Author Archives: Robert Medley

George Cloos fifes

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As Antique Horns now has a George Cloos fife for sale in the classified section, perhaps a word should be said about this very important woodwind maker of the Civil War period.

George Cloos of New York was probably one of the best known makers of fifes during the Civil war. He worked out of New York in 1862 making two piece fifes of Granadilla wood. He also made tunable fifes pitched B flat or C known as the “Crosby Model” and advertised by Penzel-Mueller.

The fife in our classified section is unusual in that it has a “fipple” attachment or (cheater), a device used to help students to learn how to play a transverse instrument.

The Thibouville-Lamy old euphonium horn

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Mr. Boyette has acquired a euphonium horn marked Thibouville-Lamy Paris and has asked us to help with the identification. Langwills index of wind instrument makers 6th edition lists the following about Jerome Thibouville Lamy; Born 1 Feb. 1833 Firm claims to have been founded in 1790 and is still active. Before 1867 he owned woodwind factories at La Couture and from 1864 for brass and stringed instruments at Grenelle In Paris the address was and still is 68-70 rue Reaumur and in 1894 in London 7 Charterhouse Street E.C.

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Horns by this maker are represented in many collections in the U.S. and throughout Europe. This maker was the first to make a F/Bflat horn with ascending third valve, as designed by Louis Vuillermoz circa 1928.

If you have more information concerning this, please feel free to post it in a comment below.

Francis Scala, US Marine Band Leader

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In a previous post, I named Claudio S Grafulla as the leader of the Marine Band. That is incorrect, Grafulla was the leader of the 7th N.Y. Regimental Band. scalaWilliam Hall was kind enough to forward to me a copy of Francis Scala obituary which contained some interesting facts about Scala and the Marine Band.

Scala was born in 1819 in Naples and came to the U.S. in 1839. He went to Washington in 1842 and became the leader of the fife corps and the eventially the leader of the band when brasses were added. The band increased from 12 to 25 members under his leadership and gained a national reputation.  Scala continued as the first and only leader of the Marine band for the next 25 years. He resigned in 1871 . He died in 1903 leaving a wife and 11 children.

During the Lincoln presidency he composed for the band and at the wedding of Kate Chase to Senator Sprague at the White house , the band played two of his compositions a waltz and a polka which were dedicated to Kate Chase.

Mr. Hall has also informed me that my favorite march “Washington Grays “was written for the 8th N.Y. Regiment which wore gray uniforms. My thanks to Mr. Hall for the correction and the information about Francis Scala.

Regimental Bands, they came in all sizes, big and small

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Civil War Regimental Bands came in all sizes and the size of the the band did not automatically dictate whether the band was good or bad musically.

For the most part, Confederate Bands were usually smaller because of manpower requirements and the need for instruments. Many confederate Bands consisted of as few as five or six musicians playing instruments they had picked up from defeated or captured Union Bands. An exception to this was the Stonewall Brigade Band of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Brass choirs of instruments existed in the south before the war with the Moravian Brass choirs. Their musicianship was unpareleled in the 1850s. Other confederate bands of less than ten members probably lacked the polish of the "Stonewall" band.

At the beginning of the war and throughout, Union bands were larger and perhaps better equipped to handle the duties of a Regimental or Brigade Band, with individuals assigned to the task. Many of the bands had a "Regimental march or quickstep" that was composed excusively for their regiment, and in many cases these marches or quicksteps were complex and difficult to perform, requiring a more advanced degree of musicianship.

Union Regimental and Brigade Bands consisted of from twelve to as many as twenty four musicians. The larger bands might also have one or two woodwinds.

Field music was an important part of a Civil War soldiers life and was recognized as such by the officers who took extra measures to provide it.

When Regimental Bands were discontinued

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When the general order went out to discontinue Regimental Bands and to use Brigade Bands instead, What effect did it have on the troops, and to what lengths did the individual Regiments go to to conceal their band?

Some Regiments did discontinue their band and relied on the Brigade Band instead to furnish their field music. The 3rd Wisconsin Regiment is a good example of what happened. The original 3rd Regimental band that accompanied the troops to the field was the town of Brodheads city band, known then as the Brodhead Brass Band. The Band enlisted en mass and marched off to war when the Regiment mustered in and left for the field.

When the order came to disband the Regimental bands, the band mustered out and returned to Wisconsin. A short time later they mustered in again as the 1st Brigade Band and served to the end of the war, providing music for many regiments in the 1st Brigade.

Other Regiments took different measures to disguise their band within the Regiment with the officers footing the bill for music, instruments, etc. and the musicians were listed as soldiers within the Regiment. Many of them worked as corpsmen, recovering wounded troops and helping to treat them.

When looking at a Regimental roster, only a few soldiers were listed as "musicians". These were the Drummers and Fifers, sometimes mere boys who accompanied the Regiment to the field and provided a cadience for the troops when they marched from place to place. Another use of the designation "musician" was the bugler who provided calls to the troops to advance, retreat, charge, and the well known call of "taps" when the troops retired. The music for taps was written by or for General Dan Butterfield.

Occasionally a "corp of music", consisting of massed bugles was formed.

Music was an important part of a soldiers life during the Civil War, providing entertainment, inspiration, and information at a time when the toils of soliering must have been very taxing to a young lad, away from his farm home for the first time in his life.

Comments about music from the Generals ranged from U.S. Grants "I only know two toons, one is Yankee Doodle and the other is’nt"  To Lee and Custer  who provided bands for the troops entertainment.

Warren “Sarge” Heckner

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The 1st Brigade Band and the music world lost a good friend at the end of October this year.

Warren played cornet in the 1st Brigade Band for almost 40 years. He was an important part of the band and its history. Along with his wife Audrey, he became the beating heart of the band during its difficult time of reorganization in the early 70s when he traveled the eastern part of the country searching for antique horns for the band. It is due to his efforts that the band exists today.

Warren was a quiet, unassuming guy who always did "his job" for the band, whether it was playing the cornet or cleaning the restrooms in the band building. That came from his experience as a Marine where doing your job was something that was expected of you. He never had to be asked, he just did "his job".

In the later years of his life, after Audrey died in 1997, I got to know "Sarge" better when we carpooled every Friday night to band practice in Watertown, Wi.

We didn’t talk so much about music as we did our military experiences. Not many people know that "Sarge" landed with the Marines on Guadalcanal and Tulagi, on our first offensive action in the Pacific in 1942. He also landed on Bougainville and told me about the battle of Savo in "Iron Bottom Sound".

I know that Sarges favorite Civil War tune was "Oft in the Stilly night", but when I think of Sarge, I will hear The Vacant Chair.

We will miss you Sarge!

Town bands, a link to our past

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town-bands-003Town Bands once numerous in small town America have all but disappeared from the scene in most of the country. Wisconsin and Minnesota still have several, but the small town brass band of a century ago has become a thing of the past.

From 1870 to just before the First World War, the small town band was the only form of entertainment people had. There was no telephone, radio, television, automobiles, planes, and the only way folks of a century or more ago. The town band played at weddings, funerals, parades, and in the bandshell on the green on lazy summer evening when ladies in long dresses sipped lemonade while listening to the local boys play a Strauss Waltz or a stirring march.

Small town bands had their beginnings with the returning Civil War bandsmen and from the late 1860s to 1920, the movement caught fire. My grandfather was a clarinetist in the Kenosha Band and it was there that he met my grandmother. I can picture her now, sipping lemonade and keeping an eye on that handsome fellow playing clarinet.

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Batavia Military Band, Wisconsin

The picture of the Batavia band shows the instrumentation of smaller band and the Eb cornet played by the seated musician (second from the right). The transition from Eb to Bb brass band was still not under way,The British Brass Bands still use Eb cornets, but American bands seldom use them.

Eb Cornet

Eb Cornet

I can remember 60 years ago as a young man playing in my first town band. As a beginning musician, I found the music challenging but it sparked an interest in a hobby that continued into my mid 70s. Music is a wonderful and rewarding hobby and I’m sure it will continue to entertain me as a now participate in it in different ways.

Buying or trading with other collectors

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We have all done it at one time or another. Not all of our finds were from a flea market or yard sales. The most reasonably priced finds undoubtedly are the flea market or yard sale variety, but there comes a time when we need to fill a gap and have to look to other collectors to fill that need. 

When that happens, where do you go? Most advanced collectors are well organized and known to others as having a variety of a certain type of collection. Others are a hodge podge of just about everything.

Then there are those who trade and deal regularly and will provide what you are looking for "for a price" With this type of collector, you can count on paying top dollar, but you will get what you are looking for.

Trading is sometimes the best answer and is done frequently among advanced collectors. Museums seldom engage in trading except with another museum

U.S.M.C. Band Concert

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I have been a bandsman since the 1940s, but up until last Friday, I had never seen or heard the United States Marine Band (The Presidents Own) I had studied the band and in particular, its role in the Civil War when Claudio S Graffula was the director and John Phillip Sousa’s father played trombone. I can recall a photo of the band during the Civil War, when John Phillip, then a lad of about 4 years stood beside his dad.

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As I sat in the audience in Fond du Lac Wisconsin and listened to musical perfection, I could not help but wonder how the band in 1862 would stack up against this band in 2008. I am sure the 1862 band was far superior to the Regimental bands of the period, but against the 2008 band, I dont think they stand a chance.

With me at the concert was Dan Woolpert, who directed the 1st Brigade Band for over 2 decades. We were in awe of the musical talent we were witnessing. In particular the woodwinds caught our attention and I must say that when the piccolo section came out to play their refrain it sounded like 1 piccolo. On the Classical selections, the woodwinds were perfection.

All in all, it was an evening I will never forget. You could try and listen for a mistake or a cracked note in the French Horn solo, but there was none.

If you ever get a chance to hear the U.S. Marine Band, dont pass it up. It is band music at its very best.

Tips for young or new instrument collectors

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You have just found grandpas horn in the attic or bought a strange looking instrument at a flea market or yard sale.

YOU ARE HOOKED! That is how most of us started and some of us cant stop!

After you have asked the first three questions, what is it? can it be fixed? and how much is it worth? you can settle down and seriously consider whether collecting is for you. First you need to consider a few things that will help you along the way.

Your collection should be aimed in a given direction. Consider what area you want to collect in. Brasses come in many different sizes and categories

Keyless brasses (bugles)
Keyed brasses (bugles and ophicleides)
Brasses with slides
Brasses with valves
Various valve systems
Different tubing configurations
Various makers

Some areas are inexpensive and some can be very expensive, almost prohibitive and impossible to find.

Source materials are available in libraries and you will find other collectors will help you along the way. Good sources are Langwells index and the works of Dr. Herbert Heyde. Also helpful are the papers of Robert Eliason and the Brass band journal.

We will help you if we can and I would also suggest visiting Kenton Scotts website Horn-u-copia.net