| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
CHAPTER V. |
||
|
BANDS OF MUSIC.
A
REVIVAL of interest in military bands in England follows on the heels of the peace of 1763, in accord with a general movement on the Continent. In Germany a special effort was made to establish the regimental band on a recognised model. This idea came from that great soldier who had held his own against "a world in arms"—Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. He was probably the first military commander, says the late Dr. Turpin, who realised the coming value to the soldier of the regimental band. He foresaw in a better cultivated system of military music, a new source of pride and delight for the soldier, and a new engine whereby military institutions would gain favour and popularity. Bands, as fixed by the order of Frederick the Great (1763), were to consist of: Two oboes, two clarinets, two horns and two bassoons, a combination, which was known on the Continent as harmonie musik, and a great favourite with composers. In France similar instruments were used by their guards' regiments from 1764, and somewhere about 1785-8 their infantry of
56 |
||