Early Military Band Recordings

Military Band Recordings

In Britain and in continental Europe, military bands of the various army regiments and some naval establishments formed the backbones of many record catalogues, from the earliest days of the industry until the end of World War I. Their repertoires, which covered a great range of popular and light classical material in addition to marches, was later undertaken by studio orchestras and then by established symphony and concert orchestras. The popularity of military bands in the U.S. during the latter 19th and early 20th centuries was immense.

Such bands flourished in communities across the nation, playing all categories of popular music in addition to marches. The early record companies, cylinder and disc, gave high priority to band music. An Edison recording session of June 1889 brought forth six numbers by Duffy and Imgrund's Fifth Regiment Band, an ensemble that returned about 20 times to the Edison studio by 1892. The 12-piece band of Patrick S. Gilmore was recorded by Edison on 17 Dec 1891, doing 19 numbers of various types, some featuring cornetist Tom Clark. Voss' First Regiment Band was another Edison group of the period. The first Edison Diamond Discs made by military bands were done in 1913, by the National Promenade Band and the New York Military Band; later by the Edison Concert Band (the material recorded was dance and pop as well as march). Columbia signed John Philip Sousa and his United States Marine Band to an exclusive contract as soon as the firm began to make entertainment records in 1889.

The 1891 Columbia sales list included 27 marches plus 23 other orchestral items. Sousa had a new ensemble in the 1895 catalog, the Grand Concert Band, featuring the famous trombonist Arthur Pryor. A list of Columbia brown-wax two-minute cylinders issued from 1896 to 1900 shows the United States Marine Band playing "Washington Post March" (#1; 1896), followed by close to 100 other numbers. Many were marches, e.g., "Columbia Phonograph March" (#58) and "Columbia Phonograph Co. March" (#63); others were waltzes, overtures, operatic potpourri, medleys of national airs, patriotic songs, and even "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" (#378). Sousa's Grand Concert Band made many Columbia cylinders from 1895 to 1900, including popular songs, marches, and two solo items by Arthur Pryor.

The year 1896 also saw the beginning of a series by the Washington Military Concert Band, Gilmore's Band, The Old Guard Band (New York), and the Twenty-third Regiment Band (New York). Columbia continued to record military bands when it phased into the disc format (from 1902; Columbia cylinder sales ceased in 1912). A house group, the Columbia Band, made a series of overtures and operatic excerpts in 1904 and continued to 1909. Many other bands were recording for the label too: Prince's Military Band, Rena Military Band, British Grenadiers Band, etc. The interest in band music continued into the electrical recording era (1925-), with the Grenadier Guards Band and the Highland Military Band among