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120 MILITARY MUSIC AND ITS STORY. |
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tion of boys sent to the Royal Military Asylum, and for the instruction of persons sent from regiments to qualify for bugle-majors, trumpet-majors and bandmasters, whose training would require special time and attention." The initial outlay, it was thought, would be about £500 or £600, and that about £1,000 per annum would further be required to support the class. The Commander-in-Chief said that the government would only provide a building free, so that all other expenses would have to be met by subscription, which was estimated at £5 or £8 per annum, from each regiment, "but the result would be," said the Duke, "a saving of expense to regiments and would tend to the permanent efficiency of regimental bands." The scheme was agreed upon by most regiments, and took practical form by the establishment of a " Military Music Class " at Kneller Hall, some ten miles from London, which started on March 3, 1857. This was the inception of the Royal Military School of Music, established to train bandmasters who would be more directly connected with their regiments than the previous civilian conductors had been, and who would in all cases remain with the band, either at home or abroad. It was also meant to stimulate the acquisition of musical knowledge amongst our own countrymen, by training young men and lads as competent instrumentalists to fill vacancies in the regimental band, and by holding out to them, if they improved themselves and developed sufficient talent, a prospect of obtaining remunerative |
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