A brief history of the Concert Band

Terminology

The group known generically as a mixed wind band can go by a variety of names: wind band, wind symphony, wind ensemble, chamber winds, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, concert band.

There is little standardization in the usage of these names, save that wind ensembles and chamber winds nearly always refer to an ensemble with one player per part (around 45 players), while a symphonic band or wind symphony will often be on the larger end of the spectrum.

History

The earliest days of the mixed wind band date back to the 13th century, with ensembles of shawms, trumpets, and drums forming in Europe; a century or two later the trombone was added to the mix, and this was the ensemble of choice for dances and festive occasions.

With the development of string instruments in the 16th century, the ensemble began to fall out of favor, being replaced by what would become the modern orchestra. However, stringed instruments were unsuitable for outdoor use, and so the wind band was kept alive by its use as a military ensemble. Military bands were largely responsible for adopting new instruments as they were developed and augmenting or replacing the previous instrumentations; these new instruments and practices would spread through international contact.

Royal army bands by the 18th century would consist of varying collections of winds: four each of oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons in Switzerland, while Frederick the Great declared that Prussian bands should have only two of each. The English sound would be dominated by trumpet and kettledrums, though they soon imported the oboe and horn as well.

Contact with the music of the Turkish Janissaries would further spur the expansion of the Western wind band. The splendor and dramatic effect of their percussion would give rise to the adoption of bass drum, cymbals, and triangle, as well as piccolo to cut through the noise of the percussion. But this increase in percussion needed an increase in winds to go along with it: more clarinets were added, more brass developed. By 1810 the wind band had reached its current size, though the instrumentation differed.

In the 18th century, these military ensembles were doing double-duty as entertainment at the royal courts, either alone or combined with orchestral strings. Composers such as Mozart were writing chamber music for these groups, called Harmonie bands, which evolved to a standard instrumentation of two oboes, two clarinets, two horns, and two bassoons. In addition to original compositions, these groups also played transcriptions of opera music. Most of these groups dissolved by the end of the century.

The modern wind ensemble was established by Frederick Fennell at Eastman School of Music as the Eastman Wind Ensemble in 1952 after the model of the orchestra: a standardized instrumentation from which players could be selected to create the desired sonorities. The wind ensemble, like the wind section of an orchestra, is one player per part. This is distanced as far as possible from the marching band concept, where parts are doubled for as massive a sound as possible at the expense of the flexibility and expressive power of the chamber ensemble.

H. Robert Reynolds and others of his school of thought extended the Eastman model for wind ensembles, declaring that the wind ensemble should play only original wind ensemble works -- no transcriptions, and no band pieces such as the Sousa marches or concert music intended for larger symphonic winds. This music should be of a serious and worthwhile nature, or the highest quality.

This implied putdown of the legitimacy and worth of the standard symphonic band sparked discord in the wind band community throughout the 1970s and 1980s; however, the furor now seems to have died down, with bands and wind ensembles settling into their particular niches

Community bands

Most adult bands outside of colleges and military institutions are community bands. A community band is a concert band ensemble, generally sponsored by the town or city in which it is located and consisting of amateur performers. A community band is a community-based ensemble of wind and percussion players, comprised primarily of adults who do not receive the majority of their livelihood from participation in the ensemble, which regularly holds rehearsals and performs at least one time per year.

Repertoire

Until recent years, there was little music written specifically for the wind band, which led to an extensive repertoire of pieces transcribed from orchestral works, or arranged from other sources.

However, as the wind band moved out of the sole domain of the military marching ensemble and into the concert hall, it has gained favor with composers, and now many works are being written specifically for the concert band and the wind ensemble.


	WOODLEY CONCERT BAND ARE PLAYING AT WOODLEY CARNIVAL, WOODFORD PARK, WOODLEY ON SATURDAY 14 JUNE at 5.30pm 5 weeks, 18 hours, 57 minutes until your next chance to hear the band