To the memory of my father John 'Jack' Bannister, to my mother Thelma, and to Margaret and Marion i FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEAKIN UNIVERSITY AN ETHNOMUSICOLOGICAL STUDY OF MUSIC MAKERS IN AN AUSTRALIAN MILITARY BAND Roland Stuart Bannister, AMusA, ARCM, LTCL, DipMusEd, BA(UNE), MA(CWRU) This thesis is submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 1995 ii Form B DEAKIN UNIVERSITY CANDIDATE'S CERTIFICATE I certify that the thesis entitled An Ethnomusicological Study of Music Makers in an Australian Military Band and submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, is the result of my own research, except where otherwise acknowledged, and that this thesis (or any part of the same) has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other university or institution. Signed: Date: iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page i Form B: candidate's certificate ii Summary: an ethnomusicological study of music makers in an Australian military band 1 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Preface 2 A note to the soldier-musicians of the Kapooka Band 3 Acknowledgments 4 CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE DISSERTATION Introduction 6 The thesis of the dissertation 7 The disciplinary contexts 8 Overview of the research method 9 Selecting a research community 10 The Kapooka Band 10 The significance of the study 13 An 'ideologically unpalatable' music culture 13 A white Australian songline 15 Using research 16 Summary 18 CHAPTER 2: THE MUSICOLOGICAL CONTEXT: LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction 20 History of ethnomusicology 20 Defining ethnomusicology: a search for identity 22 Ethnomusicology and ideology 24 Musical structure vis-a-vis social structure 25 Context-sensitive ethnomusicology 27 Theory and method in ethnomusicology 29 A positivistic paradigm 29 An ethnographic paradigm 30 The sociology of music 31 The sociology of music versus ethnomusicology 32 Studies in the sociology of music 34 iv Small, Kingsbury, Finnegan and Roberts 35 Summary 37 v CHAPTER 3: THE MILITARY CONTEXT: LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction 38 Overview of military studies 38 Themes in military sociology 40 'Secular religion' or mirror of society? 40 Institution or occupation? 41 The military ethos 44 An Australian Army ethos 45 The military personality 47 The military and society 50 Summary 52 CHAPTER 4: PHILOSOPHY, THEORY AND METHOD Introduction 54 Researching a songline 54 Understanding world views 56 Towards an emic understanding 57 Verstehen 58 Phenomenology 59 Ethnography 60 Participant observation 61 Interviewing 62 Ethical considerations: in fieldwork 65 Transforming data 67 Grounded theory 69 Comparisons 70 Categories, properties and theoretical sampling 69 Anecdotal comparisons 71 Managing data 71 Implementing the grounded theory process 72 Analysing data 73 Writing the ethnographic report 76 Stories, soldier-musicians' tales, and my reflections 78 Ethical considerations representing others 80 A sense of collusion 81 Singing a history 83 Critique of method 84 Validity 85 Reliability 86 Verstehen as a goal 87 The historical context 87 Summary 87 vi CHAPTER 5: THE MILITARY BAND HISTORICAL CONTEXT Introduction 89 Writing history 89 European sources 90 Australian sources 91 European history 92 Ancient Europe 92 Middle ages and Renaissance 93 Baroque 94 The classical period 95 The nineteenth century 95 'The conductor's baton and the corporal's stick' 97 Australian history 99 Early Australia 99 From federation to the 1950s 100 The post second world war period 101 Australian Defence Force School of Music 103 The Australian Army Band, Kapooka 104 Summary 105 CHAPTER 6: ETHNOGRAPHIC THEMES Introduction 107 My story: A Day in West Wyalong 107 Six ethnographic themes 115 Being a musician 116 Being a soldier 117 Music making as military work 118 Change in the world of the soldier-musician 118 Military musicians and cultural transmission 119 The visibility of the researcher 120 Summary 120 CHAPTER 7: THE SETTING Introduction 121 The Kapooka Military Area 121 A ritual and work site 123 The Shelton Band Centre 125 The trombone studio 128 A 'symbolically constructed community' 128 Summary 130 vii CHAPTER 8: NEGOTIATING 'THE ARMY PROBLEM' Introduction 131 Army formality 131 The rank system 134 Soldier-musicians' tales: Three COs discuss the rank system 135 Uniforms 138 Duties 139 Structure versus substance 140 Exercising authority 142 A story: Nola resists authority 143 A story: Lieutenant Joe learns to be a CO 146 Captain Ian takes a band rehearsal 148 A Soldier-Musician's Tale: Darren does as he's told 149 Soldier-musicians' tales: Some ORs discuss the rank system 155 Reflection: musicians on a war footing 155 Mateship, authority and leadership 157 Summary 160 CHAPTER 9: SOLDIER-MUSICIANS' WORK Introduction 161 Theoretical framework 161 Theory: Deconstructing the 'artist-as-hero' 161 Theory: The soldier-musicians in collective action 162 Theory: Becker's Theory of art as collective action 163 My story 164 My story: Making a recording 164 Reflection: Collective action in other contexts 168 My story: An overview of concertising 169 My story: A concert at Batlow 170 My story: An overnight tour to Hay 173 My story: A para-military community band in concert 178 Anzac day 1990 179 The setting 179 Constructing an Anzac ethos 180 'Never mind any musical aspect' 182 'I'm glad I joined the army' 184 'The music had real significance' 188 Reflections: the soldier-musicians in collective action 191 Reflection: 'Making a recording' 192 Reflection: 'An overnight tour to Hay' 193 Reflection: 'A lot of satisfaction in that' 194 Reflection: The Gallipoli tour 195 Summary 196 viii CHAPTER 10: MUSIC AND MEANING IN MILITARY CEREMONY Introduction 198 Background: my own experience in military ceremony 199 The literature of ritual 200 The Kapooka Band at work 203 My story: The lone drummer 203 My story: The March Out parade 204 Reflection: form versus experience 205 The ritual form of the March Out parade 206 Reflection: ceremonial saturation 210 The Beating of the Retreat 211 My story: The Beating of the Retreat (background) 211 My story: The Beating of the Retreat (rehearsals) 212 My story: The Beating of the Retreat (performance) 214 Reflection: communitas 214 Three soldier-musicians' tales 215 A soldier-musician's tale: 'This is what we normally do' 219 A soldier-musician's tale: 'My own little world' 220 Reflection: 'The same speech every week' 221 Reflection: 'Watching paint dry' 221 Symbolic representations of the military ethos 222 Beyond the parade ground 225 Ceremony: its cosmological context 226 A celebration of being 227 Summary 228 ix CHAPTER 11: MILITARY MUSIC AS CRAFT AND ART Introduction 230 Being soldiers and being musicians 230 Theory: music as craft and art 231 A soldier-musician's tale: 'They are, after all, soldiers' 233 Reflection: 'An apparent dichotomy' 234 Reflection: function versus artistry 235 The repertoire 236 Reflection: The CD repertoire 236 Variety of repertoire 237 Choosing repertoire 239 Field calls and salutes 241 Marches, hymns and anthems 244 Beyond military music 245 Concert programs 246 A soldier-musician's tale: 'That is what we aim at' 247 Reflection: 'That is what we aim at' 249 Musical style 252 Hierarchy of styles 252 Hegemony of styles 253 Technique versus expression 255 A soldier-musician's tale: 'Everybody's got a different interpretation of the soul' 258 Summary 262 THEMES OF THE SOLDIER-MUSICIAN CULTURE Introduction 263 'Raid or parade?' 263 Four sets of propositions 264 Being a soldier-musician 264 Military music 266 The soldier-musicians' world 268 The soldier-musician in society 271 The soldier-musicians' world views 272 Themes for further development 272 REFERENCES CITED 341 GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 355 PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS BASED ON RESEARCH FOR THIS DISSERTATION x Presentations 369 Referred journal articles 370 xi APPENDIX Item 1 The Kapooka Band establishment at 15 June 1989 276 Item 2 Brief History of the Australian Army Band Corps 277 Location of the Australian Army Band Corps units 279 The Organisation of the Australian Army Band Corps 280 Item 3 Kapooka Band's engagement schedule September 1989 281 Item 4 Photocopy of sample fieldnotes with codings 283 Item 5 Photocopy of interview transcript with codings 287 Item 6 Photograph of the model of the 'Royal (sic) Marine Drummer First Fleet 1788' in the stair well of Meares House 295 Item 7 Quinn's (c.1988) The History of the First Recruit Training Battalion Band 296 Item 8 West Wyalong Concert - 4 Nov (1989) (Concert and parade program) 311 Item 9 Kapooka training area (map) 312 Item 10 Two Kapooka Military Area scenes 313 Item 11 Photographs of the Shelton Band Centre 314 Item 12 Armed Forces of Australia Badges of Rank 318 Item 13 The Band's main uniforms 319 Item 14 The music running sheet used by the Australian Army Band on Anzac Day 1990 at Gallipoli 323 xii Item 15 The Australian Army Band, Kapooka in Parade Ground formation (1993) 324 Item 16 Pages from publications discussed in chapter 11 325 Item 17 Kapooka Band repertoire lists 334 Item 18 The 1994 calendar photograph of Mr March, Corporal Peter Thomas: Raid or parade? 340 TABLES Table 1: Ethnomusicology v. sociology of music 34 Table 2: Ist Recruit Training Battalion Standing Orders 133 Table 3: The Ritual Form of the March Out parade 207 13 SUMMARY AN ETHNOMUSICOLOGICAL STUDY OF MUSIC MAKERS IN AN AUSTRALIAN MILITARY BAND This dissertation reports on a participant observation study of music making in a band of the Australian Army Band Corps. The thesis of the dissertation is how the world views of the soldier-musicians of the Australian Army Band, Kapooka, are constructed in the context of their work in military music performance. In arguing this thesis, the author provides a brief history of military music in Australia, and offers fieldwork reports which explore the nature of military rank and discipline, and the nature of soldier-musicians' work in military and civic ceremonial contexts, and in public entertainment.