New-York tribune., 1921-12-25

''e0o eieIe were complaints voiced
against this conservation of bands by younp
captain, whose company was reduced in besvv
action to fifteen men. Eight of these he was
Obliged to detail as stretcher bearers leaving
nm only seven to hold the line. Bot the eor.
sensus OF opinion seems to be that the hand,
served best who only stood and played. And
that is high praise of th>;r value
Army bands of units which were not cont
overseas did their share of service, as doughty
II less glorious, aiding immeasurablv in ths
Shaping up Of the regiments 1t was the cus.
tom OF some colonies to REQUIRE their hands
to parade the company streets at reveile a
practice which cheered all whom duty called
TO rise at that unearthly hour. Bands turned
out, and if the weather was cold enough Is
prevent the horns being PLAYED because Of
freezing, the drums carried the air as best
they could. It was at guard mount that hands
came to their own. Probably no young officer
OF the day will forget the thrill experienced
when he commanded Sound off :" starting
band all by himself-or the modification when
ne gave tie command at the wrong time.
For time our army followed in part that
custom which used to prevail among the smart
est British regiments Every really well
turned-out command boasted German band
leader and French Chef Fewer of our band
leaders are German now; some fell by the way
side during the war. One is sad to nave been
confined at the military prso at Lvayen-
worth, Kan, for refusing to lead his band in
The Star-Spangled Banner"
Music with meals is an old army institution
bands often playing for mess The big mess
hall at Valdahon, France. where many of the
American artillery regiments trained resound-
ed with many concert which did much to
paliate the fare. While the bandmasters
some OF whom may have been of German de-
scent, acquitted themselves well, the civilian
chefs, who it may be hoped fer the honor of
french cookery were not Of that nationality
did not.
Sousa, military band leader extraordinary
speaking Of concerts at m SIS, paraphrased the
old proverb with Tile nearer the trombone
the sWeeter the meat One familiar with
army conditions, however, must admit that
sometimes it was pretty tough IN either rase.
Sousa led what was perhaps the greatest
aggro cation Of massed bands ullng rnp wal.
At the Great Lakes naval ra nin. station he
used to lead his many band, do gn tne parade,
playing one of his stirring n4aIcnes, such as
The Stars and Stripes Forever"
Mention Of Sousa leads to the Marine Band,
which he brought to fame. With the West
Point band, it is in the forefront of the mill
tary bands of the country. Few criticisms are
made of the splendid Marine Band. Perhaps
lo ~ al,
other military bands. A Washington A.pper,
who had attended dance at which the Marine
Band furnished the music, remarked afterward
IN fippant dissatisfaction:
THE trouble with the Marine Bands dance
music is it makes you feel like doing right by
squads OF calisthenics."
1t is rumored that the Army Band School
was moved t. Washington to compete with the
and omnipresent Marine Band IL
also Is said that he move was desired so thai
by headquarters band much >, The pleasant
centralized atmosphere Of Chaumont might DC
reproduced In the opinion of Walter Dam
rosch and his brother, Frank Damrosch, d.
rector Of the Institute Of Musical Art Of the
City of New York, whic.. for twenty years has
furnished free scholarships for the training VI
army band leaders, the move was not in the
best interests of the school nor of the service
New York, the former station of the school,
offers, they believe, far greater musical ad-
vaatages and training facilities.
No treatise on army bands is complete with
put reference to the bugiers or field music
in musical duty. Many time
4 winled band has been glad to give over
While the field music filled the interval with
1ourishes or the rendition Of such classics as
You're in the Army Now or "The Rockies
Delight" But the field music is another story.