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l6 MILITARY MUSIC AND ITS STORY. |
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of the tournament in the " Knight's Tale," where these instruments are classed with those "that in the battle blow bloody sounds." What sort of music these minstrels played must remain a mystery to us. At best it may have been popular dance tunes or ballads, assuredly with a vast display of drum.
We may infer, however, that their main business was to create "noise." Indeed, this was the name given at this period to a combination of musical instruments in performance,2 and certainly no libel in this case.
With the dawn of the sixteenth century came the renaissance of the art of war in Europe, and soldiering was being gradually consolidated into a system. Kings and princes began to lay the foundations of their standing armies, and great attention was given to military administration, drilling, equipment and everything appertaining to martial pomp and display. The old system of employing minstrels during a campaign had fallen into desuetude. Armies were adopting precise codes of musical signals, whilst the march in exact rhythm, accompanied by musical instruments, was now carefully taught. All this necessitated properly trained musicians who could operate with the particular units to which they belonged. |
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"As late as 1650, there is a letter from Popham to Blake, asking for trumpeters for the fleet, and particularly a "complete noise" for their own ship.—Grove, " Dictionary of Music" (article. Band). |
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