2013 HBS Early Brass Festival Report
By Jeff Nussbaum
The 2013 HBS EBF was held on August 2-4, 2014 in Northfield, MN as a guest of the 3rd
Vintage Band Festival directed by Paul Niemisto. By all accounts, both the EBF and the
VBF were very successful. About 40 people attended the EBF morning lecture sessions
and were joined by the hundreds in attendance for over 100 concerts by 30+ bands that
were scattered throughout every nook and cranny in Northfield. As a result of the EBF
participation with the VBF the lecture schedule included several scholars who were first
time presenters at the HBS event. Sousa and band scholar Paul Maybery gave a
fascinating talk on 19th century performance practice and focused on the task of editing
19th and early 20th century band music. Vasily Maveychuk, a professor at the Moscow
State Univeristy of Arts and Culture and expert on Russian band history presented a talk
on Russian military naval bands, a topic little known in the West. He was assisted by the
able translator David Galick. Petter Carlson, the director of he Medevi Brunnsorkester
brass Sextet enlightened the audience with another little known but fascinating topic, the
140 year old continuous tradition of this particular Swedish ensemble and its repertoire.
The full schedule of talks and abstracts are included below.
With over thirty different ensembles coming from around the USA and Europe it is
difficult to discuss all of them but several of my standout favorites included a whirlwind
enthusiastic performance by Kenny Carr and his shout band, The Tigers, the “battle of the
bands” involving six North and South Civil War bands who played along the Cannon
River Quay. Paul Maybery conducted a mass concert of those ensembles including the
Dodworth Saxhorn Band, Frontier Brigade Band, Newberry Victorian Cornet Band, 26th
NC Regimental Band and 1st Brigade Band. Another notable performance was Mark
Ponzo’s solo cornet lecture/recital where he played a number of 19th and early 20th
century cornets solos by Bohme, Rimmer (aka E. Damare), Liberati and John Hartmann
and demonstrated about 20 different cornets ranging from an 1860 Lemonite instrument
to a one-of-a-kind Bach Artisan cornet made in 2011. That cornet fell into Ponzo’s
collection when the well known jazz trumpet Chris Botti for whom the instrument was
especially madder, decided that it wasn’t to his liking.
The extended weekend was beautiful and more than a few participants remarked that the
weather seemed to be about 40 degrees cooler than previous Festivals when the
thermometer went beyond 100! Paul Niemisto announced that plans are underway for
another VBF in the summer of 2016 and extended an invitation to the HBS to hold its
Early Brass Festival there again.
HBS EBF Schedule and lecture abstracts:
Historic Brass Society
28th Early Brass Festival
Vintage Band Festival
August 1 – 4, 2013
Northfield, MN
Paul Niemisto – Director VBF
Jeff Nussbaum – President, HBS
Charlotte Leonard – EBF Coordinator
Thursday August 1
Informal Playing sessions and VBF concerts
Friday August 2
Archer House Basement
8:30 – 9:00
Registration
9:00 – 9:30
Bruce Gleason, University of St Thomas, St Paul
Horse-Mounted U.S. Cavalry and Artillery Bands in the Early Twentieth
Century, Bruce Gleason
9:30 -10:00
Paul Niemisto, St. Olaf College, Northfield
Ralph Kenny Brass Instrument Maker- Minneapolis , Minnesota
10:00 – 10:30 Coffee Break
10:30 – 11:00
Joy Riggs, Northfield MN
The Real-Life Tale of a Pioneering Bandmaster
11:00 – 12:00 Informal Playing
12:00 Noon Lunch and VBF concerts
Lunch Listen and Learn- Contented Cow Pub.
Jari Villanueva with the 26th North Carolina Regimental Band
UCC Church
2:00 – 2:45 Mark Ponzo; The Cornet Family” Performance/Demonstration
With Dr. DeWayne Wee; piano
Afternoon and evening VBF concerts
Saturday August 3
Archer House Basement
9:00 – 9:30 Paul Maybery, Savage, MN
Editing 19th Century American Band Music: Revisiting the Works of John
Philip Sousa.
9:30 -10:00
Petter Carlson Assisted by members of Medevi Brunnsorkester Brass Sextet
Swedish Brass History
"Medevi Brunnsorkester - 140 years of continuos tradition".
10:00 -10:15 Coffee Break
10:15 -10:45
Dr. Scott Muntefering , Wartburg College (Waverly, Iowa)
John Philip Sousa and Karl L. King at the Mitchell (SD) Corn Palace
Exposition (1904-1925)
10:45 – 11:15
Robert Stonestreet, PhD Candidate at The University of Tasmania, Australia
Historical Developments in Writing for Low Hor: Today’s ‘Cor Basse’
Player
11:15 -12:30
Informal Playing Lunch
Afternoon and Evening VBF Concerts
Sunday August 4
Archer House Basement
9:00 – 9:30
Don Johnson, Lincoln’s Own and Kentucky Baroque Trumpets
Musical Style During the Civil War Era
9:30 -10:00
10:00 – 10:30 Coffee Break
10:30 -11:00
Vasily Matveychuk, Moscow State University of Arts and Culture
Russian Military Brass History
11:00 – 11:30
HBS Membership Meeting conductor by HBS President, Jeff Nussbaum
EBF Abstracts
Petter Carlson Assisted by members of Medevi Brunnsorkester Brass Sextet
Swedish Brass History
"Medevi Brunnsorkester - 140 years of continuos tradition".
This lecture will present a short overview on the tradition of the Medevi
“Spa”-orchestra, how it started in 1870 and how and why it kept on until
today. Demonstration of brass instruments made by Ahlberg& Ohlsson
around 1900. Historic repertoire and newer adaptations. Discussion.
petter.carlson@telia.com
Bruce Gleason, University of St Thomas, St Paul
Horse-Mounted U.S. Cavalry and Artillery Bands in the Early Twentieth
Century, Bruce Gleason
Stemming from a centuries-old Middle-Eastern and European tradition,
horse-mounted military bands were active across the U.S. throughout much
of the nineteenth century and up into the twentieth. This presentation will
focus on the duty and music performed by these bands during the Mexican
Expedition, World War One and the 1920s.
brucegleason@comcast.net
Don Johnson, Lincoln’s Own and Kentucky Baroque Trumpets
Musical Style During the Civil War Era
This presentation will include an examination of repertoire, performance
practice and instrumentation of Civil War period bands.
kybaroquetrumpts@windstream.net
Vasily Matveychuk, Moscow State University of Arts and Culture
Russian Military Brass History
Vasily Matveychuk is a distinguished historian of Russian military brass
bands. His paper will cover the beginning of this special tradition, how the
"brass band" exists within the Russian wind band, and will focus on the
story of a several specific examples of bands that illustrate these
characteristics
<matveychukvasili@mail.ru>
Paul Maybery, Savage, MN
Editing 19th Century American Band Music: Revisiting the Works of John
Philip Sousa.
Overview
Problem:
Music for early American bands exists in various formats such as
manuscripts and early imprints. These are generally problematic for the
modern band for various reasons.
Common practice in the 19th century was to publish/print with only a singleline part for the conductor along with a set of individual parts for the band.
Composers’ manuscript sets often included full scores and parts. However,
access to this music is limited as it is usually found in historical collections.
Instrumentation for this music is generally considered “archaic.” That is;
written for instruments not commonly in use today.
Elements of Style: Modern musicians have been exposed to many styles of
music that evolved after this time frame and they are not necessarily
informed in 19th - century performance practice.
Targeted Performers: Composers, arrangers and publishers understood who
they intended to perform their music. Consideration of the players’ skill-sets
figured greatly into the edition that was finally produced.
That Certain Redundancy: At least in published music, there would always
be a certain doubling of parts to accommodate bands of various sizes and
abilities.
Purpose:
Editing the band music of the 19th century can result in the creation of the
following:
1. A critical score for the purpose of historical accuracy and study.
2. A performance edition to be utilized by modern 21st - century players
“The modern eye.”
3. A variation of the modern 21st - century score, which has found some
acceptance in the modern band field, is the “interpretive edition.”
Herein the editor includes subjective/interpretive ideas intended to aid
the performers and audience in appreciating the music.
Assumptions:
Reference is being made to the “double hermeneutic.” That is: What did it
mean then? And: What does it mean now? The end result then is
“Historically Informed Performance.”
The editor should possess an understanding of 19th - century performance
practices that would have been prevalent in America. This includes a vast
inventory of the elements of style, such as appropriate tempo and affect,
instrument characteristics and idiosyncrasies, articulations, phrasing style,
dynamics and other elements that might not have modern equivalents.
Objective: To examine a sampling of the works of John Philip Sousa in light
of creating a critical score and subsequently a version for modern
performance.
Primary source materials in this case are band manuscripts from the
John Philip Sousa collections at the Library of Congress, The United States
Marine Band and the University of Illinois.
paulgmaybery@gmail.com
Dr. Scott Muntefering , Wartburg College (Waverly, Iowa)
John Philip Sousa and Karl L. King at the Mitchell (SD) Corn Palace
Exposition (1904-1925)
During the final week of September starting in 1892 and continuing
today, the Corn Palace Exposition in Mitchell, South Dakota provided early
settlers an opportunity to display the fruits of their harvest on the exterior of
the “Corn Palace” in order to prove the fertility of South Dakota soil. The
Exposition offered many venues for entertainment and attracted some of the
most popular performing organizations from across the country.
John Philip Sousa holds the distinction of performing at all three Corn
Palace structures (1904, 1907, and 1921). Sousa held the Corn Palace
Exposition in high regard after his initial appearance in 1904 with soloists
Herbert L. Clarke (cornet), Leo Zimmerman (trombone), John Perfetto
(euphonium), Herman Bellstedt (cornet), and Franz Helle (flugelhorn). Sousa
returned to open the second Corn Palace in 1907 again with Clarke,
Zimmerman, and Perfetto as soloists.
Sousa did not celebrate the opening of the final Corn Palace in 1921,
but another famous American bandleader began his historic career as the
featured entertainment for the renamed Corn Palace Festival – Karl L. King
from Fort Dodge, Iowa. After inquiring many bands for their services
(including Sousa), the entertainment committee for the festival acquired the
Karl King band for the weeklong commitment. Sousa was able to make a
one-day appearance a couple months after the festival to a crowd of almost
5000.
Sousa made his final appearance in November of 1925. As the Mitchell
Evening Republican stated about the older Sousa “One saw the steadying,
calming, toning down effect of age, yet accompanied by a spirit of youth and
idealism which defied the advance of years which enable this remarkable man
regardless of his years to continue to bring joy and uplift to the hearts of men
through his Heaven sent gift as a musician.”
scott.muntefering@wartburg.edu
Paul Niemisto, St. Olaf College, Northfield
Ralph Kenny Brass Instrument Maker- Minneapolis , Minnesota
A professional trombonist in Minneapolis, and principal in the Minneapolis
Symphony from 1903-19, Kenny established his instrument factory in 1907,
very close to the University campus on the Mississippi River. In 1914 he
declared the firm's name as Ralph E. Kenny & Co. The shop ceased
operations around 1918.
We have discovered a tenor trombone from the early 1900's called a "Kenny
Special", engraved "RALPH KENNY - KENNY SPECIAL MINNEAPOLIS, MINN", as well as several low brass instruments and
cornets.
This paper will share all available information about the life and career of
Ralph Kenny, describe the available instruments in detail, and place him
among other brass makers at that time.
niemisto@stolaf.edu
Mark Ponzo
The Cornet Family, Performance/Demonstration
This presentation will be a lecture/demonstration employing a range of
period instruments on the works of Arban, Clarke, Boehm and other for the
purpose of demonstrating the different characteristics of the instruments
(from 1840 - today).
mponzo@sbcglobal.net
Joy Riggs, Northfield, MN
The Real-Life Tale of a Pioneering Bandmaster
Minnesota bandmaster G. Oliver Riggs became nationally known in the
1920s and 1930s for directing crackerjack boys’ bands of up to 300
members, and many of his pupils went on to impressive careers as musicians
and educators. However, the story of his success is little remembered today.
Riggs’ great-granddaughter Joy Riggs, a Northfield-based freelance
journalist, will explain how this son of a Civil War veteran turned an early
love of playing instruments into a long and varied career that included stints
as a cornet and violin soloist, a music conservatory professor, a member of a
cowboy band, a salesman for C.G. Conn, and the longtime director of the St.
Cloud Municipal Boys’ Band. She’ll also explain how Riggs’ pioneering
work helped shape Minnesota’s tradition of high-quality school and
community music ensembles.
joyriggs@yahoo.com
Robert Stonestreet, PhD Candidate at The University of Tasmania, Australia
Historical Developments in Writing for Low Horn
Today’s ‘Cor Basse’ Player
Playing in the lower register forms a vital part of every horn player’s skill
set, however the fact that it is no longer considered a specialised skill has led
to it becoming a neglected facet in both the practice and teaching of many
students. There are significant benefits to low register work on the horn, as
well as many challenges. The rapid arpeggiated passages and wide register
leaps typical of traditional ‘cor basse’ writing from the eighteenth century
remain difficult today, even with the addition of valves and the invention of
the double horn. The treatises on horn playing written in the nineteenth
century, along with the music that was composed, provide many insights not
only into the traditional approach of playing the horn, but also into the
expectations and possibilities of hand horn and ‘cor basse’ technique.
Surprisingly these treatises, which are predominantly written by the leading
horn players and teachers of the time, are a largely unutilised resource; one
that could easily be included into a student’s learning process.
The development of the valve had a substantial effect on the horn and its
technique, especially in the low register, and several innovative composers
and performers have since explored the instrument’s possibilities below the
stave. Unfortunately many of the works that have been composed and the
people who are responsible for them have failed to gain widespread
recognition amongst today’s horn players, such as Joseph Emile Meifred,
Francois Bremond and the composer Jacques-Francois Halevy. Despite the
obvious importance of the lower register for horn players, solo works that
truly feature the low register appear to be few and far between, rarely
performed or recognized for their specific difficulties. However, since
Hermann Neuling’s landmark Bagatelle and two volumes of Special Etudes,
all written specifically for low horn during the 1950’s, many more have
become available and these repertoire options are clearly worth
investigation. This presentation will cover a number of solo repertoire
options for the modern ‘cor basse’ player, with the hope that they will attract
more frequent performance and a more widespread appreciation of the skills
required.
Robert.Stonestreet@utas.edu.au>
Jari Villanueva with the 26th North Carolina Regimental BandThe 26th North
Carolina Regimental Band was a group of skilled brass players who were religious men
from the Moravian community in Salem North Carolina. They served as a Confederate
regimental band from April 1862 up to the close of the Civil War and theirs is a
remarkable story of how they transformed from a town band into a military unit beloved
by their comrades. The history of this extraordinary ensemble is told through the music
they performed and through letters and diaries written by the band members.
Jari.villanueva@gmail.com