DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS PERFORMANCE PORTFOLIO ...

Thomas Willman, who later served as bandmaster
of the Coldstream Guards band (1816-1826).
As a cellist he played in the Covent Garden Theatre and many of the concerts in the London
area, including the benefit concert for the Sons of the Clergy given each year by the Royal
Society of Musicians at St. Paul's Cathedral.
Eley continued as the Bandmaster of the Coldstream Guards until 1793. Sometime
afterward he was the bandmaster
of the Royal East India Volunteers Band where he trained
Thomas Willman (clarinet) and Thomas Harper (trumpet). His playing and teaching in London
was well respected, and there are references to him in the Sainsbury and Doane directories of
musicians.
Upon his death in 1832, the obituaries cited his universal respect as a musician and his
most famous composition, the celebrated marital tune, The Duke of York's March.
Music of the Regimental Band
Eley is largely remembered today for his composition ne Duke of York's March. First
published in 1785, it is still widely performed. However, the recently discovered band music by
Eley represents a significant collection of wind band music from the late eighteenth century.
When examined as a whole, the collection is a valuable example of the types of music the
regimental band would have needed to play at various required fimctions: marches quick and
slow, minuets and cotillion for dancing, and concert pieces based on the vocal repertoire of the
day.
To be found in the collection are songs of the London theatres: Covent Garden, Drury
Lane and the King's Theatre in Haymarket. The important composers
of the period, Reeve,
Arnold, Shield and Storace, are all represented and some of the arrangements are nearly exact
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