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The Development of Civil War Brass Band Instruments Into Modern- Day Brass Band Instruments with a Related Teaching Unit for a High School General Music Course

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL WAR BRASS BAND INSTRUMENTS INTO MODERN- DAY BRASS BAND INSTRUMENTS WITH A RELATED TEACHING UNIT FOR A HIGH SCHOOL GENERAL MUSIC COURSE Joseph M. Lewis Jr. A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF MUSIC August 2015 Committee: Vincent J. Kantorski, Advisor Bruce B. Moss © 2015 Joseph M. Lewis Jr All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Vincent J. Kantorski, Advisor The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to trace the development of civil war brass band instruments into modern-day brass band instruments and (b) to design a related teaching unit for a high school general music course. Historical sources for this study were books, scholarly articles, photographs of instruments, audio and video recordings, and music scores. I traced in this study the design, development, and uses during the Civil War of keyed bugles, ophecleides, and saxhorns. I then discussed how these transitioned to more modern brass band instruments, specifically keyed bugles to the trumpet and cornet, ophicleides to the Sousaphone, and saxhorns to other instruments. I interviewed Mr. Mark Elrod, the foremost expert on Civil War band instruments, about the design characteristics of Civil War era band instruments that have influenced the design of modern day band instruments, ways in which Civil War band instrumentation has affected the instrumentation of today’s school bands, and the importance for students in school music education programs to study Civil War era bands and music. Based upon the information acquired from these historical sources and the interview with Mr. Mark Elrod, I designed a three-week teaching unit titled The Blue and the Gray: A Teaching Unit For a High School General Music Course. Students in this course will use web-based instruction and chat boards, and have hands-on learning experiences that include holding brass instruments from the Civil War and the modern instruments that developed from them. Students will also view and intelligently critique recordings and videos of Civil War re-enactment bands and listen to an invited guest who is an expert in Civil War band era brass bands. iv To my Wife, Lindsay v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I wish to express my gratitude to my parents for their many years of guidance and motivation and whose words of inspiration will forever resonate in my life. Without their infinite patience and teaching, my accomplishments would not be possible. I would also like to sincerely thank Mr. Mark Elrod for his generous contribution to this thesis and for his willingness to share his knowledge and expertise on the subject of Civil War bands. Many thanks to Mr. John Huffman for his efforts in coordinating with Mr. Elrod to ensure successful completion of the interview. Endless thanks to Dr. Vincent Kantorski for his never-ending patience and guidance throughout my graduate years and the writing of this thesis. Mere words cannot express my gratitude for such a caring and generous person. I wish him the best in his retirement and encourage him to reflect on a wonderfully successful career of educating America’s teachers. Finally, much love and thanks to my very supportive wife, Lindsay for being there to encourage me in the good times, and inspire and motivate me when I wanted to give up. Without her support and efforts behind the scenes, this accomplishment would not be possible. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 Need for the Study ..................................................................................................... 4 Purpose of the Study .................................................................................................. 4 CHAPTER I. BRASS BAND INSTRUMENTS BEFORE AND DURING THE CIVIL WAR 5 Before the Civil War .................................................................................................. 5 During the Civil War ................................................................................................. 6 Keyed Bugles ................................................................................................. 6 Design and development ................................................................... 6 Use in Civil War bands ..................................................................... 8 Ophecleides .................................................................................................... 9 Design and development ................................................................... 9 Use in Civil War bands ..................................................................... 11 Saxhorns......................................................................................................... 12 Design and development ................................................................... 12 Use in Civil War bands ..................................................................... 14 Summary .................................................................................................................. 15 CHAPTER II. BRASS BAND INSTRUMENTS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR .................... 17 Keyed Bugles ............................................................................................................ 18 Transition to the Trumpet and Cornet............................................................ 18 Ophicleides ............................................................................................................... 19 Transition to the Sousaphone......................................................................... 20 vii Saxhorns ................................................................................................................... 21 Transition to Other Instruments ..................................................................... 22 CHAPTER III. SYNOPSIS OF INTERVIEW WITH MARK ELROD .............................. 24 CHAPTER IV. SYNOPSIS OF THE BLUE AND THE GRAY: A TEACHING UNIT FOR A HIGH SCHOOL GENERAL MUSIC COURSE ..................................................................... 27 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………… 29 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………… 31 APPENDIX A. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ........................................................................ 32 APPENDIX B. TRANSCRIPTION OF INTERVIEW RESPONSES ................................. 33 APPENDIX C. THE BLUE AND THE GRAY: A TEACHING UNIT FOR A HIGH SCHOOL GENERAL MUSIC COURSE ................................................................................... 46 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Keyed Bugle ca. 1855 Made by Graves & Co. .......................................................... 7 2 Ned Kendall with Keyed Bugle, 1841 ....................................................................... 9 3 Ophicleide Made by Graves & Co. ca. 1835 ............................................................. 10 4 Family of Saxhorns ca. 1862 ..................................................................................... 12 5 Comparison of the Perinet and Berliner Trumpet Valves.......................................... 19 6 Helicon Made ca. 1910 .............................................................................................. 21 1 INTRODUCTION Military bands and musicians have played an important role in the music of the United States of America since its founding. Stemming from traditions in Europe, military bands and their music are a key element in the development of modern concert and marching bands (Gleason, 2006). The earliest known military musical ensemble in colonial America was attached to Benjamin Franklin’s Regiment and Artillery Company in Philadelphia in 1756. This ensemble consisted of either two oboes or two clarinets, two horns, and two ba ssoons (Gleason, 2006). Another ensemble active at this time was the Salem, Massachusetts band of 1805, which consisted of 14 musicians: five clarinets, two flutes, one bugle, one trumpet, two French horns, one bassoon, one trombone, and one drum (Eliason, 1972). Early European military musical groups typically had two buglers and one snare drummer. These musicians were most often used for signaling troops on the battlefield because the use of gun powder at this time required that sound louder than the human voice be used to direct troop movement during the heat of battle (Gleason, 2006). This tradition was adopted during the American Revolutionary War. The drummer was typically used to keep troops in step as they marched to the battle front, and the buglers played different melodies or “calls” on their non-valved bugles to communicate to the infantry and cavalry which direction to go or whether to charge or retreat. Many of these bugle calls are still played on modern United States Army posts in keeping with tradition and paying homage to the past. Around 1810, a major innovation to the bugle began to put brass instruments at the forefront of military music beyond signaling capabilities. Joseph Halliday’s keyed bugle of 1810 was a metamorphosis of the keyed woodwind instruments of the time that 2 were used by professional orchestras in Europe to entertain civilians and military personnel in garrison. Although a keyed trumpet was already in existence, Halliday improved upon this design by cutting holes into a bugle and adding padded, lever- operated keys to allow the instrument to play chromatically (Newsom, 1979). The invention
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