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Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs British Army Music in the Interwar Years: Culture, Performance, and Influence Thesis How to cite: Hammond, David Brian (2018). British Army Music in the Interwar Years: Culture, Performance, and Influence. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2017 The Author Version: Version of Record Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk BRITISH ARMY MUSIC IN THE INTERWAR YEARS: CULTURE, PERFORMANCE, AND INFLUENCE DAVID BRIAN HAMMOND SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN MUSIC AT THE OPEN UNIVERSITY DECEMBER 2017 ABSTRACT British Army Music in the Interwar Years: Culture, Performance, and Influence David Hammond This thesis aims to identify how British army bands in the interwar years were a primary stakeholder in the music industry and to explore their role in projecting soft power for the British military. There were approximately 7,000 full-time bandsmen serving in the British army, which was about a third of the total number of musicians in the music profession in the United Kingdom. The War Office was the largest employer of professional musicians in the country and yet there has been very little acknowledgement of the contribution made by this body of musicians, both to the music industry and to the effectiveness of army operations. This thesis uses models from the business and management literature to interrogate the position of British army music within the context of military structures and the music industry in the interwar years. It reveals the extent that residential insitutions were organised to provide young boys for recruitment into the army as bandsmen and how these boys became an integral part of the music industry. It explores how army music set the standard for training and performance while creating sustainability for the music industry, which relied upon the existence of army bands for its business. The thesis then exposes the tempestuous relationship army bands had with the BBC and recording industry, as well as the function the military played in the adoption of an international standard of musical pitch. Finally, it uncovers the effective role and soft power influence of British army bands and their music in the maintenance of British imperial authority, at home and overseas, and the tragic consequences of operating at the forefront of the military campaign in Ireland. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I should like to thank all those people who have helped me through the whole process of researching for this thesis. I acknowledge the assistance of John Ambler, Frank Andrews, Captain Fergal Caroll, Art Cockerill, John Curtis, Colin Dean, Graham Gordon, Janet Kelsey, Esther Mann, Lieutenant Colonel Neil Morgan, Major Richard Powell, Dr Joseph Ryan, Alan Shellard, Janet Snowden, Major Roger Swift, and Major Hugo White. I am grateful to the the Corps of Army Music for allowing me the flexibility to spend time researching. Thank you to staff at The British Library; The National Archives; London Metropolitan Archives; the Museum of Army Music; Band of the Grenadier Guards; The Open University Library; The Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum; Cornwall’s Regimental Museum; Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum; The Foundling Museum; Royal Archives, Windsor Castle; Prince Consort Library, Aldershot; Richmond Museum Archives; The Rifles Office, Pontefract; Household Cavalry Museum Archives; Hampshire Cultural Trust, Aldershot Military Museum Archives; The Irish Army No. 1 Band and Defence Forces School of Music; Military and civilian staff at Headquarters Corps of Army Music and the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall; The Royal Marines Band Service; Royal Academy of Music Museum; RTÉ Documentaries on One; The Sandhurst Collection and Library; International Military Music Society; Inns of Court and City Yeomanry Band. From the Open University I should like to express gratitude to Professor Catherine TackIey and Dr Fiona Richards for their help, and I am particularly grateful to my principal supervisor, Professor Trevor Herbert, whose encouragement and inspiration made this project possible. I am eternally indebted to my wife Kate, and our two daughters, Jane and Elizabeth, who have given me all the support I could wish for, as well as the companionship, patience, and forebearance to see me through. This thesis is dedicated with love and respect to my parents, Brian and Sheila Hammond, who set me on the path to discovery, and to whom I shall be forever thankful. 4 CONTENTS Abstract ..................................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................4 Contents .................................................................................................................................5 Chapter 1 Introduction and Methodology ...............................................................................................7 Aim ................................................................................................................................8 ‘Cheating between the wars’: Background and context ...............................................9 Rationale .....................................................................................................................11 Methodology: the models ...........................................................................................20 Scope ..........................................................................................................................26 Structure .....................................................................................................................29 Part 1: Culture ......................................................................................................................36 Chapter 2 The Gentlemen of The Regiment: Musicians in the Regular Army .....................................37 The structure of British army bands ...........................................................................39 The hierarchy of army bands ......................................................................................43 Unofficial and part-time bands....................................................................................45 The role of bandsmen .................................................................................................48 The way we do things around here: the culture of soldier-musicians .......................51 Training .......................................................................................................................62 Chapter 3 ‘Breaking In’ the Young Hands: The Dependence on Band Boys ......................................68 Structural issues and motivations of institutions ........................................................70 The relationship between the army and residential institutions for children ..............74 Specialist band institutions .........................................................................................80 The military boarding schools .....................................................................................84 ‘Civilian’ band boys .....................................................................................................89 Band boy training ........................................................................................................93 Social changes and the reduction of the recruitment pool.........................................95 Part 2: Performance .......................................................................................................... 105 Chapter 4 Seaside, Ceremonial, and an Unhappy Union: Bands and Live Performance ................ 106 Ceremonial............................................................................................................... 107 Remembrance and commemoration ....................................................................... 112 Tattoos and pageants .............................................................................................. 118 Regimental duties .................................................................................................... 123 Civilian funded engagements .................................................................................. 126 Instrumentation and repertoire ................................................................................ 135 Orchestras ............................................................................................................... 149 Controversy and competition ................................................................................... 153 Chapter 5 A Clear and Homogenous Sound: Performance Practice and Recording ....................... 161 The suitability of military bands for recording.......................................................... 163 The military band sound .......................................................................................... 165 The influence of recording managers...................................................................... 167 The naming of military bands .................................................................................