects could
be produced by combination of the =
ordinary wood wind Instruments. Is
sue was taken with him. but to no
purpose. Cappa was Italian, the
a French production, and
there you have it. The saxaphone is
being rapidly adopted by American
bands as its com bination Of brass and
v God wind tone furnishes such a solid
filing in, that when once band takes
Up the saXaphOne, there is never any !;
afterwards to drop it. The
'axaphone is often spoken of as in ,
quartet 1t is really in septet, viz,
high and mezzo sopranos, alto. tenor
baritone, lass and contrabass. The