THE SUNDAY CAI/L. 13 THE STRANGE INSTRUMENTS OF THE MILITARY BAND

early history of music is vague binations, as they reproduce on a magni- portant in this section of fhe military Tympani cost about $125 for a good pair; and indefinite, but it has existed fied scale the 'cello quality of tone and band. Owing to the facility of the pro- snare drums may be purchased from $8 from time immemorial, and the give great, sustaining power to the full duction of its tone the cornet is capable to $60: and bass drums from $10 to $70. origin of the military band takes chorus of brass instruments. To William of greater execution than any other brass The unusual instruments, such as the alto THEus back to the most remote an- Wieprecht Is due the evolution of the.ser- instrument and is- usually allotted to and bass and the sorrusophone, tiquity. Every nation in olden times had pent and ophiclelde Into the modern . carry the melody and brilliant solo pas- are not carried in stock and must be its peculiar instruments and Its national Military music having attained a high sages. The ) , which has been specially Imported, making them some- eongs. The Romans took cities to the state of excellence it began to develop largely replaced by the more easily played what expensive. horn; sound of the trumpet and the the along the lines of concert music, which cornet, has a powerful and brilliant tone As Ihave already str ted, the trom- Egyptians, Arabians and ancient Ger- necessitated a rearrangement of the in- and adds beauty to the brass choir. The bone and the are the most mans met in combat to the music of the strumentation of the military band for fluegel horn is the contralto voice of the difficult to play. The flute, drum, of all instruments the the cymbal and the cla- concert purposes. Critics at home and cornet family and is distinguished for its principal points about the other instru- rion; while war music em- my broad, the Chinese abroad in the course of various con- singing tone. ments may be learned In a few months, ployed bells and triangles. Instruments cert tours good enough say have been to In these days the has become length necessary to per- of percussion, such as drums, cymbals, but the of time that the band Ihave conducted for ten* & particularly important instrument in fect a performer depends entirely upon etc., which were doubtless taken from years may be accepted as the ideal wind the military band. It is probably the his natural aptitude, musical Inclina- the clapping of hands, are his the oldest. because of the richness and va- most difficult of all the brass instruments tions and the amount of. practice he "Wind instruments, said to have been sug- riety of its tone color and the artistic nu- to play, as the intonation of the trom- gives to the instrument. No man can gested by the blowing of the wind ances it produces. And Itmay therefore depends entirely upon performer. bone the hope to secure a chair in a great con- through the reeds and bushes, came next be interesting to note the Instrumentation His hands, lips and per- brain must work cert organization unless he served a In order, and lastly came the string in- that Iemploy. The arrangement of my has fectly together, for if the slide be an long apprenticeship his Instrument and struments, which are comparatively mod- forces is modeled upon the orchestral eighth of an out of proper posi- to inch the thoroughly Apart from this ern inventions. formation, a great body of B fiat clari- tion intonation tenor, mastered it. the is false. The his musicianship re- The drum seems to have been employed nets taking the place of the first and sec- alto and bass , are employed In point, must be above in all kinds of primitive music, was ond violins and violas of the string banl. military ,proacb. and the modern concert bands. The great familiar in the East remotest The instrumentation of the tone of very and The nursery of the concert bands from the Sousa band the trombone is broad composed ages, when savage tribes used it in includes twelve B flat clarinets, one E dignified, with a sustained singing qual- of America is the village band their religious rites. In ancient times flat, one alto and one- bass ; two ity. of lusty-lunged country boys, with more each Instrument had its peculiar distinc- , two , one sorrusophone, The euphonium .is a saxhorn, an octave vigor than technique, more ambition than tion or Intention. With the Romans the four flutes and piccolos, one English horn, below the cornet, and Inunison with the temperament. The American youth is nat- cornet called the time of decampment; four , four cornets, two trum- tenor trombone. The modern double-bell uially musical and to his virile nature the bugle announced the coming of the pets, one fluegelhorn, two euphoniums, euphonium has a double set of valves, by the brass band appeals with singular po- general; the trumpet indicated the as- four trombones, four French horns, four which the tone may be shifted from the tency. The enormous body of bra** sembling of the troops, and the horn and three drums (tympani, cma'l barytone to the trombone quality at will. bends in America are developing a new sounded the 6ignal of retreat. The He- drum and bass drum).. Many of these in-' The French horn is a valuable and im- school of performers that bids fair to brews also employed military music from struments are of etrange shapes and their portant Instrument in the military concert dominate military music in this country', an eariy date, and the Bible refers to the purpose and use are unfamiliar to most* band, as it carries the harmony. The for the American boy is being attracted flute, sackbut, cornet, psaltery and dulci- lovers of band music. tone of the French horn is one of the to the less conspicuous but equally im- mer. The cornet of Biblical times was The various reed instruments extend, most expressive and perhaps the most portant Instruments of the band that nothing like the modern instrument of like the strings, over the whole compass poetic and romantic of .all the military have until recently been played solely by the same name, but was fashioned with of the orchestra. The clarinets and sax- band. Though sometimes used for lively foreigners, and by reason of his intelli- a curved tube about three feet long, in- ophones are played with a single reed, solos, hunting calls, etc., it is far better gence, energy and ambition he speedily oboes, bassoons, creasing in diameter. The sackbut was while the etc., employ a adapted for dreamy and melancholy pas- outstrips his competitors. the predecessor of the modern trombone, double reed. No other wind instrument sages. The French horn is also an ex- which it somewhat resembled. possesses in the same degree as the clari- tremely difficult instrument to play. Lightning Kills 700 a Year. After the fall of the Roman Empire ret the power of graduating its tone. Any The tuba is the bass instrument of the From 700 to 800 persons are killed an- military music seemed to lapse, and nuance from double forte to double piano military band, the BB Hat tuba being in it nually by lightning in the United States, was not untlf about the middle is possible upon it, and for this reason pitch an octave euphonium. of the below the Its according to estimates made by Alfred J. fourteenth century that it was recovered the clarinet Is regarded as the most val- tone is rich and full blends well with and Henry of the United States "Weather Bu- among the Italians, and soon expanded uable member of the wind orchestral the instruments. It has an other brass reau. In1900 the bureau received reports Itself among the other nations of Europe. forces. The tone of the clarinet blends extensive compass and can be played of 713 cases of fatal lightning strokes. At the end of the century they excellently with all other wind instru- facility. fifteenth with great The tubas double in year, the re- began to use regular of ments. The B flat clarinet is the princi- In the same according to bands music in octaves with the euphoniums with great Bureau, the army. 1535 pal member of the reed family mil- ports collected by the Weather In the Swiss Introduced Inthe effect, performing the same combinations seriously .fife, itary concert band, while the E flat, or 973 persons were more or less Into France the which served to for the brass that the double bass and injured by lightning. accompany petite clarinet, is to be found only in The loss of life the drums, and the instru- the the strings. lightning is greatest in the Ohio military not being 'cello do for The "Sousa- from ment has retained its place in military instrumentation. phone" is a BB flat tuba of modified hell- Valley and the Middle Atlantic States. music to the present day. In the seven- adapted for orchestral work. The alto Ifdensity of population only be consid- is a perfect fifth con shape adapted to concert purposes. teenth century the Germans evolved the clarinet below the B The modern tuba is an evolution from the ered it is greatest in the Upper Missouri hautboy fl&t, while the last member of family, ¦ . . Valley and in the middle Rocky Mountain from the ancient cornet. From the serpent, which was the bass instrument Hungary came the the , is an octave in pitch region kettledrum and the of (he ancient cornet, and the ophiclelde, reported ; the modern horn from below the ordinary B flat.. The great Of the 713 fatal cases In 1900. Hanno- which was a bass bugle. Both these in- 291 persons were killed In the open, 158 in ver, and the cymbals and big feature of the bass clarinet is 'its rich drum struments are now obsolete. houses, 57 under trees and 56 in barns. from Turkey. Tbe adoption of the cym- lower, register, and in sustained melody attending the death of bals, Tbe percussion instruments of the mil- The circumstances bass drum and kettledrums at one or for holding notes in the lower part of the remaining 151 were not reported. gave itary band Include the kettledrums, or time the name of "Turkish music" the harmony itis of admirable effect. This seems to dispose of the old super- ¦ drum, to military music. Of all existing wind instruments the tympani; the bass drum, the small stition that the safest place to be in dur- cym- The combination of these instruments flute Is probably the oldest. Itis one of the tambourine, triangle, bells and ing a thunderstorm Is the open country possess one the dangerous under a tree. with the trumpet constituted at the be- the most important of the wood-wind bals. The kettledrums ad- and most ginning of tbe eighteenth century prac- group of instruments, and being the most vantage aver all other instruments of v tically the entire scheme of military mu- acute of all it takes the upper part. As their class in that they are capable of clarinet, or in quasi-solo producing a musical note, while EXT to Alice In "Alice sic The which was invented by a solo instrument effects distinct Vincrnnes," ic is to best advantage, produce only of Old who Johann Christoph Denner of Nuremburg heard the the all other drums noise. 1m n 1630, being particularly soft,' heroine taken in was not received into the military tone sweet and Good band Instruments are expensive, M bodily from real life, facility band until 1755, having been followed by agreeable. On account of the of but as the ambitious student is usually and one of the strannreat and any passage the serpent, the triangle (which was fingering almost is possible content to start modestly he can equip moat remarkable character* the flute, agility In the -whole ransre of cymbal of the middle ages) and the trom- on the which has more than himself with a fairly good instrument fletlon. any The piccolo Manrlce Thompson's descrip- bone. During the reign of Louis XIV,of other .'wind instrument at a -moderate price. Becoming- more Hair, small flute, and on account of its tion of Lons the Indian France, militarybands were regularly or- is a skillful in its use he will replace it by In hi* 1* al- piercing quality of- tone very valu- famous novel. ganized and appointed to each regiment Itis one of the best makes, such as the play- most r.n »vond_rfnl a bit of able in the n.illtary'combination. Florid la the French army, and Frederick the ers in the great organizations use. He character drawing. passages, rapid staccato, etc., are just as ••Lonjc Hair Great also took a lively Interest In mili- will then find that a cornet will cost ' wn*. a man practicable effective on the piccolo of superior physique, tall. tary mueic. ItIs related that the band and chywhere from $65 to $130, according to as on the flute.' MrniKht. with the muaeles of of the Coldstream Guards of the ''JJ.' 'L^'-'ti finish;slide trombones $45 Vulcan, British The , although of brass the cost from a and while -he' lay Household Troops in 17S3 consisted of made French horns from $123; ostretched on the ciwa: s, is reckoned among the reed and to $75; JS3 to oat croand "twenty-four men and three negroes with half. clad and motionless be- tambourines and crescents." not the brass instruments. This instru- fore Alice he would have practically It is only since the beginning of the la*t ment is the 'cello of the wind been it urnnd model for an orchestra, Iemploy saxo- In century that military music has and four heroic llsrure bronme. Yet been phones, two, altos;, one from every lineament there truly developed. The introduction 'tenor and one of baritone. The saxophone is not to be came a strange repelllns- In- many improvements in the manufacture fluence, like that from a found in either the English or the Ger- of instruments and the invention of vari- bands, many snake." made man military despite jits In bin ous new instruments a revolution excellencies. It «trnnare Influence in tbe military harmony by augmenting % on Alice through all her de- Ql the family of wood wild, and adding power Instruments velopment from n pas- the resources of effect Flayed a sionate Into a beautiful, Adolph with double reed the is the Rlrl to the wind band. To Sax, a The lower notes serloua woman, -who leama Frenchman, treble. of the oboe have and 'William Wteprecht, a a somewhat harsh quality the Kreat secret of love la that is excel- many I - trials, German, more than to any other men is effects, heart rend nar lent for certain artiste but the that makes Maurice Thoinp- due the credit for the deve;opment of the X-cst part of the instrument is in the mid- military band. Sax and bis father are .' son's hook so charming? and dle register, where the note Is extremely 'so popular. largely responsible 1 ' for the introduction of penetrating and of a reedy quality. It And Junt think e( thi*. they valves in wind Instruments and also fcas been likened to a silver thread In the "Alice of -Old Vlni-ennc«," a improved method* ny fn.l-pnise Invented number of orchestra. The oboe is essentially an ex- lllnstrntrd pho- tographic aeenea from Vir- of ma.king clarinets. Adolpb Sax Invented arid melodic in the my 'cello,' expressive pitch : ordinary double bell euphoniums from $125 to $155; rressive instrument. The "William Tell" overture and In . the _ most part of its in an octave below the ginia Harned's u-reat play. several entire families of brass' instru- English ¦' ' tubas $165 to $215 ; horn is not. as :ts name. would Three Quotations,'' for example. compas3 lying in the . tenor .octave. The bassoon,; to' which ,;it bears the same re- BB flat from helicons TVtIl.be published complete In ments, such as the saxhorns and the sax- $210 $265, imply,a born at -all, but a large-sized The bassoon is ;*the bass of the oboe bassoon Is sometimes called' the comedian lation':that the string double bass does to frcm "to while a "Sousapfione* Sunday ophones. saxhorns, including ' three Issues of the The the oboe, the alto, in' fact, c.t the usual in- family, and, owing to its com- orchestra because of the peculiar W ;sorrusophone gives great will cost from $300 to $350. Saxophones Call, next Sunday, baritone, extensive of the ' ' the 'cello. The bearlnntnsr alto and the euphonium and Its has pass, may 1 $90 to $100, according size; October 10. strument tone a peculiarly mel- which exceeds any other' iwind In- effects that be |produced' upon -it. sustaining power to the lower 'register ,of ccst from. to QEfttSj bombardon, greatly ¦ added 'to the com- ancholy and somber character that no strument except the clarinet, the sorrusophone, which is. to be „found the B flat clarinets are $40 to $100; oboes $49 ' .A whole play .and a eom- bassoon The • • band. . plete *1SO novel for I." cents. pass, richness and flexibility of the mili- other instrument can replace and its is capable of the' most varied'.employ- in;no other band but Sousa's in this 'Passings to the brass Instruments, .we to $75; bassoons $110 to $135; and flutes . ' The offer la truly amniluc tary brass and reed bands. The saxo- lewer tones are very rich and full. The ment. The higher register of this instru- country, 4s a French invention and is find that the }cornet-a-piston, ":commonly anywhere from, the commonest quality at military Fnglisb a;brasscontra-bassooh. ', > • phones are of great value in com- horn is used with great effect ment has some affinity In quality.to the practically Itis called merely the cornet, is.the ? most im- $2 50 to one made of- solid silver at $200.