Briefing presentation.

Military Bands in England in the Classic Period (1750-1800)

Before we go into military-specific music of the Classic Period, lets look a little bit at what was
going on in the classical world at the time:
As we have all seen in other classes on this course. This period, for us wind band people was
the transition period between tafelmusik (table music) and harmoniemusik. Harmoniemusik was
essentially the beginnings of the military band and the concert band or wind ensemble.
The standard instrumentation for harmoniemusik were pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns and
bassoons.
Some of the big composers at the time were Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.
Now lets get more into military-specific music history in England. Until now, the English military
had hautboys bands. The ensemble typically had 6 oboes and bassoons.
The Hauboisten ensemble was in every regard a baroque ensemble; it is the arrival of the
clarinet which defines the Classic Period of English military music.
A very interesting example of one of the earliest references to the clarinet is found in an article
of agreement, dated 1762, for the employment of an entire band of German musicians to serve
in an English artillery regiment.
It says:
(highlights):
1- The band to consist of eight men, who must also be capable to play upon the violoncello,
bass, violin and flute, as other common instruments.
2- The regiments music must consist of 2 trumpets, 2 french horns, 2 bassoons and 4 hautbois
or clarinets
3- The musicians will be looked upon as actual soldiers, and cannot leave the regiment without
a formal discharge. The same must also behave them, according to the articles of war.
5- So long as the artillery remains in Germany each musician to have ten dollars per month, but
the two french horns to have 12 dollars per month, out of which they must provide their own

bread; but when they arrive in England, each musician to receive one shilling, the two french
horns one shilling and two pence per day; this payment to commence at their arrival in England
8- The two french horns will enter into pay, as soon as they sign their articles, the pay of the
other six musicians to commence as soon as they arrive at the corps
9- provided the musicians are not found to be good performers at their arrival they will be
discharged, and at their own expense. This is meant to make the person who engages the
musicians careful in his choice. (signed W. Phillips, Lieut-Col. Comdt. of British Artillery)
The instrumentation for the infantry band, during the 1760s was pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns
and bassoons, and for the cavalry, pairs of clarinets, horns and bassoons at about this time.
Peter Panoff, in Militarmusik (1944) writes:
The bands of the three Regiments of Guards consisted in 1783 of only 8 performers, 2 oboes, 2
clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons. They were excellent performers on their instruments, and
hired by the month, being well paid. They were not attested, and only played from the parade at
the Horse Guards to St. Jamess Palace while the Kings Guard was mounted, and back again
from there to the Horse Guards. Lord Cathcart, an officer of the Coldstreams, desired the band
to play during an aquatic excursion to Greenwich. This the musicians deemed incompatible with
their respectable musical engagements and they declined to do it. The officers, who had to
subscribe the pay of the band, became desirous of having a band which they could command
on all occasions, and a letter to that effect was written to the Duke of York, colonel-in-chief of the
regiment. The duke being in Hanover at the time, consented to the wish of his officers , and ,
with the approval of the king, a band of a much larger number than hitherto employed, and
entirely composed of Germans, was sent over. It consisted of 24 members, and included
clarinets, horns, oboes, bassoons, trumpets, trombones and serpents, whilst 3 black men were
employed to beat the tambourine and carry a crescent.
This German band, led by music-major Christopher Frederick Eley, was certainly the most
influential military band of the period in England. It is possible to identify some of the actual
repertoire of this band, beginning with published compositions by Essex, King, Schroeder and
Eley himself. Eleys Hercules & Omphale March, composed as incidental music for a
pantomime, is one of the most musical examples of this repertoire.
The regulations of the English army permitted bands officially only in the Foot Guards, the Horse
Grenadier Guards and in the Dragoons until 1766. The rest of the regular army bands were
unofficial ensembles paid for by the officers themselves, which was a frequent practice at this
time both on the continent and in America as well.

The military bands at the time were civilian. This offered one advantage to them in time of war
for they were not considered as normal hostile soldiers by the enemy.
As England had no military music schools during the 18th century, this practice of using civilians
was really the only means of securing bandsmen and the military benefited by having better
musicians, no doubt, than if they had regular soldier-musicians. On the other hand, as the
musicians were civilians, matters of discipline seem to have been a constant anxiety for the
officers. A military Dictionary of 1816 offers the opinion that even the colourful uniforms
introduced in the late 18th century for the musicians was at least in part an attempt to control
their behaviour.
It has often been asked why the dress of musicians, drummers and fifers, should be so
varied and motley a composition, making them appear more like harlequins and mountebanks
than military appendages?
The following anecdote will explain the reason as far at least as it regards the British service:
The musicians belonging to the guards formerly wore plain blue coats, so that the instant they
came off duty, and frequently in the intervals between, they visited alehouses, etc., without
changing their uniform, and thus added considerably to its wear and tear. It will be here
remarked that the clothing of the musicians falls wholly upon the colonels of the regiment; no
allowance being specially made for that article by the public. It is probable that some general
officer undertook to prevent this abuse by obtaining permission from the king to clothe the
musicians, etc., in so fantastical a manner that they would be ashamed to exhibit themselves at
public houses, etc.
Oddly enough, the most important body of extant English military band music survives not the
bands supported by the professional officer corps, but those of the civic militia. These were
local, part-time civic volunteers, which seem to have also maintained their own, part-time bands
- even in the smallest villages.
A great number of English and Scottish towns and villages are memorialized by the music that
was composed for their bands and published for their citizens. A typical title reads: March,
dedicated to the Colonel, Officers, and other Gentlemen of the Oxford University Volunteers.
And let us not forget that the Derbyshire militia was honoured by two marches composed by
Haydn, dating from his visit to England in 1794!
This body of music is of more than routine interest for several reasons. First, most of these
marches were published in full scores and are the earliest such publications in the history of
music - dating a full generation, or two, before the orchestral scores of the early 19th century, to
which traditional literature assigns this honour. These scores also included the earliest examples

of printed percussion parts, often in graphic notation, as if one were not quite sure how to notate
these sounds!
The most common military duty of the English military was no doubt the military reviews, or
parades. The bands also provided entertainment at balls, such as the Grand Masked Ball
announced in The Times (London, March 1st, 1794);
the Band belonging to his Royal Highness the Duke of Yorks Regiment Guards will
play in the Gallery over the entrance the fore-part of the night, and afterwards in the New Room
during the time of Supper.
They would also play between the acts of stage productions (like Hercules and Omphale,
mentioned earlier) and even in the intermission of other concerts. The bands would perform
marches of course, but also minuets, waltzes, arrangements of arias and even miniature suites.
They would also occasionally perform real concerts! It is believed that it was on these real
concerts that works such as JC Bachs Sei Sinfonia for pairs of clarinets, horns and bassoon
were performed. Stanley Sadie writes in The Wind Music of J.C. Bach (1956): We may
conclude, then, that JC Bachs wind music was written for performance at military-band
concerts, and that Bach probably had in mind the Guards Bands concerts at St. Jamess Park.