Description
Book SynopsisThere were approximately 7,000 full-time bandsmen serving in the British army in the interwar years. This was about a third of the total number of musicians in the music profession in the United Kingdom, making the War Office the largest single employer of professional musicians in the country. British army musicians were a key stakeholder in the music industry in the United Kingdom, but also farther afield, where it made a significant contribution to the maintenance of British imperial authority. To sustain the large number of bands, residential institutions provided young boys for recruitment into the army as bandsmen and, as a consequence, the army set the standard for musical training and performance. The music industry relied upon the existence of army bands for its business and the military played a significant part in the adoption of an international standard of musical pitch. Nevertheless, there was a tempestuous relationship between army bands and the BBC, as well as the recording industry as a whole. Using untapped sources and original material, Major David Hammond reveals the role and soft power influence of British army music in the interwar years.
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction Part 1: Culture Chapter 2: The gentlemen of the regiment: Musicians in the regular army Chapter 3: 'Breaking in' the young hands: The dependence on band boys Part 2: Performance Chapter 4: Seaside, ceremonial, and an unhappy union: Bands and live performance Chapter 5: A clear and homogenous sound: Performance practice and recording Chapter 6: 'Tonic' music and discord with the BBC: Repertoire and broadcasting Part 3: Influence Chapter 7: Kneller hall and the pitch battle with the War Office Chapter 8: Punching above their weight: Soft power influence of British army bands overseas Chapter 9: The youghal 'outrage': Political appropriation of military bands and the founding of the Irish Free State Appendix 1: Broadcasts (excluding outside broadcasts) by staff bands from January 1932 to September 1933 Appendix 2: Colonel Somerville's list to the BBC of army bands graded 'outstanding' by Kneller Hall in 1933. Appendix 3: Colonel Jervis's 'order of merit' army band list sent to the BBC in 1934, notable for its absence of staff bands. Appendix 4: Walton O'Donnell's BBC audition reports for three bands in Northern Ireland. Appendix 5: Internal 1941 BBC memo rejecting the Kneller Hall band grading system. Appendix 6: Army Council Instruction - 544: Pitch of Instruments of Army Bands Appendix 7: An anonymous humorous poem about the change to low pitch published in The Leading Note in 1929 Bibliography
