The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 12, 1902, Page 13

iE early history of music is vague and indefinite, but it has existed time immemorial, and the of the military pand takes ck to the most remote an- Every nation in olden times had ts peculiar instruments and its national took cities to the and the horn; the and ancient Ger- to the music of the , the cymbal and the cla- nese war music em- s and triangles. Instruments c as drums, cymbals, ubtless taken from f hands, are the oldest. said to have been sug- he blowing of the wind ds and bushes, came next lastly came the string in- ich are comparatively mod- e music, and was from the remotest tribes used it in In ancient timcs t had its peculiar distinc- With the Romans the of decampment; the coming of the age ites mpet indicated the as- of the troops, and the horn e signal of retreat. The He- employed military music from date, and the Bible refers to the cornet, flute, sackbut, psaltery and duici- he cornet of Biblical times was e the modern instrument of name, but was fashioned with ube about three feet long, i dlameter. The sackbut was essor of the modern trombone, ewhat resembled. fall of the Roman Empire c seemed to lapse, and it t until about the middle of the ¥ that it was recovered , and soon expanded ations of Europe. enth century they bands of music in the Swiss Introduced the fife, which served to the drums, and the instru- retained place in military the present 4 In the seven- century the Germans evolved the from the ancient cornet. From came the Kkettledrum and the the modern horn from Hanno- nd the cymbals and big drum from The adoption of the cym- bals, bass drum and kettiedrums at one time gave t me of “Turkish music” to military c. The combination of these instruments with the trumpet constituted at the be- ginning of the eighteenth century prac- tically the entire scheme of military mu- sic. The clarinet, which was invented by Johann Christoph Denner of Nuremburg was not received into the military il 175, having been followed by t, the triangle (which was the ymbal of the middle ages) and the trom.- During the reign of Louis XIV, of ce, military bands were reguiarly or- ganized and appointed to each regiment in the French army, and Frederick the took a lively interest in mili- use regular In France serpe tary It is related that the band of the Coldstream Guards of the British in 1783 consisted of senold Troops n four men and three negroes with urines and crescents.” is only since the beginning of the ja=t ry military music has been The introduction of improvements in the manufacture nd the invention of vari- w instruments made a revolution ary barmony by augmenting rces and adding power of effe.t wind band. To Adolph Sax, a uman, and Willlam Wieprecht, a that developed. Germean, more than to any other men is Gue the credit for the deveiopment of the military band. Sax and his father are la responsible for the introduction of n wind instruments and they also mber of improved methods rinets. Adolph Sax invented e families of brass instru- ral ent ments, such as the saxhorns and the sax- o s The saxhorns, including the alto and baritone, the euphonium and bomberdon, added greatly 'to the com- pass, richness snd flexibility of the mil:- brass and veed bands. The saxo- phones are of great value in military com- ERaLET S ‘.}Sv?“EE -\%{fi\fl L e YouEREL N e binations, as they reproduce on a magni- filed scale the ’cello quality of tome and give great sustaining power to the full chorus of brass instruments. To William ‘Wieprecht is due the evolution of the ser- pent and ophicleide into the modern tuba. Military music having attained a high state of excellence it began to develop along the lines of concert music, whick necessitated a rearrangement of the in- strumentation of the military band for concert purposes. Critics at home and abroad in the course of my various con- cert tours have been good enough to say that the band I have conducted for ten years may be accepted as the ideal wind orchestra because of the richness and va- riety of its tone color and the artistic nu- ances it produces. And it may therefore be interesting to note the instrumentation that I employ. The arrangement of my forces is modeled upon the orchestral formation, a great body of B flat clari- nets taking the place of the first and sec- ond violins and violas of the string banl. The instrumentation of the Sousa band includes twelve B flat clarinets, one E flat, one alto and one bass clarinet; two bassoons, two oboes, one sorrusophone, four flutes and piccolos, one English horn, four saxophones, four cornets, two trum- pets, one fluegelhorn, two euphoniums, four trombones, four French horns, four tubas and three drums (tympani, ema'l drum and bass drum). struments are of strange shapes and their purpose and use are unfamiliar to most lovers of band music. The various reed instruments extend, like the strings, over the whole compass of the orchestra. The clarinets and sax- ophones are played with a single reed, while the oboes, bassoons, etc., employ a double reed. No other wind instrument rossesses in the same degree as the clari- ret the power of graduating its tone. Any nuance from double forte to double piano is possible upon it, and for this reason the clarinet is regarded as the most val- uable member of the wind orchestral forces. The tone of the clarinet biends excellently with all other wind instru- ments. The B flat clarinet is the princi- pal member of the reed family in the mil- itary concert band, while the E flat, or petite clarinet, is to be found only in the military instrumentation, not being adapted for orchestral work. The alto clarinet is a perfect fifth below the B fiat, while the last member of the family, the bass clarinet, is an octave in pitch below the ordinary B flat. The great feature of the bass clarinet is ‘its rich lower register, and in sustained melody or for holding notes in the lower part of the harmony it is of admirable effect. Of all existing wind instruments the flute is probably the oldest. It is one of the most important of the wood-wind group of instruments, and being the most acute of all it takes the upper part. As a solo instrument or in quasi-solo effects it is heard to the best advantage, the tone being particularly soft, sweet and agreeable. On account of the facility of fingering almost any passage is possible on the flute, which has more agility than any other wind instrument. The piccolo is a small flute, and on account of its plercing quality of tone it is very valu- able in the n.ilitary combination. Florid passages, rapid staccato, etc., are just as practicable and effective on the piccolo as on the flute. The saxophone, although made of brass alwa s, is reckoned among the reed and not the brass instruments. This instru- ment is practically the ’cello of the wind orchestra, .and I employ four saxo- phones, two altts, one tenor and one baritone. The saXophone is not to be found in either the English or the Ger- rian military bands, despite its many excellencies. 13 O. the family of wood instruments rlayed with a double reed the oboe is the treble. The lower notes of the oboe have a somewhat harsh quality that is excel- lent for certain artistic effects, but the Lest part of the instrument is in the mfad- die register, where the note is extremely penetrating and of a reedy quality. It bas been likened to a silver thread in the orchestra. The oboe is essentlally an ex- rressive and melodic instrument. The English horn is not, as its name would imply, a born at all, but a large-sized oboe, the alto, in fact, of the usual in- strument. Its tone has a peculiarly mel- encholy and somber character that no other instrument can replace and its lcwer tones are very rich and full. The Fnglish horn is used with great effect o OTR \4Y Many of these in-~ iz the “Willlam Tell” overture and in my ‘ Three Quotations,” for example. The bassoon is "the bass of the oboe family, and, owing to its extensive com- pass, which exceeds any other wind in- strument except the clarinet, the bassoon is capable of the most varied employ- ment. The higher register of this instru- ment has some affinity in quality to the THE SUNDAY CALL. ‘cello, compass lying in the tenor octave. the most expressive part of its The bassoon is sometimes called the comedian of the orchestra because of the peculiar effects that may be produced upon it. Thé sorrusovhone, which is to be found in no other band but Sousa's in this country, is a French invention and Is practically a brass contra-bassoon. It is Q in pitch an octave below the ordmary bassoon, to which it bears the same re- lation that the string double bass does to the ’cello. The sorruscphone gives great sustaining power to the lower register of the band. Passing to the brass instruments, we find that the cornet-a-piston, commonly called merely the cornet, is the most im* ‘;I;‘ VALYVFS Tk L THE Y RE NOT AGGER ATED GEEMAN Plg%b. — = E 535G NS Ty G PERESE TEO”BO’ETEF%’M s TOA portant in this section of fhe military band. Owing to the facility of the pro- duction of its tone the cornet is capable of greater execution than any other brass instrument and is. usually allotted to carry the melody and brilliant solo pas- sages. The trumpet, which has been largely replaced by the more easily played cornet, has a powerful and brilllant tone and adds beauty to the brass choir. The fluegel horn is the contralto voice of the cornet family and is distinguished for its broad, singing tone. In these days the trombone has become & particularly important instrument in the military band. It is probably the most difficult of all the brass instruments to play, as the intonation of the trom- bone depends entirely upon the performer. His bands, lips and brain must work per- fectly together, for if the slide be an eighth of an inch out of the proper posi- tion the intonation is false. The tenor, alto and bass trombones are employed in the modern military concert bands. The tone of the trombone is very broad and dignified, with a sustained singing qual- ity. The euphonium is a saxhorn, an octave below the cornet, and In unison with the tenor trombone. The modern double-bell euphonium has a double set of valves, by which the tone may be shifted from the barytone to the trombone quality at will. The French horn is a valuable and im- portant instrument in the military concert band, as it carries the harmony. The tone of the French horn is one of the most expressive and perhaps the most poetic and romantic of .all the military band. Though sometimes used for lively solos, hunting calls, etc., it is far better adapted for dreamy and melancholy pas- sages. The French horn is also an ex- tremely difficult insirument to play. The tuba is the bass instrument of Lhe military band, the BB flat tuba being in pitch an octave below the euphonium, Its tone is rich and full and blends weil with the other brass instruments. It has an extensive compass and can be played with great facility. The tubas double in octaves with the euphoniums with great effect, performing the same combinations for the brass that the double bass and ‘cello do for the strings. The “Sousa- phone” is a BB flat tuba of modified hell- con shape adapted to concert purposes. The modern tuba is an evolution from the serpent, which was the bass instrument of the ancient cornet, and the ophicleide, which was a bass bugle. Both these in- siruments are now obsolete. The percussion instruments of the mil- itary band include the kettledrums, or tympani; the bass drum, the small drum, the tambourine, triangle, bells and cym- tals. The kettledrums possess one ad- vantage over all other Instruments of their class in that they are capable of rroducing a distinct musical note, while all other drums produce only noise. Good band instruments are expensive, but as the ambitious student is usually content to start modestly he can equip himself with a fairly good instrument at a moderate price. Becoming more skiliful in its use he will replace it by one of the best makes, such as the play- ers in the great organizations use. He will then find that a cornet will cost enywhere from $65 to $130, according to the finish; slide trombones cost from $45 to $75; French horns from $5%5 to $125; double bell euphoniums from $125 to $155; BB flat tubas from $165 to $215; helicons from $210 to $265, while a “Sousaphone™ will cost from $300 to $350. Saxophones cost from $%0 to $100, according to size; B flat clarinets are $40 to $100; oboes $40 to §75; bassoons $110 to $135; and flutes anywhere from the commonest quality at $250 to one made of solid silver at $200. Tympani cost about $125 for a good pates snare drums may be purchased from 38 to $60; and bass drums from $10 to $70. The unusual instruments, such as the alto and bass clarinets and the sorrusophone, are not carried in stock and must be specially imported, making them some- what expensive. As T have already strted, the trom- bone and the French horn are the most difficult of all instruments to play. The principal points about the other instrn- ments may be learned In a few menths, but the length of time necessary to pes- fect a performer depends entirely upom his natural aptitude, his musical Inclin tions and the amount of practice he gives to the instrument. No man can hope to secure a chair in a great con- cert organization unless he has served a long apprenticeship to his instrument and thoroughly mastered it. Apart from this peint, his musicianship must be above re- proach. The nursery of the great concert bands of America is the village band composed of lusty-lunged country boys, with more vigor than technique, more ambition than temperament. The American youth is nat- uzally musical and to his virile nature the brass band appeals with singular po- tency. The enormous body of brass bends in America are developing a new school of performers that bids fair to dominate military music in this country, for the American boy Is being attracted t> the less conspicuous but equally im- portant instruments of the band that have until recently been played solely by foreigners, and by reason of his intelli- gence, energy and ambition he speedily outstrips his competitors. Lightning EKills 700 a Year. From 700 to 300 persons are killed an- nually by lightning in the United States, according to estimates made by Alfred J. Henry of the United States Weather Bu- reau. In 1900 the bureau received reports of T13 cases of fatal lightning strokes. In the same year, according to the re- ports collected by the Weather Bureau, 973 persons were more or less seriously injvred by lightning. The loss of life from lightning is greatest in the Ohlo Valley and the Middle Atlantic States. if density of population only be consid- ered it is gredtest in the Upper Missouri Valley and ia the middle Rocky Mountain region Of the 713 fatal cases reported in 1900, 291 persons were killed in the open, 158 in houses, 57 under trees and 58 in barns. The circumstances attending the death of the remaining 151 were not reported. This seems to dispose of the old super- stition that the safest place to be in dur- ing a thunderstorm is the open country and the most dangerous under a tree. is a Theroine takem bodily from real life. and one of the strangest a most remarkable characters in the whole range of fletion, Maurice Thompson's deserip- tion of Long Hair. the Indinn in his famous el, is al- | most ms wond.rfal a bit of character drawing. “Long Halr was a ma | ot wuperior physique, tail, straight, with the museles of a Vulean, and while he lay stretched out on the groand half clad and motionless be- fore Alice he would been a grand model for an heroie figure in browm Yet from every lineament there came a strange repelling i fluence, like that from = snake. L It is his strange influence on Alice through all her de- velopment from s wild, pas- sionate girl into a beautifu serious woman, who learns the great secret of love im heartrending trial akes M ce Thomp- +* EXT to Alice in “Allce of Old Vincennes,” who r hook so charming and o popular. And just think of . “Allce of Old Vincenmes," illustrated by fu l-page pho- tographic scemes from Vir- sinia Harned’s xreat play, will be published co; three Issues of the Call, beginning mext October 19. A whole play plete $1 50 novel The offer is truly amasing. D e om0