Joseph Joachim
Joseph Joachim was a Hungarian violinist, conductor and teacher. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is regarded as one of the most significant violinists of the 19th century. Joseph Joachim was born in Moson County, Kingdom of Hungary, he was the seventh of eight children born to Julius, a wool merchant, Fanny Joachim, who were of Hungarian Jewish origin. His infancy was spent as a member of the Kittsee Kehilla, one of Hungary's prominent Siebengemeinden under the protectorate of the Esterházy family, he was a first cousin of Fanny Wittgenstein, née Figdor, the mother of Karl Wittgenstein and the grandmother of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the pianist Paul Wittgenstein. In 1833 his family moved to Pest, which in 1873 was united with Óbuda to form Budapest. There from 1836 he studied violin with the Polish violinist Stanisław Serwaczyński, the concertmaster of the opera in Pest, said to be the best violinist in Pest. Although Joachim's parents were "not well off", they had been well advised to choose not just an "ordinary" violin teacher.
Joachim's first public performance was 17 March 1839 when he was of age 7. In 1839, Joachim continued his studies at the Vienna Conservatory. In 1843 he was taken by his cousin, Fanny Figdor, who married "a Leipzig merchant" named Wittgenstein, to live and study in Leipzig. In the journal Neue Zeitschrift fůr Musik Robert Schumann was enthusiastic about Felix Mendelssohn, on which Moser writes "Only in Haydn's admiration for Mozart does the history of music know a parallel case of such ungrudging veneration of one great artist for his equal." In 1835, Mendelssohn had become director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra. In 1843 Joachim became a protégé of Mendelssohn, who arranged for him to study theory and composition with Moritz Hauptmann at the Leipzig Conservatory. In his début performance in the Gewandhaus Joachim played the Otello Fantasy by Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst. On 27 May 1844 Joachim, at the age not quite 13, in his London debut with Mendelssohn conducting at a concert of the Philharmonic Society, played the solo part in Beethoven's violin concerto.
This was a triumph in several respects. The Philharmonic had a policy against performers so young, but an exception was made after auditions persuaded gatherings of distinguished musicians and music lovers that Joachim had mature capabilities. Despite Beethoven's recognition as one of the greatest composers, the ranking nowadays of his violin concerto as among the greatest few, it was far from being so ranked before Joachim's performance. Ludwig Spohr had harshly criticized it, after the London premiere by violinist Edward Eliason, a critic had said it "might have been written by any third or fourth rate composer." But Joachim was well prepared to play Beethoven's concerto, having written his own cadenzas for it and memorized the piece. The audience anticipated great things, having got word from the rehearsal, so, Mendelssohn wrote, "frenetic applause began" as soon as Joachim stepped in front of the orchestra; the beginning was applauded still more, "cheers of the audience accompanied every... part of the concerto."
Reviewers had high praise. One for'The Musical World' wrote "The greatest violinists hold this concerto in awe... Young Joachim... attacked it with the vigour and determination of the most accomplished artist... no master could have read it better," and the two cadenzas, written by Joachim, were "tremendous feats... ingeniously composed". Another reviewer, for the'Illustrated London News', wrote that Joachim "is the first violin player, not only of his age, but of his siècle". "He performed Beethoven's solitary concerto, which we have heard all the great performers of the last twenty years attempt, invariably fail in... its performance was an eloquent vindication of the master-spirit who imagined it." A third reviewer, for the'Morning Post', wrote that the concerto "has been regarded by violin-players as not a proper and effective development of the powers of their instrument" but that Joachim's performance "is beyond all praise, defies all description" and "was altogether unprecedented." Joachim remained a favorite with the English public for the rest of his career.
He visited England in each year 1858, 1859, 1862, for several decades thereafter. Moser writes "After the appearance of the six String Quartets Beethoven had complete command of the field of chamber-music", although in the quartets he "makes many exacting demands" of string players. Moser further writes that "at the time of Beethoven's death", such people as Spohr and Hauptmann did not esteem the late quartets above the earliest ones. Moser, p. 30 writes that in Vienna "the public showed a marked hostility toward" the late quartets. But Joachim's teacher Bohm had an appreciation of the late quartets, which he communicated to Joachim. At the age of 18, "in the whole of Germany" Joachim had no equal, either in the rendering of Bach or in the concertos of Beethoven and Mendelssohn. Following Mendelssohn's death in 1847, Joachim stayed in Leipzig, teaching at the Conservatorium and playing on the first desk of the Gewandhaus Orchestra with Ferdinand David, whom Mendelssohn had appointed as concertmaster on taking up the conductorship in
Trumpet
A trumpet is a brass instrument used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group contains the instruments with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpet-like instruments have been used as signaling devices in battle or hunting, with examples dating back to at least 1500 BC. Trumpets are used in art music styles, for instance in orchestras, concert bands, jazz ensembles, as well as in popular music, they are played by blowing air through nearly-closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century they have been constructed of brass tubing bent twice into a rounded rectangular shape. There are many distinct types of trumpet, with the most common being pitched in B♭, having a tubing length of about 1.48 m. Early trumpets did not provide means to change the length of tubing, whereas modern instruments have three valves in order to change their pitch. There are eight combinations of three valves, making seven different tubing lengths, with the third valve sometimes used as an alternate fingering equivalent to the 1-2 combination.
Most trumpets have valves of the piston type. The use of rotary-valved trumpets is more common in orchestral settings, although this practice varies by country; each valve, when engaged, increases the length of lowering the pitch of the instrument. A musician who plays the trumpet is called trumpeter; the English word "trumpet" was first used in the late 14th century. The word came from Old French "trompette", a diminutive of trompe; the word "trump", meaning "trumpet," was first used in English in 1300. The word comes from Old French trompe "long, tube-like musical wind instrument", cognate with Provençal tromba, Italian tromba, all from a Germanic source, of imitative origin." The earliest trumpets date earlier. The bronze and silver trumpets from Tutankhamun's grave in Egypt, bronze lurs from Scandinavia, metal trumpets from China date back to this period. Trumpets from the Oxus civilization of Central Asia have decorated swellings in the middle, yet are made out of one sheet of metal, considered a technical wonder.
The Shofar, made from a ram horn and the Hatzotzeroth, made of metal, are both mentioned in the Bible. They were played in Solomon's Temple around 3000 years ago, they were said to be used to blow down the walls of Jericho. They are still used on certain religious days; the Salpinx was a straight trumpet 62 inches long, made of bronze. Salpinx contests were a part of the original Olympic Games; the Moche people of ancient Peru depicted trumpets in their art going back to AD 300. The earliest trumpets were signaling instruments used for military or religious purposes, rather than music in the modern sense. Improvements to instrument design and metal making in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance led to an increased usefulness of the trumpet as a musical instrument; the natural trumpets of this era consisted of a single coiled tube without valves and therefore could only produce the notes of a single overtone series. Changing keys required the player to change crooks of the instrument; the development of the upper, "clarino" register by specialist trumpeters—notably Cesare Bendinelli—would lend itself well to the Baroque era known as the "Golden Age of the natural trumpet."
During this period, a vast body of music was written for virtuoso trumpeters. The art was revived in the mid-20th century and natural trumpet playing is again a thriving art around the world. Many modern players in Germany and the UK who perform Baroque music use a version of the natural trumpet fitted with three or four vent holes to aid in correcting out-of-tune notes in the harmonic series; the melody-dominated homophony of the classical and romantic periods relegated the trumpet to a secondary role by most major composers owing to the limitations of the natural trumpet. Berlioz wrote in 1844: Notwithstanding the real loftiness and distinguished nature of its quality of tone, there are few instruments that have been more degraded. Down to Beethoven and Weber, every composer – not excepting Mozart – persisted in confining it to the unworthy function of filling up, or in causing it to sound two or three commonplace rhythmical formulae; the attempt to give the trumpet more chromatic freedom in its range saw the development of the keyed trumpet, but this was a unsuccessful venture due to the poor quality of its sound.
Although the impetus for a tubular valve began as early as 1793, it was not until 1818 that Friedrich Bluhmel and Heinrich Stölzel made a joint patent application for the box valve as manufactured by W. Schuster; the symphonies of Mozart, as late as Brahms, were still played on natural trumpets. Crooks and shanks as opposed to keys or valves were standard, notably in France, into the first part of the 20th century; as a consequence of this late development of the instrument's chromatic ability, the repertoire for the instrument is small compared to other instruments. The 20th century saw an explosion in the variety of music written for the trumpet; the trumpet is constructed of brass tubing bent twice into a rounded oblong shape. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound into the mouthp
Ferdinand David (musician)
Ferdinand David was a German virtuoso violinist and composer. Born in the same house in Hamburg where Felix Mendelssohn had been born the previous year, David was raised Jewish but converted to Protestant Christianity. David was a pupil of Louis Spohr and Moritz Hauptmann from 1823 to 1824 and in 1826 became a violinist at Königstädtischen Theater in Berlin. In 1829 he was the first violinist of Baron Carl Gotthard von Liphardt's string quartet in Dorpat and he undertook concert tours in Riga, Saint Petersburg and Moscow. In 1835 he became concertmaster at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig working with Mendelssohn. David returned to Dorpat to marry Liphart's daughter Sophie. In 1843 David became the first professor of violin at the newly founded Leipziger Konservatorium für Musik. David worked with Mendelssohn, providing technical advice during the preparation of the latter's Violin Concerto in E minor, he was the soloist in the premiere of the work in 1845, with Clara Schumann, played the official premiere of Schumann's first violin sonata in Leipzig in March 1852.
He died in 1873, aged 63, while on a mountain excursion with his children, near Klosters in the Graubünden area of Switzerland. David's own compositions number about 50 opuses, they include 12 "theme and variations" pieces for violin and Orchestra, five violin concertos, a string sextet, "Concertinos" for Violin, Clarinet & Trombone and Orchestra, a number of Lieder. He wrote two symphonies and an opera; these have not been verified to have been preserved. David's most played piece today is without a doubt his Concertino for Orchestra; this piece is often used as the obligatory piece for trombonists auditioning for symphony orchestras around the world. David had close connections with Breitkopf & Härtel and other publishers in Leipzig, worked as editor of violin works including those of Francesco Maria Veracini, Pietro Locatelli and Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, he was editor of the complete Beethoven piano trios for C. F. Peters Edition, he was editor of the set of J. S. Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin in 1843.
He made an arrangement for violin and piano of Niccolò Paganini's 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, the version used for the world premiere integral recording of the Caprices, by Ossy Renardy and Walter Robert in 1940, the centenary of Paganini's death. The Chaconne in G minor attributed to Tomaso Antonio Vitali was published for the first time from a manuscript in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek in Dresden in David's well renowned violin-method Die Hohe Schule des Violinspiels, he wrote an used version of the cadenza for Beethoven's violin-concerto, used by 12-year old Joseph Joachim at the revival-concert of this piece in 1844, under Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. David played on a 1742 Guarneri violin, which became the main performance violin for Jascha Heifetz; the David Guarneri violin is now in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. On the recommendation of William Sterndale Bennett, with whom he had worked in Leipzig, David's son Paul David became the first Director of Music at Uppingham School from 1864–1908.
Free scores by Ferdinand David at the International Music Score Library Project "Ferdinand David". Messianic Judaism Wiki. 2011-11-14. Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2014-01-01. Jong, Cameo. Rediscovering Ferdinand David's violin pedagogy through his Violinschule and zur Violinschule. University of Iowa. Retrieved 2014-01-01
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonies, piano music and chamber music, his best-known works include his Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the oratorio Elijah, the overture The Hebrides, his mature Violin Concerto, his String Octet. The melody for the Christmas carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is his. Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions. A grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family, he was brought up without religion until the age of seven, when he was baptised as a Reformed Christian. Felix was recognised early as a musical prodigy, but his parents were cautious and did not seek to capitalise on his talent. Mendelssohn enjoyed early success in Germany, revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, notably with his performance of the St Matthew Passion in 1829.
He became well received in his travels throughout Europe as a composer and soloist. His conservative musical tastes set him apart from more adventurous musical contemporaries such as Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, Charles-Valentin Alkan and Hector Berlioz; the Leipzig Conservatory, which he founded, became a bastion of this anti-radical outlook. After a long period of relative denigration due to changing musical tastes and antisemitism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his creative originality has been re-evaluated, he is now among the most popular composers of the Romantic era. Felix Mendelssohn was born on 3 February 1809, in Hamburg, at the time an independent city-state, in the same house where, a year the dedicatee and first performer of his Violin Concerto, Ferdinand David, would be born. Mendelssohn's father, the banker Abraham Mendelssohn, was the son of the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, whose family was prominent in the German Jewish community; until his baptism at age seven, Mendelssohn was brought up without religion.
His mother, Lea Salomon, was a sister of Jakob Salomon Bartholdy. Mendelssohn was the second of four children; the family moved to Berlin in 1811, leaving Hamburg in disguise in fear of French reprisal for the Mendelssohn bank's role in breaking Napoleon's Continental System blockade. Abraham and Lea Mendelssohn sought to give their children – Fanny, Felix and Rebecka – the best education possible. Fanny became a pianist well known in Berlin musical circles as a composer, but it was not considered proper, by either Abraham or Felix, for a woman to pursue a career in music, so she remained an active but non-professional musician. Abraham was disinclined to allow Felix to follow a musical career until it became clear that he was dedicated. Mendelssohn grew up in an intellectual environment. Frequent visitors to the salon organised by his parents at their home in Berlin included artists and scientists, among them Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt, the mathematician Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet.
The musician Sarah Rothenburg has written of the household that "Europe came to their living room". Abraham Mendelssohn renounced the Jewish religion prior to Felix's birth. Felix and his siblings were first brought up without religious education, were baptised by a Reformed Church minister in 1816, at which time Felix was given the additional names Jakob Ludwig. Abraham and his wife Lea were baptised in 1822, formally adopted the surname Mendelssohn Bartholdy for themselves and for their children; the name Bartholdy was added at the suggestion of Lea's brother, Jakob Salomon Bartholdy, who had inherited a property of this name in Luisenstadt and adopted it as his own surname. In an 1829 letter to Felix, Abraham explained that adopting the Bartholdy name was meant to demonstrate a decisive break with the traditions of his father Moses: "There can no more be a Christian Mendelssohn than there can be a Jewish Confucius".. On embarking on his musical career, Felix did not drop the name Mendelssohn as Abraham had requested, but in deference to his father signed his letters and had his visiting cards printed using the form'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'.
In 1829, his sister Fanny wrote to him of "Bartholdy this name that we all dislike". Mendelssohn began taking piano lessons from his mother when he was six, at seven was tutored by Marie Bigot in Paris. In Berlin, all four Mendelssohn children studied piano with Ludwig Berger, himself a former student of Muzio Clementi. From at least May 1819 Mendelssohn studied counterpoint and composition with Carl Friedrich Zelter in Berlin; this was an important influence on his future career. Zelter had certainly been recommended as a teacher by his aunt Sarah Levy, a pupil of W. F. Bach and a patron of C. P. E. Bach. Sarah Levy displayed some talent as a keyboard player, played with Zelter's orchestra at the Berliner Singakademie. Sarah had formed an important collection of
Concert band
A concert band called wind ensemble, symphonic band, wind symphony, wind orchestra, wind band, symphonic winds, symphony band, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind and percussion families of instruments, including the double bass or bass guitar. On rare occasions, additional non-traditional instruments may be added to such ensembles such as piano, synthesizer, or electric guitar. A concert band's repertoire includes original wind compositions, transcriptions/arrangements of orchestral compositions, light music, popular tunes. Though the instrumentation is similar, a concert band is distinguished from the marching band in that its primary function is as a concert ensemble; the standard repertoire for the concert band does, contain concert marches. During the 19th century, large ensembles of wind and percussion instruments in the British and American traditions existed in the form of the military band for ceremonial and festive occasions, the works performed consisted of marches.
The only time wind bands were used in a concert setting comparable to that of a symphony orchestra was when transcriptions of orchestral or operatic pieces were arranged and performed, as there were comparatively few original concert works for a large wind ensemble. Prior to the 1950s, wind ensembles varied in the combinations of instruments included; the modern "standard" instrumentation of the wind ensemble was more or less established by Frederick Fennell at Eastman School of Music as the Eastman Wind Ensemble in 1952 after the model of the orchestra: a pool of players from which a composer can select in order to create different sonorities. The wind ensemble could be said to be modeled on the wind section of a "Wagner orchestra," an important difference being the addition of saxophones and baritone/euphonium. While many people consider the wind ensemble to be one player on a part, this is only practical in true chamber music. Full band pieces require doubling or tripling of the clarinet parts, six trumpeters is typical in a wind ensemble.
According to Fennell, the wind ensemble was not revolutionary, but developed out of the music that led him to the concept. A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions for the armed forces. A typical military band consists of wind and percussion instruments; the conductor of a band bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music. Ottoman military bands are thought to be the oldest variety of military marching band in the world, dating from the 13th century; the military band should be capable of playing ceremonial and marching music, including the national anthems and patriotic songs of not only their own nation but others as well, both while stationary and as a marching band. Military bands play a part in military funeral ceremonies. There are two types of historical traditions in military bands; the first is military field music. This type of music includes bugles, bagpipes, or fifes and always drums; this type of music was used to control troops on the battlefield as well as for entertainment.
Following the development of instruments such as the keyed trumpet or the saxhorn family of brass instruments, a second tradition of the brass and woodwind military band was formed. Professional concert bands not associated with the military appear across the globe in developed countries. However, most do not offer full-time positions; the competition to make it into one of these concert bands is high and the ratio of performers to entrants is narrowly small. Examples of professional non-military concert bands include: Dallas Wind Symphony, led by Jerry Junkin Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, led for many years by Frederick Fennell, as of 2006 conducted by Sir Douglas Bostock Osaka Municipal Symphonic Band Royal Hawaiian Band, created by royal decree in 1836 by King Kamehameha III A community band is a concert band or brass band ensemble composed of volunteer amateur musicians in a particular geographic area, it may be sponsored by self-supporting. These groups rehearse and perform at least once a year.
Some bands are marching bands, participating in parades and other outdoor events. Although they are volunteer musical organizations, community bands may employ an Artistic Director or various operational staff. Notable community bands include: U. S. A; the American Band, Rhode Island, conducted by Brian Cardany Brooklyn Wind Symphony, Brooklyn, NY, conducted by Jeff W. Ball San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, San Francisco, conducted by Pete Nowlen. Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps, New York, New York, conducted by Kelly Watkins Northshore Concert Band, Illinois, conducted by Mallory Thompson Salt Lake Symphonic Winds, Salt Lake City, conducted by Thomas P. Rohrer The TriBattery Pops, New York, NY, conducted by Tom Goodkind East Winds Symphonic Band, Pittsburgh, PA, conducted by Susan SandsUnited Kingdom Birmingham Symphonic Winds, conducted by Keith Allen Newark and Sherwood Concert Band, Nottinghamshire, conducted by Colum J O'Shea North Cheshire Wind Orchestra, Cheshire, conducted by Catherine Tackley Nottingham Concert Band, conducted by Robert Parker National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain, various conductorsCanada Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Vancouver.
David Branter, Resident Conductor and Acting Music DirectorAustralia North West Wind Ens
Oboe
Oboes belong to the classification of double reed woodwind instruments. Oboes are made of wood, but there are oboes made of synthetic materials; the most common oboe plays in the soprano range. A soprano oboe measures 65 cm long, with metal keys, a conical bore and a flared bell. Sound is produced by blowing into the reed at a sufficient air pressure, causing it to vibrate with the air column; the distinctive tone is versatile and has been described as "bright". When the word oboe is used alone, it is taken to mean the treble instrument rather than other instruments of the family, such as the bass oboe, the cor anglais, or oboe d'amore A musician who plays the oboe is called an oboist. Today, the oboe is used in concert bands, chamber music, film music, some genres of folk music, as a solo instrument, heard in jazz, rock and popular music. In comparison to other modern woodwind instruments, the treble oboe is sometimes referred to as having a clear and penetrating voice; the Sprightly Companion, an instruction book published by Henry Playford in 1695, describes the oboe as "Majestical and Stately, not much Inferior to the Trumpet."
In the play Angels in America the sound is described as like "that of a duck if the duck were a songbird". The rich timbre is derived from its conical bore; as a result, oboes are easier to hear over other instruments in large ensembles due to its penetrating sound. The highest note is a semitone lower than the nominally highest note of the B♭ clarinet. Since the clarinet has a wider range, the lowest note of the B♭ clarinet is deeper than the lowest note of the oboe. Music for the standard oboe is written in concert pitch, the instrument has a soprano range from B♭3 to G6. Orchestras tune to a concert A played by the first oboe. According to the League of American Orchestras, this is done because the pitch is secure and its penetrating sound makes it ideal for tuning; the pitch of the oboe is affected by the way. The reed has a significant effect on the sound. Variations in cane and other construction materials, the age of the reed, differences in scrape and length all affect the pitch. German and French reeds, for instance, differ in many ways.
Weather conditions such as temperature and humidity affect the pitch. Skilled oboists adjust their embouchure to compensate for these factors. Subtle manipulation of embouchure and air pressure allows the oboist to express timbre and dynamics. Most professional oboists make their reeds to suit their individual needs. By making their reeds, oboists can control factors such as tone color and responsiveness. Novice oboists may begin with a Fibrecane reed, made of a synthetic material. Commercially available cane reeds are available in several degrees of hardness; these reeds, like clarinet and bassoon reeds, are made from Arundo donax. As oboists gain more experience, they may start making their own reeds after the model of their teacher or buying handmade reeds and using special tools including gougers, pre-gougers, guillotines and other tools to make the reed to their liking. According to the late John Mack, former principal oboist of the Cleveland Orchestra, an oboe student must fill a laundry basket with finished reeds in order to master the art.
"Making good reeds requires years of practice, the amateur is well advised not to embark on making his own reeds... Orchestral musicians sometimes do this, co-principals in particular earn a bit on the side in this way.... Many professional musicians import their reed cane... directly from the growers in southern France and split it vertically into three parts themselves. Oboes require thicknesses of about 10 millimeters." This allows each oboist to adjust the reeds for individual embouchure, oral cavity, oboe angle, air support. The reed is considered the part of oboe playing that makes it so difficult because slight variations in temperature, altitude and climate will change a working reed into an unplayable collection of cane. In English, prior to 1770, the standard instrument was called a "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy"; the spelling of oboe was adopted into English c. 1770 from the Italian oboè, a transliteration of the 17th-century pronunciation of the French name. The regular oboe first appeared in the mid-17th century.
This name was used for its predecessor, the shawm, from which the basic form of the hautbois was derived. Major differences between the two instruments include the division of the hautbois into three sections, or joints, the elimination of the pirouette, the wooden ledge below the reed which allowed players to rest their lips; the exact date and place of origin of the hautbois are obscure, as are the individuals who were responsible. Circumstantial evidence, such as the statement by the flautist composer Michel de la Barre in his Memoire, points to members of the Philidor and Hotteterre families; the instrument may in fact have had multiple inventors. The hautbois spread throughout Europe, including Great Britain, where it was called "hautboy", "hoboy", "hautboit", "howboye", similar variants of the French name, it was the
Bandmaster
A bandmaster is the leader and conductor of a band a concert band, military band, brass band or a marching band. In the British Army, bandmasters of the Corps of Army Music now hold the rank of staff sergeant, warrant officer class 2 or warrant officer class 1. A commissioned officer who leads a band is known as the director of music. Directors of music are all former bandmasters. All bandmasters joined the Army as musicians and were selected for bandmaster training from non-commissioned rank. However, unlike most NCOs, bandmasters are promoted directly to staff sergeant on completion of their bandmaster training and have not worked their way through all the available ranks. British Army line infantry and cavalry regimental bands were led by bandmasters until the reorganisation of bands and the creation of the Corps of Army Music in 1994; the larger corps bands, as well as those of the Foot Guards and Household Cavalry, were known as staff bands, were led by a commissioned director of music with a bandmaster as his deputy.
In 1994, the number of bands was reduced and all bands became staff bands putting an end to the rank of'bandsman' used in regimental line bands. Bandmasters qualified before the reorganisation in 2014 were always promoted to the rank of warrant officer class 1, with the designation of WO1, they wear a unique appointment badge of a crowned lyre in a wreath underneath the WO1's badge. The senior playing musician of the band is the band sergeant major, a warrant officer class 2, although bandmasters are expected to play within sections as and when required. Royal Marines Bands have been led by commissioned directors of music for many years. Bandmaster is an appointment which may be held by a warrant officer class 1, equivalent to an Army bandmaster, or a warrant officer class 2, equivalent to an Army band sergeant major; the Corps Bandmaster is the senior bandmaster of the Royal Marines and the chief non-commissioned adviser to the Principal Director of Music, Royal Marines. Until the introduction of warrant officers to the Royal Marines in 1973, the appointment of bandmaster was held by colour sergeants and that of staff bandmaster by quartermaster sergeants, there were no warrant officer class 1 equivalents in the Band Service.
Royal Air Force bands have traditionally been led by commissioned directors of music. The bandmaster fills the same position as the Army equivalent; the senior playing musician, the band sergeant, is a flight sergeant. In the United States Army, a bandmaster of division and army garrison bands is a warrant officer or a chief warrant officer. A commissioned officer leads major command and/or special bands; the most recent manning documents have commissioned officers at 1st Armored Division, Ft. Bliss, TX and at 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, HI. A warrant officer is commander of the Old Guard Band. Warrant officer and chief warrant officer bandmasters are former enlisted musicians who have undergone rigorous in-service training in musical skills, conducting skills and military leadership, they are seconded in their individual bands by the senior enlisted bandmember a first sergeant or sergeant major, designated enlisted bandleader. Bandmaster is a non-commissioned officer rank in The Salvation Army.
A Salvation Army bandmaster is responsible for the ministry of a Salvation Army band and tends to the musical and spiritual development of the bandsmen and women. The bandmaster is assisted by a deputy bandmaster, band sergeant, band secretary; these roles are non-commissioned officer ranks. The band may have a band colour sergeant and a band librarian. All of these roles will be undertaken by volunteer Salvationists who give their time and services free of charge. Charles Fry was the first Salvation Army bandmaster; the term bandmaster is used in the cruising industry to describe the onboard musical director, responsible for musical direction for all onboard theatre shows with guest artists and for production shows and arranging for the orchestras as well as band discipline. Bandleader
