military bands

home
rock posters
portmeirion
biba
military bands
trash fiction
70s pop
miscellaneous
links

visit site »»

'No one can say for certain where the soul of the battalion lives,' wrote Rudyard Kipling in 1915, 'but the expression of that soul is most often found in the band. A wise and sympathetic bandmaster can lift a battalion out of depression, cheer it up in sickness, and steady and recall it to itself in times of almost unendurable stress.'

For 250 years military bands have occupied a unique role in the British Army, supporting the soldiers, serving in the ranks during wartime and acting as a point of contact with a wider society. At the peak of military music in the late-19th century, there were more than 150 bands in the Army, attracting audiences of tens of thousands to open-air concerts. A hundred years later, the figure was down to just 29 bands and falling.

A three-volume series by Gordon Turner (formerly Director of Music of the Royal Signals) and his son, Alwyn W Turner, traces the history of every band to have served in the British Army. A further volume tells the story of the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall, founded in 1857.