Concert Band - History

History

In the 18th century, military ensembles were doing double duty as entertainment at the royal courts, either alone or combined with orchestral strings. Composers such as Mozart were writing chamber music for these groups, called Harmonie bands, which evolved to a standard instrumentation of two oboes, two clarinets, two horns, and two bassoons. In addition to original compositions, these groups also played transcriptions of opera music.

Contact with the music of the Turkish Janissaries contributed to the expansion of the Western European wind band. The splendor and dramatic effect of their percussion prompted the adoption of bass drum, cymbals, and triangle, as well as piccolo to balance the increased weight of the percussion section; see Turkish music (style). More clarinets were gradually added and brass instruments were further developed. By 1810 the wind band had reached its current size, though the instrumentation differed in various countries.

During the 19th century large ensembles of wind and percussion instruments in the English and American traditions existed mainly in the form of the Military band for ceremonial and festive occasions, and the works performed consisted mostly of marches. The only time wind bands were used in a concert setting comparable to that of a symphony orchestra was when transcriptions of orchestral or operatic pieces were arranged and performed, as there were comparatively few original concert works for a large wind ensemble. The first notable and influential original symphonic work for band was Gustav Holst's First Suite in E-Flat, written in 1909. To this day the piece is considered the classic work of symphonic band, and beginning with Holst a variety of British, American, Canadian and Australian composers wrote for the medium, including notably Percy Grainger, James Swearingen and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

The works of the British band masters, in conjunction with the aspirations of college band directors, led to the belief that the wind band could complement the symphony orchestra as a vehicle of artistic expression at the highest level. This led to the formation of the University and College Band Conductors Conference in 1941—renamed the College Band Directors' National Association in 1947—and spawned the commissioning of works from a wide variety of composers.

Since the 1950s, military bands have been the primary force behind the concert band genre.