Britain’s brass bands ‘older than thought’ and could date to Napoleonic War

Britain’s brass bands are older than antecedently thought and were invented by soldiers from the Napoleonic Wars, a caller survey has found.

The findings situation the wide held content that brass bands originated with ember miners and different concern communities successful bluish England and Wales betwixt the 1830s and the 1850s.

A University of Cambridge historiographer has recovered grounds that suggests Britain’s earliest brass bands were founded by subject musicians successful the 1810s.

These findings exemplify conscionable however profoundly brass bands are embedded successful British past and culture

Dr Eamonn O’Keeffe

According to Dr Eamonn O’Keeffe, regimental bands archetypal experimented with all-brass arrangements successful the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars.

Dr O’Keeffe, who is the National Army Museum inferior probe chap astatine Queens’ College, Cambridge and portion of the University’s Centre for Geopolitics, said: “These findings exemplify conscionable however profoundly brass bands are embedded successful British past and culture.

“We already knew astir their narration with industrialisation. Now we cognize that brass bands emerged from Britain’s wars against Napoleon.”

Wartime bands included woodwind instruments specified arsenic clarinets and bassoons, but the 15th Regiment of Foot had already organised a bugles-only set by 1818.

Taking vantage of caller instrumentality designs developed astatine location and successful Continental Europe, a fig of different regiments had established all-brass bands by 1830.

The Life Guards, for example, performed connected valved trumpets talented by the Russian Czar.

Local defence units besides assembled brass bands, including a unpaid firearm corps successful Paisley (1819) and yeomanry troops successful Devon (1827) and Somerset (1829).

The caller study, published successful The Historical Journal, shows that veterans of the Napoleonic wars founded galore of Britain’s earliest non-military brass bands from the 1820s onwards.These groups often emerged acold beyond the bluish English and Welsh concern communities with which they aboriginal became associated.

The Colyton Brass Band was the archetypal named civilian set which Dr O’Keeffe has identified.

It played God Save the King successful a colony successful Devon successful November 1828 arsenic portion of day festivities for a baronet’s son.

The survey besides recovered somewhat aboriginal examples successful Chester and Sunderland (both 1829), Derby and Sidmouth (1831), and Poole (1832).

In 1834, Lincoln’s brass set was being trained by William Shaw who utilized to beryllium a trumpeter and bugleman successful the 33rd Regiment of Foot.

The Napoleonic Wars (1793 – 1815) led to a melodramatic proliferation of British subject bands, Dr O’Keeffe says.

By 1814, much than 20,000 radical who played instruments were serving successful uniform, successful the regular service and militia, arsenic good arsenic a big of part-time location defence formations.

Dr O’Keeffe analysed property reports, memoirs and regimental records, and recovered that aft they had been demobilised, men and boys who honed their instrumental skills successful azygous embarked connected a assortment of civilian philharmonic careers, becoming instructors, upwind performers, composers and adjacent opera singers.

He said: “It is wide assumed that brass bands were a caller philharmonic species, chiseled from their subject counterparts.

“They are chiefly seen arsenic a merchandise of industrialisation pioneered by a operation of working-class performers and middle-class sponsors.

“But all-brass bands archetypal appeared successful Britain and Ireland successful a regimental guise.

“As good arsenic producing a ample cohort of set trainers, the subject provided a acquainted and charismatic template for amateur musicians and audiences.

“This coincided with expanding commercialized opportunities and a increasing content successful the moralising powerfulness of music.”

Drums and bugles that were issued by the Government were expected to beryllium returned to nationalist stores connected demobilisation and set instruments mostly belonged to regimental officers.

However, drummers and bandsmen were often unwilling to springiness up the tools of their trade, the researcher found.

Seven Herefordshire section militia musicians petitioned their colonel successful 1816 “to marque america a present” of their regimental instruments, noting that performers successful different disbanded units had been permitted to support their instruments, the survey found.

The men promised to proceed their play practices if the petition was granted, pledging that “a set volition beryllium ever acceptable successful the municipality of Leominster for immoderate occasion”.

Additionally, immoderate officers auctioned disconnected the instruments of their disbanded corps, making ample volumes of affordable second-hand instruments disposable to amateur players and civilian bands successful the post-war decades.

Dr O’Keeffe said: “Brass bands enabled aspiring musicians of each ages to make caller skills and allowed radical to marque euphony arsenic a community, learning from each other.

“That was the lawsuit successful the 19th period and it’s inactive the lawsuit today.”