More importantly however, the late 1920's witnessed a pivotal development with the first commissioned work by a recognised mainstream composer in the guise of Gustav Holst with A Moorside Suite in 1928. Although Holst was, among other things, a trombonist, he had no previous links with brass bands. His contribution is vitally significant, as V. and S. Gammon cite :
In the mid 19th. century, working-class took a great step toward European art music. In the early 20th. century, English art music found a new basis for itself in some of the previously despised and rejected music of the English working class. A Moorside Suite, the work of a socialist composer who had played trombone in a theatre band, represents the coming together of two highly significant musical impulses. We find the irony compelling.
Iles ensured other commissions from the likes of Elgar (Severn Suite in 1930), Ireland (Downland Suite in 1932) and Bliss (Kennilworth in 1936). Only later in the 1950s were several new tests based again on 19th. century works (by Berlioz etc.), often arranged by expatriate Australian Frank Wright.
On the more popular scene, orchestral medleys became less acceptable with the general public after World War One as it was now possible to hear original orchestras play complete works over the radio without leaving home. Even light music tastes were altered thanks to the slick style of 1920s and 30s dance bands.
To at least the 1950s, the typical brass band concert programme was closely based upon that of the last century with the inclusion of an overture, instrumental solos, waltz, religious work and march. With rapidly changing leisure patterns and popular music trends in full swing, brass bands fought an ever increasing battle to attract more than just their own die-hard following. Even someone from within it's own ranks once admitted that the musical tastes of the banding fraternity "lags far behind it's (remarkable) technical standards". By the late 1960s, bands were facing the difficult situation of having to play light music in a (vain?) attempt to please an audience for fund raising purposes and coming to terms with harder test music for contests. Bram Gay (1970) bemoaned the lack of established composers like the era when Elgar, Holst and company were active. He observed banding to be "in a vacuum.....largely oblivious of musical progress" and, in 1968, undertook in his position at music publishers Novello to invite new composers to write for bands who had no prior experience therein. Bryan Kelly and Joseph Horowitz came from this opportunity.
With the formation of the National School Brass Band Association in 1953, attention turned to the provision of appropriate repertoire for the younger, less experienced brass musician. By 1970, several composers with no band experience had produced new works for the associated National Youth Brass band of Great Britain.
Come the mid 1970s, the repertoire had been added to by such luminaries as Ralph Vaughan Williams and Malcolm Arnold. Specialist writers like Gilbert Vinter (Spectrum and James Cook, Circumnavigator) and a young Edward Gregson (The Plantagenets) made their mark with works of ever increasing complexity. Composers from outside the movement found an almost blind adherence to tradition at times. Derek Bourgeois observed that the notion of introducing a trumpet into a brass band was tantamount to being "a heinous crime" by many and that his impression of banding as a whole was one of "a living (and) very enjoyable fossil, but unchangeable".
The Seventies produced a few interesting expeditions into the pop music genre. Probably the most famous from that era was Derek Broadbent's upbeat arrangement of the traditional tune The Floral Dance by the Brighouse and Rastrick Band. Vocalist and one-time brass bander Bertie Higgins also enjoyed success with the romatic ballad You're a Lady featuring the Hanwell Band. In every instance, these fleeting exposures to the general public did little or nothing to change a general perception of bands by the media as "a pleasant nostalgic oddity". Observers within the movement hoped that the image of banding would be better served by the 1990's movie Brassed Off.
Despite these somewhat negative viewpoints, the movement has been dragged into the modern era with some startlingly modern sounds from many present-day works and refreshingly new approaches to performance. At a tertiary education level, brass musicians in institutions worldwide are discovering the joys of traditional British brass bands, as in the music course at the North Carolina State University, U.S.A. Naturally, one would expect Britain as the home of brass bands to lead the way in tertiary education. The University of Salford, Europe's largest centre for specialist education in Band Musicianship, offers a Grad. Dip. in Band Musicianship with some it's more illustrious alumni being of the virtuosic calibre of Steven Mead (Euphonium) and Sheona White (Tenor Horn).
Most of the recent test repertoire appears to be firmly planted in the 20th. century in terms of style and sound. Elgar Howarth's 1975 Fireworks caused just that with some traditionalists who were upset at an apparent "overuse" of percussion .......ironically, this work is now firmly set in the repertoire and widely accepted as a kind of "Young- Person's-Guide-to-the-Brass-Band"! However, Mr. Howarth cannot stay out of trouble for long it would seem. His Songs for BL commissioned for the 1995 British Nationals, "ruffled feathers" much to his surprise, given that he had attempted to give it "sparer, newer textures and slighter sounds" in comparison to some frantic tests from the 1980s.
In keeping with modern compositional techniques, his Ascendit in Coeli utilises a diatonic approach. He is of course very aware of the age-old problem in test-pieces of pandering too much to populist forces :
".....if you try to please an audience you finish up a gum tree".
That comment interestingly enough comes from a man who has composed wickedly amusingly works under the pseudonym of W. Hogarth Lear! It is obvious to me that the man makes a very clear delineation between his role as a composer of high grade test works and popular entertainment pieces.
It would be easy for me to go on endlessly about many modern composers and their works. However, before ending this assignment, I find it prudent to return to the work Isaiah 40 by Robert Redhead. The Salvation Army held itself in self-imposed exile from the secular band movement for the best part of a century with few members "defecting" in the manner of Eric Ball around 1950. Redhead himself summed up the final loosening of the bonds :
"Things needed to open up, for too long we had been isolated, yet we had so much to share. When examined, it was clear that the (Salvation) Army's long held position (of non-contact with secular bands) was historical rather than ethical. "
Redhead's test-piece was described by fellow Salvationist and composer Kenneth Downie as not following the pattern of recent tests by following the path of "absolute" music. Isaiah 40 he maintains a reflection..........
".....of a man who, although a very experienced composer of music for brass bands, is by profession and proclamation, a minister of the Christian Gospel, working in the Salvation Army."
Ed. - It is interesting to note that the "British Bandsman" weekly is now (2004) owned by the Salvation Army.
Conclusion :
In this work, I have tried to chart the difficult evolution of the repertoire of a highly individual and, more recently, isolated genre of music. For the better part of this century, this voluntary brass band movement has had to juggle the financial interests of staying afloat and the musical pursuit of ever increasing difficulty of test music.
Some outside of the movement may feel that a "test-piece driven" mentality is a somewhat negative motive. Apart from time itself, the reliance upon such repertoire is arguably the very facet which separates the fledgling bands of 1821 to those of today.
"Test-pieces are the greatest source of original repertoire for brass bands and most........regard them as a necessary evil which push back the boundaries of contemporary literature, without which bands would most certainly be seduced to rehearse and play less challenging material".
Copyright 1997 and 2004 by Lindsay R. Paterson, Melbourne, Australia.
