Discuss the Evolution of British Wind Band Music From the Work of Holst and Vaughan Williams to the...

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Jonathan Booth History and Analysis Level 3 Assignment 2

1

Discuss the evolution of British wind band music from the work of Holst and

Vaughan Williams to the present. Refer to a variety of composers and works.

From its humble beginnings as town watchmen sending out signals and

messages on trumpets as well as the court minstrels turning their hand to any

instrument, through to the 17th

century European court Stadtpfiefer bands and

the Oboe bands of the Foot Guards, developing to the chamber ensembles

playing the harmonie musik of Mozart, Hummel and Beethoven to name but a

few; even before Holst and Vaughan Williams, wind band music had shifted

and evolved radically, in both the sacred and secular spheres. However, it

was mainly the secular sphere in which the wind band really changed. Initially

the early wind band can be split into two distinct genres; those of the military

band and the civilian band. The military band can be traced back to 1333 at

the Battle of Halidon, where the sound of pipes and clarinets along side the

trumpets, which were used for signaling, 1 is documented. This then developed

slowly until the late 17 th century when, with the invention of the double reed,

1 The Trumpets with sound , Gordon Turner, Parapress 1996




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the oboe became a large feature within the military music of the time, with the

Horse Grenadiers hiring 6 oboists and the British Dragroons allowing one

oboist per company, along with two side drummers. In 1684 the Foot Guards

adopted the use of oboe bands, succumbing to the practice that had spread

around France and Western Europe. In 1716 the Band of the Royal Regiment

of Artillery was formed, the first military band slightly resembling what it is

today. The band consisted of eight men who could play a combination of

violincello, bass, violin and flute as common instruments, this was supported

by the regiment musik; which contained two trumpets, two french horns, two

bassoons and four oboes/clarinets. 2 The Band of the Royal Artillery

developed as more strings were added, become predominantly an orchestra,

which during the nineteenth century became world famous, with their

reputation across Europe on a par with that of the Philharmonic. 3

Within the civilian side of wind band music the earliest wind groups were

consorts of shawms or two cornets and three sackbuts. These ensembles

2 The Beginnings of Wind Music, Renaissance and Baroque, Timothy Reynish p.6. 3 ibid




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date back to 1150 4 and were known as Stadtpfeifer or Waits in English.

These ensembles quickly became popular and spread across Europe. The

responsibilities of these bands grew from occasional performances to daily

shows, as well as celebrations of patron saints, feast days and regional

celebrations. The Stadtpfeifer in Venice were particularly known for leading

the elaborate parades around St. Mark’s plaza.5

These groups stayed popular

until the 1800’s when revo lution and legislation along with instrumental

development led to the decline of the waits.

The 18th century saw the start of the classical period and with it the

development of Harmoniemusik , which in short is a form of chamber music

written for wind instruments. Composers experimented with different

combinations to determine the best combinations to write for; it soon became

common to write for winds instruments in pairs as this would provide harmonic

support, thus the term Harmoniemusik became the accepted name for an

ensemble of wind instruments, which, whilst they did vary in size, mostly

consisted of eight players. At this time two forms of military bands also

4 A Short History of Western Music , Arthur Jacobs, Penguin Books, 1972, p. 17-19.5 Ceremonial Music in Venice at the Time of the Gabrielis , Denis Arnold, Proceedings of the RoyalMusical Association, p.53.




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developed, one being the small band, such as that of the Royal Artillery, as

previously mentioned, playing Harmoniemusik , whilst the other contained

heavier bass, percussion, clarinets and piccolos, as well as the basic octet. 6

Although, the term Harmonie became general term for describing wind music

as a whole, Harmoniemusik was an aspect separate from the military band. In

the most part it is music written during the classical period of which its function

was to provide entertainment, 7 as shown in this expert from a letter Mozart

wrote to his father in November 1781.

“ At eleven o'clock at night I was treated to a serenade performed by two

clarinets, two horns and two bassoons--and that of my own composition . . .

These musicians asked that the street door might be opened and, placing

themselves in the center of the courtyard, surprised me, just as I was about to

undress, in the most pleasant fashion imaginable with the first chord in E-

flat.” 8

The climax of this style was in the great masterpieces of Mozart, his three

6 Harmoniemusik and the Classical Wind Band, Stephen L.Rhodes,http://www.lipscomb.edu/windbandhistory/RhodesWindBand_04_Classical.htm , 2007, DateAccessed: 15/04/20117 ibid 8 The Letters of Mozart and His Family, Vol. II, Emily Anderson, 1966, p. 776 .

http://www.lipscomb.edu/windbandhistory/RhodesWindBand_04_Classical.htm






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Serenades in C Min, E-Flat, and B-Flat, these works were composed for the

Viennese Harmonie, whilst Mozart was under patronage there. It was this kind

of patronage that enabled this style to develop, with the composer writing to

entertain the court. 9 Harmoniemusik continued into the early 19 th century, with

composers such as Haydn, Beethoven, Krommer and Hummel all composing

prolific works, before it died out with the entry of radical political reform in

France, which transformed the wind band into a base of model of the modern

concert band.

The 19 th century concert band became a vehicle for many transcriptions of

orchestral repertoire, as the symphony orchestral had now become the main

focus for large compositions, due to the development of the woodwind

systems by Boehm and the brass piston valve, meaning that the brass and

woodwind were now almost as versatile as the string section. Other than light

popular music, marches and dances there was not much ‘serious’ music

written for wind band in the early 1800’s. One work written was the

Commemoration Symphony, by Antonio Reicha in 1808, this was written for

9 The Classical Harmonie to the Present Day, Timothy Reynish,http://www.basbwe.org/articles/99summer_history.pdf , Date Accessed 15/04/2011




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46 instruments, 10 of which were; 6 army drums and 4 field cannons. This

work was written as a celebratory piece following the French Revolution.

However there was demise of wind band compositions during this period, in

1830 Hector Berlioz composed his Symphonie Funèbre et Triomphale , this

work was on a huge scale when compared to that of Reciha 28 years

previously. Berlioz wrote for a band consisting of 112 players, with an optional

choir of 200 and string orchestra of 70. This shows the huge evolution in

instrument, compositional styles and instrumentation from not only a few

years previous but also from the start of the wind band era. Even though this

work by Berlioz was huge in the wind band sphere, it is still one of his lesser

known works, and, although some critics did not feel the composition was the

same standard of many of his other works. The work however, has many

defenders including a review in the New York Herald Tribune on the premier

of the work in America by the Goldman Band, “ The sound of the thing is

Berlioz at his best. No other composer has ever made a band sound so dark,

so rich, so nobly somber. That sound is not only a beautiful and wondrous

thing in itself; it is also part of the work's expressivity. It is everything that




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could possibly be meant by the adjectives funereal and triumphal.” 10 Following

this work, few compositions for wind ensemble of great consequence were

written during the Romanic period, however works by Saint-Saens (Occident

et Orient), and Rimsky- Korsakov’s Concerto for Trombone were among the

few notable works written during this period.

The birth of Sir Edward Elgar in 1857 saw a resurgence of English

composers, for arguably since Henry Purcell there had not been an English

composer held international regard. 11 Whilst many of the ‘new’ English

composers continued to write in the Germanic style, two new elements led to

new compositional styles. The first was that showing the rich musical heritage

enjoyed by England during the Elizabethan period, taking lead from the

compositions of Gibbons and Tallis, to name but two. The second was the

study of the English Folk Song, just as Grieg, Bartok and Kodaly, were

researching the folk history of Scandinavia, in Britain there was just as much

research going on. The pioneers of this research were Gustav Holst, Cecil

10 The Wind Band: Its Literature and Technique , Richard Franco Goldman,1961, pg.218. 11 A History of the Wind Band: English Composers and the Military Band, Stephen L.Rhodes,http://www.lipscomb.edu/windbandhistory/RhodesWindBand_04_Classical.htm , 2007, DateAccessed: 15/04/2011







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Sharpe, Ralph Vaughan-Williams and the Australian Percy Grainger.

This research soon formed the identity of the British sound, a sound that was

in complete contrast to the second Viennese School of Schoenberg and

Russian nationalist Stravinsky. Throughout the 20 th century, music with tonal

structuring has never been too far away form the pen of British composers.12

The pen of Gustov Holst was to become that of a cornerstone of British wind

band music. It was during his life that British composers were encouraged to

write new serious works for wind band, Holst, spurred on by this

encouragement wrote the first of his two suites for military band in 1908,

relying on his expertise as a trombone player. His daughter Imogen Holst

explains the delight of the musicians playing the suite, and also the style in

which it was composed;

“The First Suite in E -flat was an experiment in form, each movement being

founded on a fragment of the opening Chaconne . . . The whole suite is

superbly written for military band, especially the scherzando variation in the

Intermezzo which exactly suites the brittle texture of the woodwind. It must

have been a startling change from the usual operatic selections…In spite of

its original approach, the Suite never breaks away from the essential

12 ibid




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traditions of the band, and the March is the sort of music that is beloved of

bombardons and euphoniums. It was not for nothing that Holst had played

trombone on the pier in his student days: when he opens out into an inevitable

meno mosso, it is with the assurance if an experienced bandsman who knows exactly what the other players are going to enjoy. ”13

As written in the quote an original composition of this stature was greeted so

warmly because of the difference, compared to the usual repertoire, of

operatic selections and overtures. Unlike the Berlioz composition, Symphonie

Funèbre et Triomphale , the First Suite in E-flat was written for a regular sized

wind band, not dissimilar to that of a modern wind band. The ensemble

contained; 1 piccolo in D-flat, 2 E-flat clarinets, 2 oboes, 4 clarinets, alto and

tenor saxophones, 2 bassoons, 4 E-flat horns, 3 Cornets, 2 B-flat Trumpets, 3

trombones, Euphonium, Tubas along with a full compliment of percussion.

This soon became the standard size for a wind band. This work was taken

seriously within the music world; one account in the Times quoted it in the

same sentence as a performance of Brahm’s Third Symphony following the

suites premier in 1920 “There were two things of interest to be heard

yesterday -- Holst's Suite for Military Band at Knellar Hall and Brahm's Third

13 The Music of Gustav Holst , 2nd ed , Imogen Holst, 1968, pg. 33.




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Symphony at Queens Hall...” 14 Holst showed his interest in wind band again

by writing his 2 nd Suite in F, this suite was based on Hampshire folk songs. It

contained four contrasting movements applied arranging skills to a number of

songs, including, “Swansea Town”, “I’ll Love My Love”, and the “Song of the

Blacksmith”. In the final movement he combines the folks songs “Dargason”

and “Greensleeves”, this combination of folk tunes were also used in th e last

movement of his St. Pauls Suite , a refreshing change to see wind band writing

being used in an orchestral setting, rather than visa-versa. In 1927 Holst was

commissioned to write a new work for military band by the B.B.C., this work

was to become his most formidable piece for military band, Hammersmith .

The work is by far more technically challenging that the earlier works, due no

doubt to the expertise of the commissioning ensemble. 15 Hammersmith can

still taken within the nationalist genre as even though it is not painting a

picture of something a picturesque a Smetna’s Ma Vlast, as Imogen Holst

writes Hammersmith is describing “ The aloofness of the quiet river, unhurried

and unconcerned, while just round the corner there was all the noise and

14 An Orchestra and a Military Band: Brahms and Holst , The Times (London), 1920.15 New Works For Wind Band, Timothy Reynish, 1983, pg. 2-3.




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hustle and exuberant vulgarity of the cockney crowd, pushing and shoving

and sweating and swearing and shrieking and guffawing its good-humoured

way.” 16 This level of composition shows the seriousness that Holst held the

military band, it was no longer just a vehicle for orchestral transcriptions and

simple marches but a vehicle for serious national music.

Although Ralph Vaughan-Williams was a latecomer to the world of

composition, he was not without experience, having studied with Max Bruch in

Berlin and later Maurice Ravel, and also being a close friend of Holst. With

Bruch and Ravels mentorship and influence, his early works were in a

Germanic Romantic style. After WW1, a new style emerged taking influence

from the renaissance, as previously mentioned, this helped Vaughan-Williams

to really find his own style and write such magical work as The Lark

Ascending . Vaughan-Williams also rose to the challenge of writing for and

developing the military band, speaking about her husband ’s time in the Army

Vaughan-Williams ’ wife wrote: “ he had heard enough of the "ordinary

monger's light stuff" to feel that a chance to play real tunes would be an

16 The Music of Gustav Holst , 2nd ed , Imogen Holst, 1968, pg. 125.




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agreeable and salutary experience for Bandsmen.” 17 Following this he

composed his English Folk Song Suite in 1923 and used no fewer than nine

folk songs to create the three movement suite. 18 Vaughan- William’s

nationalism and patriotism always shone through in work, collecting over 800

folk songs in his lifetime, and a year after writing his folk song suite he

composed two more songs for military band. The first entitled Sea Songs , is a

simple one movement work where as the Toccata Marziale is in complete

contrast to the English Folk Song Suite , uses powerful timbres of large scale

brass and woodwind simultaneously, and a contrapuntal form shown through

major, minor, and whole tone scales. 19

Although writing before the time of Vaughan-Williams and Holst, Percy

Grainger wrote numerous works for wind band, however they varied

dramatically in style as to make publication and even performance a

17 A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ursula Vaughan Williams/ Ralph Vaughan Williams,1964, p. 150-153.18 The folk songs included: March - " Seventeen Come Sunday ", "Pretty Caroline ", and " Dives and Lazarus "; Intermezzo - " My Bonny Boy " and " Green Bushes "; Folk Songs from Somerset - " Blow away the Morning Dew ", "High Germany ", "The Tree so High ", and " John Barleycorn ". 19 A History of the Wind Band: English Composers and the Military Band, Stephen L.Rhodes,http://www.lipscomb.edu/windbandhistory/RhodesWindBand_04_Classical.htm , 2007, DateAccessed: 15/04/2011







13

hazardous affair. 20 Take for example the composition of Shepherd’s Hey and

Irish Tune from County Derry, two wind band pieces with beautiful folk

melodies, then in complete contrast, Hill-Song No.1 which although written in

1901, some years before Holst First Suite in E-flat , is many years more

advanced in its approach, as can be seen in Appendix i, the bar-lines are

there more for convenience, with the time signature changing every few bars,

and the composers fondness of complex but free rhythms as shown in the

Appendix ii. Timothy Reynish describes the work as having “ The harmonic

language of Richard Strauss and the rhythmic vitality of Walton ”21 ; each voice

is treated as a soloist which is a trait that gets lost during a great deal of large

scale wind band works of the 1900’s. Grainger’s use of folk songs

accumulated in his work Lincolnshire Posy (1937), this work combined the

wind band instrumental structure of Holst and developed on his previously

over-complex work to produce a masterpiece which stunned the wind band

world. Written in six movements it presented challenges in timbre, style, and

20 British Wind Music Before 1981, Timothy Reynish,http://www.worldmilitarybands.com/british-wind-music-before-1981-tim-reynish/ , 2004,Date Accessed: 17/04/201121 ibid

http://www.worldmilitarybands.com/british-wind-music-before-1981-tim-reynish/






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rhythm that were not normal for wind bands of the time. 22

However, unfortunately for the British music there was a sudden decline in

significant works being written for the wind over the next few decades. The

possibilities opened up by the likes of Holst, Vaughan-Williams and Grainger

were almost completely dismissed as if they were just a passing thought and

there were no significant commissions from Elgar, Walton, Bliss or Britten.

The British Military Bands had little choice but to go back to what they had

done previously, providing music for the ceremonial occasions and

entertaining, now however with a few gems to add to their repertoires. The

British music scene continued to develop with all of the aforementioned

composers become world renown composing for other spheres, one can only

ask what might have happened had the commissioning of work continued?

It might be worth noting that although in Britian there was an obvious decline

in composition for wind around this period the same can not be said for

America, who saw a new wave of interest for winds composition at this time

with the likes of Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Schoenberg all turning their hand to

22 Lincolnshire Posy - BDGuide, March-April 1990, p. 44-45.




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compose for the Military band. One composition of note was in 1944 by Aaron

Copland. His work Fanfare for the Common Man , although it was composed

for the Cincinatti Symphony Orchestra, uses only wind instruments, showing

grasp of what an emotionally powerful sound wind instruments can produce.

Percy Grainger sums it up well in his book when he say “ No doubt there are

many phases of musical emotion that the wind band is not so fitted to portray

as is the symphony orchestra, but on the other hand it is quite evident that in

certain realms of musical expressiveness the wind band has no rival .”23

In 1951 The Festival of Britain was held, this was a post-war celebration of

the arts. For the occasion, Gordon Jacob had been commissioned to write

Music for a Festival . This suite is a grandiose, vibrant sonorous work.

Originally the work was score for an ensemble whose size is not dissimilar to

that of Berlioz proportion military band plus fanfare trumpets. As Berlioz did in

his Symphonie Funèbre et Triomphale , Jacob selects the timbre he creates

very carefully with loud, triumphant passages used sparingly. Only in the final

movement of this 11 movement suite do the Fanfare team and band play

23 Possibilities of the Concert Wind Band from the Standpoint of a Modern Composer , PercyGrainger, 1918




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together; the odd number movements are played by the Fanfare team and the

even movements by the full band. As was one of the previously mentioned

styles of the time Jacob draws on the renaissance and baroque song and

dance forms through out the suite such as the movements intrada , and

madrigal. Stylistically the music is still firmly rooted in British band tradition,

even if the size of the ensemble is similar to that of Berlioz. The work was met

with critical acclaim on its début, however despite writing another 13 works for

wind band including a symphony and a Concerto for Band , Jacob sadly never

quite had the talent to put the wind band to the forefront of music 24 .

Following this spell of works by Jacob there were a number of works written

that captured the attention of the wind ensembles, sadly most of these have

not been performed and very few recorded. Alun Hoddinott composed a

couple of works that explored the idea of a soloist with the wind band, his

concertos for Piano and Trombone with wind band. He also embraced the

folk song influences, in a similar manner to Holst and Vaughan-Williams, with

his works for symphonic band. His first was Welsh Airs and Dances (1974)

24 British Wind Music Before 1981, Timothy Reynish,http://www.worldmilitarybands.com/british-wind-music-before-1981-tim-reynish/ , 2004,Date Accessed: 17/04/2011







17

and his final work for band was his Welsh Dances, Suite No.4 (1990). There

were many other works written in the folk traditions o f the early 1900’s

notably, Orr’ s John Gay Suite (1973) and John Gardner’s English Dance Suite

(1977) . The first ‘modern’ work form this age of very li ttle development was

Metamorphoses (1977) by Edward Gregson. The composition was written for

full wind band with piano and double basses but without saxophones. The title

comes from the constant changes that happen in the music. There is an

opening four-note motif that provides most of the intervals and harmonic

material. The work is in three movements, the first alternates between free

and metered phrasing. The second is a slow section with electronically

enhanced flute and clarinet solos, whilst the third is a charged and rhythmical

which resolves the metamorphic argument. 25

1981 became a momentous year in the history of British wind band music as it

saw the formation of the British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind

Ensembles (BASBWE). The creation of the BASBWE also brought with it new

commissionings and inspired a new generation of musicians and composers.

25 Metamorphoses – Edward Gregson Works, Edward Gregson,http://edwardgregson.com/en/works/23/metamorphoses/ , 2004-2011, Date Accessed:17/04/2011

http://edwardgregson.com/en/works/23/metamorphoses/






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Gregsons Metamorphoses was one of the piece played at the conference to

create the BASBWE. Gregsons Festivo (1985) is a light overture that

combines traditional band elements with Stravinsky-like energy. This work

became very successful and is now a ‘standard’ in band repertoire. In 1988

Gregson wrote a choral work entitled Missa Brevis Pacem , this was set for

SSA choir, treble and baritone soli and wind orchestra. It is a simple yet

effective mass setting. In 1991 he composed the first of two works as music

for a Stratford-on-Avon production of Wars of the Roses, The Sword and the

Crown , and the sequel The Kings of Forth (1996), these were both powerful

works but also had comical elements to them. One of his latest compositions

for wind band was commissioned for the BASBWE 1995 conference, this was

his Piano Concerto, Homages, which has been written in a completely

romantic style. Another composer to take up the call of the BASBWE was

Derek Bourgeois. Having been a brass band composer he says that he views

the wind band almost as an extension of the brass band, with massive

doubling and a luxuriant palette. Bourgeois ’ style is traditional, even if with a




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twist here and there. 26 The great trombonist Christian Lindberg writes him;

Bourgeois has not worried about the historical necessities and rules, which

dictate the novelty of style regarded as so important by some compositional

schools; he keeps instead to traditional musical patterns.

Phillip Sparke is very similar to other composers such as Gregson, Bourgeois

and Philip Wilby by the fact that he also writes form the much more

commercial field of the brass band, composing numerous test pieces and

concerto’s, his Euphonium concerto in pa rticular held in high regard. Sparke is

by far the most successful composer of both genres. In 1992 he composed

Orient Express it was commissioned by the BBC as its entry in the EBU New

Music for Band Competition, where it won first place. The piece tell a musical

story of luxury travel across Europe. Opening with the hustle and bustle of the

station, a percussion whistle starts the train in motion and across Europe. A

momentary reflection leads back in to the final stages of the journey and

26 Part II of a History of British Wind Music , Timothy Reynish,http://www.basbwe.org/articles/reynish_history_of_british_wind_music.pdf , Date Accessed:17/04/2011

http://www.basbwe.org/articles/reynish_history_of_british_wind_music.pdf






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arrival at the final destination. 27 Many of his works are arranged for either

wind band, or brass band following their composition for the other genre. This

is the case for the piece Year of the Dragon which was a brass band test

piece in 1985, but also now regularly played in the wind band genre. Guy

Woolfenden was, for many years, head of music at the Royal Shakespeare

Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon with scores for many plays to his name. He

drew on the uses of these works for his two early BASBWE commissions,

Gallimufry (1983) and Illyrian Dances (1986) . The musical language is a

mixture of the late English renaissance, both the 16 th century and early 20 th

century versions, but with twist in the time structure and harmonic structuring

to avoid the obvious. 28 Following the composition of this work it brought up

the question as to how the musical world is still ignoring the wind band genre.

Robert Maycock wrote of Gallimaufry in The Independent: “ In so far as music

criticism deals seriously with radio at all, it tends to concentrate on Radio 3,

27 Orient Express , Phillip Sparke, http://www.philipsparke.com/Orient%20Express%20CB.htm , Date Accessed: 18/04/2011


http://www.philipsparke.com/Orient%20Express%20CB.htm










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such are the cultural blinkers most critics wear. … A piece like Gallimaufry,

with its witty ingenuities, expert layout, and a tune that stays with you as long

as Carousel's, has helped thousands of players to cut their musical teeth and

stirred thousands more with the adventure of living music. Yet how many

"contemporary" specialists have heard a note of it?” This is followed by

Timothy Reynish stating “ The works of Guy Woolfenden are perhaps typical of

this new wave of music for wind orchestra, which has charm and wit. I believe

that it is ignorance of the medium, which leads to this repertoire being largely

ignored. ”29 Maybe this also the same reason for why the genre had a lack of

compositions during the 20 th century, that is to say; ignorance of the part of

the wider music genre?

Early on in the BASBWE, many of their inspired works and commissions were

score for the symphonic wind band, not quite the size of Berlioz’s but doubling

the players in the flutes, clarinets and brass. The wind band concept however

is that which came about from Frederick Fennell and the Eastman Wind

Ensemble in 1952, in which there was one player to a part. This gave

29 ibid




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composers more control of the players they were writing for. The wind

ensemble concept of up to 45 players can be adopted for most wind works,

and can provide clarity for both the dense and light textures. The scoring has

been derived from the beginnings of the orchestral wind section and now has

been refined. It is generally for Piccolo and two Flutes, two Oboes and Cor

Anglais, Eb Clarinet, 3 Bb Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, two Bassoons and Contra

Bassoon, and a Saxophone quartet of two Altos, Tenor and Baritone, four

Horns, three or more Trumpets or Cornets, three Trombones, one or two

Tubas, with Timpani, Percussion, Double Bass, Harp and/or Piano. 30

The composer Richard Rodney Bennett has been described as doing more to

develop the stylistic middle ground of 20 th century music than any other

composer. 31 There are three of his works that are important work for wind

ensemble of the 20 th century. His Morning Music (1987), Four Season (1991),

and Trumpet Concerto (1993). These show the rich textures that can be

achieved from the wind band. All three of his works are based on closely

30 A History of the Wind Band: Instrumentation, Stephen L.Rhodes,http://www.lipscomb.edu/windbandhistory/RhodesWindBand_11_Instrumentation.htm, 2007,Date Accessed: 15/04/2011 31 Sunan Bradshaw - Part II of a History of British Wind Music , Timothy Reynish,http://www.basbwe.org/articles/reynish_history_of_british_wind_music.pdf , pg. 9. DateAccessed: 17/04/2011







23

related intervals and harmonies. The Morning Music is predominantly made

up of patterns of 3rds and 4ths. The harmonic line of the cadenza within the

Trumpet Concerto is largely the same as Miles Davis’ Maid of Cadiz , with the

slow movement being an elegy for him. 32

Following the success of the first decade of the BASBWE and the resurgence

in composition came also the growth of new publishing companies, able to

provide more music for purchase rather than for hire as was common within

the orchestral genre. New publishers such as Maecenas often targeted a

specific area of composition. Many composer writing for Maecenas have been

given a brief to write easy music which gives the player a musical challenge

whilst the listener gets the same emotion experience of listening to an

orchestral standard. Such examples of this are Adam Gorb’s works,

Bridgewater Breeze, and Gareth Wood’s The Cauldron .

In answer to the question asked earlier in 1981 Gunther Schuller addressed

the College Band Directors National Associated, urging the delegates to

‘remove their blinkers’ as Robert Maycock put it earlier. Schuller said:








24

“There are too many fine and/or fa mous composers that have eluded your

grasp thus far. You need more of that kind of international world calibre

amongst the composers in your repertory before that world will begin to take

you seriously, before a critic from the New York Times or The New Yorker will look in on what you’re doing and look in on festivals such as this. And you

must more aggressively pursue that establishment world, with its critics and

taste-makers, its foundations and other benefactors, its managers, and its

musical leaders. You must reach out now beyond your own seemingly large

but actually small world. For they will not come to you; you must go to them.

Mostly they don’t know you exist.”

Since the beginnings of the wind band genre, it very rarely attracted wide-

spread praise from the musical establishment, only occasionally is there a

sentence reviewing a premier, festival or concert. Is this because the genre is

not a powerful as the orchestral, or is the focus just not in the right area? The

writings from the pens of Holst and Vaughan-Williams were very secure and

traditional, writing for a set ensemble. These techniques soon developed with

the increase of other influence. Wind band music seems to have grown

dramatically throughout its styles, textures, timbres and maturity following the

founding of the BASBWE. The association has given the composer a platform

on which there was previously nothing, to compose freely and evolve the wind

band genre further. Therefore the future, one could argue, is indeed bright for




25

this oft-ignored genre within our British musical tradition.

Appendix

i) Original Score Hill-Song , bars 1-8. Percy Grainger

ii) Hill-Song, Flute Bars 6-7, Percy Grainger.




26

Bibliography

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MacMillan

Burkholder, J.P., Grout, D.J. and Palisca, C.V. (2006): A History of Western

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Bird, J. (1999): Percy Grainger ; Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Day, J. (1998): Vaughan Williams ; Oxford, Oxford University Press

Goldman, RF (1961): The Wind Band: Its Literature and Technique , Boston:

Allyn and Bacon

Holst, I (1968): The Music of Gustav Holst, 2nd ed. London: Oxford University

Press

Jacobs, A. (1972): A Short History of Western Music, Harmondsworth,




27

Middlesex, England: Penguin Books

Lawson, C. and Stowell, R. (1999): The Historical Performance of Music ;

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Reynish, T. (1983): New Works For Wind Band , Composer 79 (Summer)

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Sadie, S. and Latham, A. (ed.) (1985): The Cambridge Music Guide ;

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Vaughan-William, R.V. and Vaughan-Williams, U. (1964): A Biography of

Ralph Vaughan Williams, London: Oxford University Press

Websites

A History of the Wind Band: English Composers and the Military Band,

Stephen L.Rhodes,

http://www.lipscomb.edu/windbandhistory/RhodesWindBand_04_Classical.ht

m , 2007, Date Accessed: 15/04/2011









British Wind Music Before 1981, Timothy Reynish,

http://www.worldmilitarybands.com/british-wind-music-before-1981-tim-

reynish/ , 2004, Date Accessed: 17/04/2011

Harmoniemusik and the Classical Wind Band, Stephen L.Rhodes,

http://www.lipscomb.edu/windbandhistory/RhodesWindBand_04_Classical.ht

m , 2007, Date Accessed: 15/04/2011

Metamorphoses – Edward Gregson Works, Edward Gregson,

http://edwardgregson.com/en/works/23/metamorphoses/ , 2004-2011, Date

Accessed: 17/04/2011

Orient Express , Phillip Sparke,

http://www.philipsparke.com/Orient%20Express%20CB.htm , Date Accessed:

18/04/2011

Part II of a History of British Wind Music , Timothy Reynish,

http://www.basbwe.org/articles/reynish_history_of_british_wind_music.pdf ,

Date Accessed: 17/04/2011




















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