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Excerpt from A Treatise on the Instrumentation of Military Bands: Describing the Character and Proper Employment of Every Musical Instrument Used in Reed Bands The inventions and improvements in wind instruments, especially in valved wind instruments, have been carried to such a length, and reached such a point, that it will certainly not be considered out of place that an attempt should be made to give as clear an idea as possible of them, as well as of their advantageous employment in reed bands; and thus to induce both the music-playing and music-loving public to take an interest in them. Reed bands may he said to belong to the public in general. What a band of stringed instruments is in a room, a theatre, a concert-hall, etc., reed bands are in the open air. A merry-making, no matter of what description, held out of doors, appears incomplete without a reed band. An orchestra of stringed instruments, combined with vocal solos and chorus, always has, and always will produce the most elevating impression, and is alone that which forms, improves, and perpetuates a really artistic taste for music. Reed bands, on the contrary, permit the minds of those present to be busied with other pleasures, which they endeavour to unite with artistic enjoyment. They cannot indulge in free and original composition, even in marches, which are particularly their own, because the only half-attentive audience must and will have their attention agreeably recalled to art by some well-known song or other, from the old melodies of the people, from some opera, etc. Music for reed bands can, therefore, consist merely of arrangements of universally known and popular operas, songs, and other compositions; and thus either, on the one hand, remind the audience of past artistic enjoyments, or, on the other, excite them to such enjoyments. The arranger must, therefore, in the first place, direct his attention to two things: - 1. To what instruments he may advantageously adapt the different vocal parts; and 2. So as to impair as little as possible the spirit of the original composition, to consider how and in what manner the different instruments of the orchestra are to be represented. I. - The Voice. The human voice is classed under the following heads: - (Male Voices.) 1. Bass; 2. Baryton; 3. Tenor; (Female Voices.) 4. Alto; 5. Treble and second Soprano; G. Soprano; (Chorus.) Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass. 1. The solo bass-parts should be given to the F bombardon, and the F or G bass valve trombone; and, if necessary, when there is no solo-player on the above instruments, or when the part contains many running passages, to the B flat euphonion, or B flat ophicleide. 2. Vocal baryton parts should be given to the baryton (tenor or alt-horn in B flat), the B flat tenor-trombone, and, generally, to all valve instruments in B flat and C, as well as to the euphonion and ophicleide, when those instruments have not to play a bass solo. 3. Vocal tenor-parts should be given to the valve instruments known by the name of alt-horns in D and E flat. These parts are now generally given to the valve instruments About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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