Band

“ I had never before heard a military band, and I gazed with wonder at the immense display of musicians, headed by a splendid-looking man, arrayed in gold lace, and swinging a huge gold-headed stick, as tall as himself, which he dexterously manipulated in time with the music. ”

“ If you are within a mile of a Munich military band, and are not stone deaf, you listen to it, and do not think of much else. It compels your attention by its mere noise; it dominates your whole being by its sheer strength. Your mind has to follow it as the feet of the little children followed the playing of the Pied Piper. Whatever you do, you have to do in unison with the band. ”

“ And every restaurant and show had its band, brass or string,—a full array of red-faced fellows tooting through horns, or a sorry quartette, the fat woman with the harp, the lean man blowing himself out through the clarinet, the long-haired fellow with the flute, and the robust and thick-necked fiddler. ”

“ You can’t drowse in a music-hall: from the moment when the conductor, in his elaborately luxurious and irremediably faulty dress suit, addresses his first and infinitely disabused bow to the audience, to the time when he calls upon the band to produce the smallest possible scrap of ‘God Save the King,’ and hurries out loyalty on the wings of ragtime, there is no flagging. ”

“ The young men, the grinning men, pass.
Last night they danced to that very tune;
Today they march away;
Tomorrow, perhaps no band at all,
Or the band beside the grave.
Above, in the long blue strip of sky,
The whirling pigeons, the thoughtless pigeons, pass.
Another band beats down the street ”

“ The influence of band music on the fighting man’s morale has been recognized since historians began to write. A band, especially a military band, may inspire courage, a wish to fight or a will to win. It beats the rhythm for marching feet and gives a tune for whistling. ”

“ When the wind and muscle of the performers give out, the music does not cease. As the last strain of one band dies on the air, a second band, just as good, continues the programme, so that there is no break in the feast of sounds. ”

“ Troops will step faster and march for a longer time to the rhythm of a drum than to any other way of keeping time. What is more stirring than the heavy, measured boom-boom-boom of the bass drum, the rhythmic clatter of the snare drum and the great blasts of tone from the huge, wide-mouthed horns?
In the beginning American military band music mainly consisted of the shrill tones of the fife paced by the rattle of the snare drums with their vibrating snares. ”

“ But they are not heard—they hardly even hear themselves—in the flood of uproar from a brass band. A triumphal march goes by with the strong and sensual driving force of its, "Forward! You shall not know!" The audience fill themselves with brazen music, and overflow in cheers. ”

“ The small boy deaf to any other musical appeal, races down the street at the first blare of a band. In some measure we are all children to the last, and so it is that the music of the band sets our hearts and feet to beating out its gallant measures. Moreover such music produces definite measurable effects on the body, and it is well known that men march further and with less fatigue to the music of a band than they can without it. ”

“ At last one of the oldest travelers in the largest band—a man with a long white beard, and wise with the experience of years—arose and said that not in anger, nor in strife, should they journey on. Discord and contention arise from difference of opinion. Let all men but think alike, and they will walk in peace and harmony. Let each band choose a leader. Let him carry the Chart, and let him night and day pore over its precepts. ”

“ On the evenings when the band plays he may be seen promenading about with becoming gravity as if he enjoyed the music. He is very fond of being taken notice of, and having his head, and the soft pouch under his long bill, stroked. ”

“ They are neat, intelligent in feature, recite fluently and feelingly simple speeches and verses, and sing sweetly and as if they felt not only the sense but the harmony of their hymns. A band of twenty youths plays brass instruments well and with great precision in time. They have all pleasant low voices and the girls exceedingly sweet ones. ”

“ The whole crew seems to compose the band, and, like a lot of monkey-folk rejoicing in rude rhythm, emphasizes the beat by hammering kerosene cans, frying-pans, and all sorts of things metallic or reverberant. ”

“ The shrill, noisy brass bands of early days have been supplanted by fine symphonic bands. Master instrument makers have invented a variety of new band instruments capable of producing many novel and artistic effects. Gifted musicians are composing and arranging music especially suited to these various instruments. The band has proved its worth and earned its right to the large place which it now occupies in our American way of life. A band is a necessary part of every community. ”

“ In any case, to listen to the distant strains of a brass-band is a different experience from that enjoyed in a chamber recital by your own violin-player, one who can draw from his instrument by sympathetic skill melodious chords, sounds soft and weird, grave and gay, strident or tremulous, harmonious or suddenly discordant, eye watching eye, and quick to change or repeat a note as he marks the varying expression of emotion roused by sound on animal faces, sometimes strangely expressive, or on others in which for minutes the eye alone gives token even of life. ”

“ The band plays a lively air; the majority of the company put their hands in their pockets and look rather serious; and the noise of sovereigns, rattling on crockery, is heard from all parts of the room. ”

“ The brass band itself, when we consider it philosophically, is one of the most striking things in our civilization. We admire its commonly splendid clothes, its drums and cymbals and braying brass, but it is the impartial spirit with which it lends itself to our varying wants that distinguishes it. ”

“ Then, all of a sudden, reddening, the band leader rapped his music stand with his baton, next gave the signal, and the band crashed forth into the exultant strains of:
"See! The Conquering Hero comes!" ”

“ Since that long-ago day when Joshua commanded his seven high priests—probably the first seven-piece [12] wind band—to blow their rams’-horn trumpets as they marched seven times around the walled city of Jericho, countless marches have been played. And the walls still “come tumbling down” in hearts that thrill to band music.
Down through the ages the band, in its development, has sounded the call to arms and played the hymns of peace. In years gone by the music of the band led the townsfolk to the village green. Today the concert bands draw thousands of people to the public parks. ”

“ It's like flowers—and colors—all sorts of things—sunsets too. Our band plays beautifully, don't you think so? It makes me feel as if I could do any thing in the world, fly or dance on the air,—any thing! It's quite different when they stop. ”

“ Then there is always the regimental band in the afternoon, and one can do a little dance step to beguile the tedium of fielding, or should you be dismissed for one of those conspicuous oval blobs, it is at least consoling to retire to a tune from the last musical comedy. ”

“ Edwin Franko Goldman. “They are manifestations of a popular musical culture which finds in them an expression of something not provided by any other type of concert organization. Most important, they are a form of local, or regional, or national organization fulfilling a genuine community need and serving a genuine community interest....
“The band has introduced many people to music—both listeners and performers. A band plays for the masses with mixed tastes. It is close to the people, bringing many into firsthand contact with live music.” ”

“ And if you happen to hear a brass band filling the air with march music, don’t get scared and bolt like a stampeding broncho, for that will be the new band they’ve organized in town coming up to serenade you. ”

“ In one corner of the room is the band, consisting of a woman, richly dressed, and painted, with a hair-rudder standing out from behind her head in startling proportions, playing on a three-stringed guitar, a pock-marked scoundrel of the male sex playing on a two-stringed fiddle, which he holds between his feet, and another who beats the infernal tom-tom with sticks, making discord- of what might otherwise be considered an apology for music. ”

“ Most boys who have begun their music study with the band make it a hobby in later life, and many choose it as their lifetime profession. Composers, arrangers and music publishers have come from this Farm and Trades School Band, while many other former players have become valued members of symphony orchestras, opera and theater orchestras and nationally-famous concert bands. ”

“ The young men form themselves into bands to the number of twenty to thirty, called the reed band—reeds from six to eight feet in length with holes similar to the flute, but held upright in front of each musician—forming a circle like our military bands, and perform tunes. The women and children walk round on the outside singing and clapping hands in time to the music. This performance generally begins about sundown, and is kept up for several hours. ”

“ Throughout the day, a band of musicians played patriotic and popular airs. The old folks gathered together contentedly in groups, listening to the music, while keeping an admiring eye on the prowess of their athletic sons, the grace of their daughters dancing on the sward. ”

“ They need no bands of music, no drum-corps nor fifers. The whole procession, indeed, is itself a band of music, a grand army of singers and players on instruments. They sing many tunes; each uniform has a tune of its own, but, unlike what [94] happens in military and masonic parades, there is never any jangling, no matter how near together the different bands may be marching. ”

“ It is not only that red-nosed comedian and eccentric comedienne, American dancer, or sketch got up regardless, tread upon each other’s heels; the main thing is the band, the harsh, rapid band, that never stops, that plays anything, providing it is the thing of the day, with all the regularity and indifference of the typewriter. ”

“ I make no doubt yer new band now's a competenter band,
And plays their music more by note than what they play by hand,
And stylisher and grander tunes; but somehow—anyway,
I want to hear the old band play.
Sich tunes as "John Brown's Body" and "Sweet Alice," don't you know;
And "The Camels is A-comin'," and "John Anderson, my Jo";
And a dozent others of 'em—"Number Nine" and "Number 'Leven"
Was favo-rites that fairly made a feller dream o' Heaven. ”

“ And then, “Good old band!” says another voice above the swinging, grating sound of marching feet over muddy cobblestones. Then there is a great medley of calls, of which the motif is “Band! Band!” “Give us the band!”
Usually when the lads voice their request for music the band always plays. Tonight, however, the lads call longer than usual and the young officer wrinkles his brow a little as he wonders if it would be wise to give the order. He begins to think that the responsibilities of a subordinate officer are great. Meanwhile, the lads keep calling for the band. ”

“ Left, right! buttons so bright, jackets and caps so neat. Ho, the Fire Brigade, or a dress parade of the Soldier-men is grand; But everyone, for regular fun, wants a Big-Brass-Band. The slide-trombone is a joy alone, and the drummer! He's a treat! So, Rackety-rumph! We don't go home-- Boom, Bumph! We won't go home-- Oh, we shan't go home, and we can't go home while the band is in the street. Tooral-ooral, Oom-pah! The band is in the street!
BESSIE AND THE BUNYIP Bessie met a bunyip down along the track, In his hand a billy and a swag upon his back. ”

“ The native band of music is a curiosity, as it is quite unlike anything you ever saw. The king has a band after the European style, with a French leader, and with instruments imported from London or Paris. [Pg 210] It plays very well, and can render some of the popular pieces that we are familiar with just as well as any ordinary band in New York or London. ”

“ He may not make speeches, or write influential articles, but he can beat the rhythm or blow the loud “oompas” that set the pace for the whole band.
As America’s population increased, almost every village and town had a band. Their concerts in the public square became regular features. These village bands have done much for the advancement of music in our country. They have given more pleasure and delight to a greater number of people than any other agency. These bands have helped the love of music to find its way into the lives and hearts of the American people. ”

“ The Salvation Army bands are in three different grades. The top-ranking ones are the various Headquarters Staff Bands, all well-trained, expert musicians. The Corps bands come second—there are many of them—more bands of this class than in any other [138] musical organization in the world except school bands. One night each week band rehearsal is held in each Corps hall and all the youngsters in the neighborhood gather there, welcome to listen and learn. Many Corps bands hold a summer camp, two weeks or more, for young musicians who are anxious to play in a band. ”

“ Amos cried, delighted. “Though I don’t know how you found it out, to be sure.”
“Now, Amos,” the Journeying Man put in, “it’s only fair that you should give us your poem about a band.”
Amos turned red. “My poem about a band!” he echoed. “I don’t know any poem about a band.”
“One—two—three,” chimed an old grandfather clock on the stairs; and all at once the little boy, much to his astonishment, began to recite. This is what he recited:—
[Pg 76]
“A band is such a brave, bright thing,
With tassels tossed, and burnished brass,
And music quick and fluttering—
I love to see one pass. ”