New-York tribune., 1900-01-07
BRASS BANDS IN BATTLE
a FEATURE THAT HAS BEEN OBSOLETE,
FOR FIFTEEN YEARS
From The Pail Mall Gazette

ecu artlsts were fond Of iT+ro7r .Lie y ar OF
over the h5i 1epicted as picking their wsy
tt;l-N< nc o3ults OF dead and wounded in +b.s 80
LEX OF the fight, the Instruments fi+s ery
-, 80 - uIo"h the cries Of anguish ana tL
T.o1,,,,4;. Lal 0Icularly the bass drurnroar
P-iIs the parchment as if 10 Vic - :,
-CaT OF the artillery and the crash nc - - me me
- n-1ie sh@iis- such incidents were sorr7lti-,,--
- - ~ more often imaginary. For exarorIa
me FAMOUS tableaU portraying the r,1aarir
-NSeA Wellington and Butcher couta5T-
ttlio1ttea hussar band. who are represented a
o,is Is -oIth Z ulumphal march in honor of the
C,!Oh' whereas the introduction of this bisbI,-
TIAectlFe group IS proved TO have been a art7sti
-@-o1- @ = pure ana simple. That there was how,
ever, one British cavalry hand r,racsy,+ 80 y
o11lie OF " ateroo may be deducey7 from IN So.
that bass drum. eTnbIazoned with the - 20,
arms a and bearing the inscription WI C71a.T-l
Nv wi Hussars was found by a Began
On Ihe neid and taken away bv him a. =
Hehento Of the day After his death if y-ac
gwen by his son TO the local hand at Fror5s1I
- -l.-e - PTooapiy played q conspicuous part in
many a village fete. from whose possessior il
passed into the hands Of NahfIIon & 20
a Mn0 sent IL to the Royal Military Exhibition of
CO GO however, in furnishing brief connected
t-@IfatlEe deaLng with the presence of bands in
battles Il VIII first Of all be- necessary To ,riair
nov nov comparatively modern a thing military
music really is The blare The crash ar5 -,
IouSIng suggesuVeness associated with rnarria1
instrumentation were quite unknown to Wesr-
eTh EUROPE before the beginning of the eigh-
hlh Iethlh century. at which period Frederick II of
Z russia received as a present from the Sultan of
1Lrkey complete Janissary band. The charac-
rerIstic Instruments Of those ser1i-ba rbsrT17
troops We're cymbals JriangIes and bells ba
sloes Hne variety OF drums The procedure OF
the performers themselves was as Follows. As
near 10 the hshting line as possible the band
master Woulc plant a pole surmounted by a
crescent and decorated with one or more horse
taIls. according 10 his pacha's rank Around this
standard the Observation-Disclosures would ear and
then the melody Instruments consisting of zar-
nas-hard reed Instruments with cup shaped
mouthpieces-wouId start of with a sustained
penetrating squeaL the accompaniment being
supplied by the remainder Of the band shaking
and clashIng the percussion, while the kettle
drums, tenor drums and bass drums beat the
time.
As the Asiatic performers in Frederick rs
imported contingent died of their places were
taken by PrUssian reed and brass Instrumental
lists, with the result that il then for the first
time discovered how well the latter blended with
the percussion This accordingly was the gene
SIS Of the modern military band For many
years. however. Prussia the only nation
that conducted its martial music on these lines
for II other armies the few bands which existed
were composed Of oboes. clarinets. horns and
bassoOns without any percussion accompani-
meuI.
BRITISH MARTIAL MUSIC.
In the British army the Guards bands. first in
troduced n lbS3. were constituted on the nom
percussion model down to SO late a period as
300, IN which year owing To a question Of dis
CiFliue. the Duke Of York sent over from Ger
many d full band of twenty-foUr Instrumental
lists equipped with carin-ts, obces, tTumpets.
rrOmbOnes and serpen-S. together with staff OF
basque" and 10 carry a crescent. or. as it was
vulEarIy termed, 'JInglIng Johnny. the
standard Of the band. Hitherto. il should be
added the three regiments Of Foot Guards had
been The only corps permitted 10 own bands, but
shortly after this important innovation the War
Office granted permission To regiments OF the
line raise bands. provided that the pay Of a
professional Instructor and the cost of the in
strumeuts should be borne by the officers of
each corps These bands were rarely II ever
taken on active service. and therefore the regl-
Tuen-s as a rule marched 70 the music Of the
drums ana -f-S- or IN the case Of the Highland
ers. 10 the bagpipes Accordingly during thu
NapOleouic wars il appears TO be extremely
doubtful If any Of the British regiments engaged
the other hand however. the French armies
were everywhere accompanied by magnificent
bands each consisting Of as many a one hum
Gr=d performers who did undoubtedly animate
the men with their stirring strains, and who,
S-fU Ulaying in their organized units. NeUlUTei
a. near to the fighting line as possible.
In the Crimea the British. French and Turkish
armies were accompanied by their bands. but
in The case u our troops al least. the bands
men. on arriving al the front appear 10 have
discarded their Instruments and taken their
place in the ranks as active combatants- Ger
tain il = that al the close OF The campaign the
Government determined upon the entire recon
struCIion Of the band system Of our army cir
cUuStance probably prompted by the split UP OF
the bands Mich the war had occasion-d
The Schleswig-EIolstein campaign of 1864 was
marked by an incident recalling the French
bands al the commencement Of the century. At
the sr0rmIng Of the DuppeI red0ubts by the
PruSsans the storuing parties were played to
their respective r-doubts, right through the
zone 0f fire, by th- stirring music Of the Preus-
senlied." Again. on Seeing that victory was his.
Lri- .fr7v he and.