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Nineteenth-century bands: making a movement
No full textDescription of The British Brass Band: The British Brass Band is based on an earlier volume, Bands, published by Open University Press (1991) as part of its Popular Music in Britain Series. It was hailed as the most detailed and scholarly treatment of its subject. For the present volume, the original chapters have been heavily revised and an additional three chapters added, together with new and extensive appendices, numerous illustrations, a bibliography, and a new introduction. The new material includes studies on brass band repertoire, performance practices, and the bands of the Salvation Army. The contributors are the pre-eminent authorities on the subject.
The work as a whole can be taken as a study of both a unique (and often misunderstood) aspect of British music, and its interaction with broader spheres of social and cultural history. It is the most detailed and definitive study of the subject
Popular nationalism: Griffith Rhys Jones ('Caradog') and the Welsh choral tradition
No full textDiscusses the stereotype of Wales as 'the land of song' in the context of the influence of the choral conductor Caradog, (Griffith Rhys Jones, 1834-97) and the victories to which he led the Côr Mawr (the Great Choir) at the Crystal Palace contests in Sydenham (South London) in 1872 and 1873. The hypothesis that music, and choralism in particular, became by popular consensus one of the principle media through which the Welsh projected national identity is probed
The practice and context of a private Victorian brass band
No full textIn the 19th century, a variety of circumstances and a multiplicity of musical and social functions produced several models of brass band. While in the densely populated areas of Lancashire and Yorkshire similarities might have emerged very quickly, elsewhere bands must have developed largely oblivious of what was to become the brass band movement. The Cyfarthfa Band from Wales is a vivid example of such phenomenon; Dicken's 1850 characterization of it as a 'workers' band is misleading and disguises its true identity. Its repertoire was more sophisticated than that of other bands of the period, and it seems to have been the focus of attention from some of the most prominent figures of the day
The value of performing from memory
No full textPerformances of the Preludes from Cello Suites I, II and III by J. S. Bach were recorded on video-tape across five separate conditions, differing with respect to memorisation and the presence of a music stand. Fifty "musicians" and thirty-six "non-musicians" were asked to watch and rate one video-taped performance of each Prelude on four performance aspects: overall quality, musical understanding, technical proficiency and communicative ability. Ratings indicated that (1) performing from memory was superior to playing from the score, (2) visibility of the performer influenced audiences' ratings of performances in a favourable direction, (3) the extra time spent preparing for the memorised performances was beneficial and (4) musicians seemed biased in favour of performances without a music stand. Results are discussed in relation to possible implications for musical performance and pedagogy
Public defender number one for the serpent: an interview with Douglas Yeo
No full textYeo, a bass trombonist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is an accomplished serpent player, and works to improve the reception of the instrument among audiences and competent brass players alike
The music of Rebecca Saunders: into the sensuous world
No full textRobert Adlington surveys the intricate and challenging works of a composer who explores the extremes of our musical perception
Mistaken identity (guest editorial)
No full textDisucssion of the film 'Hilary and Jacqui' directed by Anand Tucker
