DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS PERFORMANCE PORTFOLIO ...

PROJECT ONE - RECORDED MUSIC OF CHRISTOPHER ELEY (1756-1832)
INTRODUCTION
Some two centuries have passed since the clarinettist, cellist and composer
Christopher Frederick Eley became
the Music-Master of the Coldstream Guards at the
request of Frederický Duke of York and Colonel, Coldstream Guards in 1785.
Christopher Eley must have been an extraordinary leader and musician, as his
appointment is generally considered to be the turning point in the quality and respect
of military bands in England. "This band became very popular and attracted large
crowds to St. James's Park to listen to its performances"' The band began playing
engagements in 1790 at Vauxhall, the pleasure garden on the Thames, which
continued until 1816.
This compact disc recording project has uncovered historically important
repertoire that until now had been lost to the Coldstream Guards Band. The Royal
Court of 1785 was at St. James's Palace, London where the band, then named "His
Royal Highness The Duke of York's Band", would have performed. To give the
project added weight, permission was sought, and granted, from Buckingham Palace
for the recording to take place in the Queen Anne State Rooms at St James's Palace
[See appendix IV: F. photographs of recording session].
REPERTOIRE
Only a limited amount of Eley repertoire remained in the Coldstream Guards
music library, therefore the repertoire needed to be found. Extensive research in the
1 W. T. Parke, Musical Memoirs: An Account ofthe General State ofMwsic in England
from the First Commemoration ofHandel, in 1784, to the year 1830. Two Vols.
(London: Colburn and Bentley, 1830), 2: 241.
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