The Development of Brass Bands

'Come if you dare! Our trumpets sound'.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRASS BANDS

Brass bands have the reputation for being 'The Working Mans Music'. This is founded in the early 1900s when brass bands became one of the first types of music that was made available to the lower classes. In this section you will find out how the brass band has developed over the past 200 years within the working class community.

The First Band

The Workplace and Middle Class Opinion

Music For The Masses

The First Band

It is difficult to know who were the first brass band. There was little documentation of brass bands other than minor passing references in church log books and old newspapers cuttings that do not mention the names of any particular bands. However, the widely accredited first amateur band is that of Stalybridge Old Band in 1814.(see right) Although this may seem rather late musical development when you think that Mozart was conducting and composing opera in the 18th Century. However, this was a major step in working class music making, as oppose to being a passive audience. What also must be remembered is that poverty among the lower classes was a way of life and children we still being hung for relatively minor offences.

Stalybridge Old Band

STALYBRIDGE OLD BAND, 1904

The First Band

Music For The Masses

The Workplace and Middle Class Opinion

Right from the beginning, the workplace played an important part in the Brass Band Movement. Often factories would help fund instruments and provide practice space for bands, as well as organise the logistics of their runnings. One band that continues to be famous even now, the Black Dyke Mills Band, was supported by employer John Foster who wanted his workers to have the chance to enjoy performing, as well as getting the chance to play French Horn in the Ensemble!

BLACK DYKE MILLS BAND, 1865

CLICK ON PICTURE TO HEAR BLACK DYKE MILLS BAND

However, John Foster was the exception rather than the rule when it came to attitudes of the middle and upper classes. Although they approved of the bands, for they were seen as keeping men out of crime and 'unsuitable pastimes', they were not valued as a musical entity and given much respect. Yet, throughout the 1820's and 1830's, employers started to recognise the importance of pastimes to the general well being of society. The quotation below from Sir John Herschel illustrates this point, and is made all the more poignant when we acknowledge that Sir John had played in a band whilst serving time in the military and was obviously a 'brass fan'. However, he, like many felt that the 'working classes' might abuse the art of music with their 'ideas of riot and debauchery'.

SIR JOHN HERSCHEL - CLICK ON PICTURE TO HEAR IMPROMPTU FOR TUBA

Now, I would ask, what provision do we find for the cheap and innocent and daily amusement of the mass labouring population of this country? What sort of resources have they to call up the cheerfulness of their spirits, and chase away from their brow after the fatigue of a days hard work?...Music and dancing (the mores the pity) have become so closely associated with the ideas of riot and debauchery among the less cultivated classes that a taste for them, for their own sakes, can hardly be said to exist, and before they can be recommended as innocent or safe amusements, a very great change of ideas must take place

By the 1850's factories were taking the lead from John Foster to set up and fund works brass bands. Although the upper classes did not play themselves, they gave money to the bands, more as a political statement to keep workers from causing Trade Union disputes. By associating the band with the business, it also provided them with a new way of advertising which was highly successful. In the case of some bands, such as the Black Dyke Mills, the band were alot more successful than the actual company and have survived longer than the companyl!

For the bands, the businesses provided important finding that helped buy and repair instruments, stands and purchase music, as well as providing transport to and from competitions and practices.

The First Band

The Workplace and Middle Class Opinion

Music For The Masses

By the 1860s the movement contained hundreds of people who were dedicated to the brass way of life. Working conditions and laws had greatly improved so that the working classes now had spare time to embark on hobbies and pastimes. Men would attend rehearsals after work and spend all weekends involved with concerts, whilst their wives would organise outings for the children to the concerts and raise funds for instruments and music. People enjoyed the camaraderie of the brass band, as well as getting to hear some of their favourite songs, such as 'Abide With Me' and ' O Danny Boy'.

Logo of The British Bandsman Magazine

CLICK ON IMAGE TO HEAR 'O DANNY BOY'

Bands were often involved with the church in some way even if it was on a non-religious dimension. For example, one of Stalyridge's first performances was as part of a procession going to lay down the foundation stone of a new Sunday School. Bands also found church halls very good places to practice due to the space, acoustics and, most importantly, because they were free or very cheap to hire.

This working class audience was acknowledged by a young man called Sam Cope who wanted to improve the reputation of brass bands and spread the news of new advancements in techniques and contesting. He became the founder and first editor of the 'British Bandsman' Remembering that a majority of his readers were from the middle classes, Cope deliberately provided a simple, straightforward journal with interesting articles and bands around the country and new music that was appearing on the brass band scene.

SAM COPE

Despite the rapid growth in instruments and the development of the brass band, there was still disagreement about the exact pitch at which instrument should be set. Instruments could either be high-pitched or low-pitched, depending on the company who made them. Around the start of the 20th Century, the problem was addressed by Knellor Hall's Colonel Thompson who was commissioned to write a report on the subject of varying pitch. According to his study, it would cost £9000 to standardise the pitch of all army instrument in Great Britain. This was obviously deemed too expensive as the official standardisation did not take place until 1920's. Even then, this was not instigated by the military or band leaders, but the instruments makers who refused to supply high-pitched instruments.