| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
98 MILITARY MUSIC AND ITS STORY.
for the band. From the most delicate song to the magnificent symphonies of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, and even the grandest of Handel's choruses, he preserved the bearing of each class throughout, and with so nice an attention to the particular cast of expression appertaining to each instrument. His knowledge of the effects of instruments was great.5 The band was instrumented thus:
4 Flutes. 2 Serpents. 1 Tenor Trombone.
3 Oboes. 4 Trumpets. 4 Bass Trombones. 12 Clarinets. 5 Horns. 2 Drums.
4 Bassoons. 1 Alto Trombone. Total 42.
Not at all a bad combination for so-called " unmusical England." Of course it may be urged that this was a specially-selected organisation, and not to be taken as a specimen of English military bands of the period. Yet we shall see that some regimental bands were on as good a footing as the king's band, at least in numbers.
Here is the Royal Artillery band circa 1820:
2 Flutes. 3 Key Bugles. 1 Ophicleide.
3 Oboes. 2 French Horns. 2 Serpents.
11 Clarinets. 1 Alto Trombone. 2 Bass Horns.
3 Bassoons. 1 Tenor Trombone. 5 Drums, etc.
2 Trumpets. 1 Bass Trombone. Total, 39.
Since Kastner, the historian of French military music, tells us that the Prussians and Austrians had incontest-ably the best bands at this time, we may take a glance at their construction and compare them with our bands and those of the French. |
||
|
1 "Biographical Dictionary of Musicians," 1825. |
||