Volume 21 Issue 2 - October 2015

another season with rehearsals in
Port Perry and have the welcome
mat out for new members. They
rehearse 7pm to 9pm every
Wednesday, September to May. For
information go to northdurhamconcertband@gmail.com.
CBA: In recent years the
Canadian Band Association’s
Ontario Chapter has sponsored
the CBA Community Band
Weekend. The next such weekend
will take place October 16 to 18.
The host band this year will be the
Mississauga Pops Concert Band. For
information go to
cba-ontario.ca/cbaonew/ or
mississaugapops.com.
Markham Concert Band: As
part of the Markham Theatre’s
30th Anniversary Gala on Sunday,
October 18, the Markham Concert Band will perform not one but two
concerts at 2pm and 7 pm. For information go to mcband.ca. Included
in the program will be Haydn Wood’s Mannin Veen, a rarely heard
classic of the concert band repertoire. Wood was an accomplished
violinist and a prolific composer of a wide range of musical styles
including some 180 songs. One of these was Roses of Picardy which
he wrote for his wife, soprano Dorothy Court. Wood was born in a
small English town and at age 3 his family moved to the Isle of Man.
The tone poem Mannin Veen (Manx for Dear Isle of Man) is based on
four Manx folk melodies. It is one of only two of his works which were
written specifically for wind band.
The early part of the twentieth century saw the evolution of the
concert band into such groups as those of John Philip Sousa, Edwin
Franko Goldman and Guiseppe Creatore which toured the world.
With the advent of radio and television such major professional
bands largely disappeared. Fortunately there are in many countries
true “world class” military concert bands. The bands of the
Royal Marines, the US Marines, the Garde Républicaine, the Belgian
Guides, the Carabinieri da Roma and many others are in that category.
Unfortunately few composers of note have turned their talents
towards the writing of serious works for such instrumentation.
In Search of Repertoire: Although great bands existed in the early
part of the twentieth century, few composers considered writing
music for such instrumentation. When bands wanted to perform
concert overtures, suites and such larger works they had to turn to
transcriptions of orchestral music. This frequently resulted in the
need to compromise because of the problems arising for wind instruments
having to play music intended for string instruments. In the
early 1920s, lamenting the dearth of such music for bands, the Royal
Military School of Music at Kneller Hall commissioned composer
Gustav Holst to compose some music to fill the void. The Holst Suites
in E-Flat and F were the result of that collaboration. Add to that a few
works such as the Vaughan Williams Folk Song Suite and you have
almost exhausted the repertoire.
In a recent personal search I decided to try to find some information
on an excellent work that I knew of in this category but had not heard
in years. I first heard composer Carl Friedemann’s Slavonic Rhapsody
years ago on a double-sided 78 rpm recording. On this old record
was a stunning performance of this work by the Massed Bands of the
Aldershot and Eastern Commands of the British Army. All I could find
was a performance on YouTube. If you hear of a work and would like
to assess its suitability for your band, it’s now possible to get a good
idea with a little Internet search. But be warned! The results will range
anywhere from excellent to painful.
Royal Marine Bands: Earlier, I mentioned Royal Marine Bands as
being top-notch. I have heard that a band of the Royal Marines will
be coming to Toronto late this fall. Having served in the Navy aboard
a British ship which just happened to be an admiral’s flagship, I
regularly was treated to music of the Marine Band which we had on
board. Some time later, back in Canada, I had the pleasure of operating
the sound system for the Band of the Royal Marines Plymouth
Division at the CNE Bandshell for two performances a day for two
weeks. It’s safe to say that I happen to have a special affinity for Royal
Marine bands and their music. So far there are no details, but I believe
that this band may be performing in Roy Thomson Hall.
Setting the Bar Too High? Over the years I have often played
with groups which have held their rehearsals in the music rooms of
schools. In such cases it is not uncommon to read the notice boards
to see what is being passed on to the future musicians of our country.
These frequently have the rating systems by which the students are
ranked. I have been accustomed to seeing bronze, silver and gold. In
recent years some have added the category of platinum to indicate a
level superior to gold. This summer I saw the latest extended ranking
system. That school had band achievement awards: bronze, silver,
gold, platinum, titanium and unobtainium.
What’s In a Name? In recent times it is increasingly common to
hear of wind groups being called a variety of terms including “choir.”
How did this come about? Having consulted The Oxford Companion
to Music, the Oxford Dictionary and Webster’s Dictionary, I could not
find any reference to any instrumental music. They all refer only to
human voices. Wikipedia does refer to choirs of instruments, but only
as a subset of a larger group. As an example they refer to “the woodwind
choir of an orchestra.” If any readers have information on this
trend please let us know. In a recent conversation with Michele Jacot,
conductor of the Wychwood Clarinet Choir, she had no answer. In
fact she expressed the possibility of a name change because she was
getting questions as to the kind of ensemble she directs.
Musical jokes. A few days ago on September 25 at Trinity-St. Paul’s
Centre this magazine held an amazing concert/reception to celebrate
20 completed years of The WholeNote. During the evening’s program
Sophia Perlman talked about how the song she had written and was
about to sing was a musical joke (as in making a sly reference to a
previously composed piece of music). It put me in mind of that other
kind of musical joke, namely the groaner, for which, as regular readers
of this column can attest, I have a fondness. So here’s one:
A boy is about to start music lessons at school. His mother goes with
him to meet with the music teacher. She insists that the boy must start
his music training on the tuba. When the teacher asks why she is so
insistent about the tuba, she says: “ I know he can be led astray and I
don’t want him to get into any treble.”
Keep them coming: Whether it be musical jokes, daffynitions, or
just interesting news about your band’s upcoming events and activities,
keep them coming! We are always interested to hear from you.
Jack MacQuarrie plays several brass instruments and
has performed in many community ensembles. He can
be contacted at bandstand@thewholenote.com
24 | Oct 1 - Nov 7, 2015 thewholenote.com