The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-01-10
BRASS BANDS In BATTLE
THEY ARE MORE INA GINARYTHAN
REAL.
A Feature That Has been Obsolete for
Fifteen Years.

III pdttiC pANSuitS pdihtCh piioA w ttie
war of 1870 artists were fond of intro
ducing military bands, which they de-
picted as picking their way over the
bodies of dead and wounded in the very
thick of the fight the instrumentalists
blowing away to drown the cries OF
anguish, and the drummers-particula
ly the bass pounding the
parchment as If to vie with the roar OF
the artillery and the crash of the eX-
ploding shells. Such incidents were
sometimes real, but more often imagin-
airy. For example, the famous tabeau
portraying the meeting between Well
ington and Butcher contains a mounted
hussar band, who are represented as
blaring forth a trumpha march in
honor of the occasion, whereas the in
PRODUCTION of this highly effective group
Is proved to have been an artistic lib
erty pure and simple. That there was,
however, one British cavalry band pres
ent at the battle of Waterloo may be
deduced from the fact that a bass drum,
emblazoned with the royal arms and
bearing the inscription WI. Queens
Own Hussars,'' was found by a Belgian
on the field and taken away by him as
a memento of the day. After his death
1t was given by his son to the local
band at Boondael, where it probably
played conspicuous part in many a
village fete, from whose possession it
passed into the hands Of Mahillon & Co.,
who sent 1t to the Royal Military Ex-
hibition of 1890. However, in furnishing
a brief connected narrative dealing
with the presence of bands in battles
1t will first of all be necessary to eX-
plain how comparatively modern thing
military music really Is. The blare, the
crash and the roueing suggestiveness
associated with martial instrumental
ton were quite unknown to Western
Europe before the beginning of the
Eighteenth century, at which period
Frederick II of Prussia received as a
present from the Sultan of Turkey
camplete Janissary band. The charac
teristic instruments of those semi-bar-
harous troops were cymbals, triangles
and bells, besides a fine variety of
drums. The procedure of the perform
erS themselves was as follows. AS near
to the fighting line as possible the band
master would plant pole surmounted
by a crescent and decorated with one
or more horse tails according to his
pacha's rank. Around this standard
the instrumentalists would gather, and
!. then the melody instruments. consisting
of zarnas, hard, reed instruments with
cup shaped mouthpieces-would start off
with sustained penetrating squeal, the
accompaniment being supplied by the
remainder of the band shaking and
clashing the percussion, while the ket-
tie drums. tenor drums and bass drums
beat the time.
As the Asiatic performers in Freder-
lex lis imported contingent died off
their places were taken by Prussian
reed and brass instrumentalists, with
the result that it was then for the first
time discovered how well the latter
blended with the percussion. This ac-
cordingly was the genesis of the mod
ern military band. For many years.
however, Prussian was the only nation
that conducted it's martial music on
these lines. for in other armies the few
bands which existed were composed of
ohoes, clarinets, horns and bassoons,
without any percussion accompaniment.
In the British army the Guards bands,
first introduced in 1885, were constitute
ed on the nom percussion model down to
SO late period as 1S0O in which year,
owing to question of discipline, the
Duke Of York sent over from Germany
a full band of twenty-four instrument
alists, equipped with clarinets, oboes,
trumpets, trombones and serpents, to-
gether with a staff of colored men to
play the cymbals, "tambours de basque"
and to carry a crescent, or as it was
vulgarly termed, Jingling Johnn." as
the standard of the band, Hitherto, it
should be added, the three regiments Of
Foot Guards had been the only corps
permitted to own bands but shortly
after this important innovation the War
Office pranted permission to regiments
of the line to raise bands, provided that
the pay of a professional instructor and
the cost of the instruments should be
borne by the officers of each corps. |
These bands were rarely if ever taken |
on active service, and therefore the regi- |
ments as rule marched to the music !
Of the drums and flies, or in the case
of the Highlanders, to the bagpipes.
Accordingly during the Napoleonic wars
1t appears to be extremely doubtful If |
any of the British regiments engaged |
were played on to victory in the field |
itself On the other hand, however, the |
French armies were everywhere accom-
panied by magnificent bands, each con-
sisting of as many as one hundred per-
formers, who did undoubtedly animate
the men with their stirring strains, and
who. still playing In their organized
units, ventured as 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 of our own
troops, at least, the bandsmen, IN ar
irving at the front, appear to have dis
,arded their instruments and taken
their place in the ranks as active COM
Certain it Is that at the close
if the campaign the Government deter
mined upon the entire reconstructed If
The band system of our army, a circum-
stance probably prompted by the split
I'D of the bands which the war had oa-
,asioned.
The Schleswig- Holstein campaign of
1864 was marked by an Incl dent recall
ng the French bands at the commence
nent of the century. At the stormng
If the Duppel redoubts by the Pcussians
he storming parties were rlaycd to !
heir respective redoubts right through
he zone of fire by the stirring mueic |