Unpublished nineteenth-century brass band music and the development of instrumentation

In their article From ‘Repeat and Twiddle’ to ‘Precision and Snap’: The Musical Revolution of the Mid-Nineteenth Century Vic and Sheila Gammon give an interesting account of the transition, from playing by ear to playing from written parts. They suggest that early bands were made up mainly of members who played by ear, with a minority who actually read music. This chapter traces the development and stabilization of instrumentation from the early part books of Black Dyke to the sophisticated but largely unpublished scores of John Gladney and Alexander Owen. John Foster, the mill-owner and benefactor of the Yorkshire band, formed his group from the remnants of an existing band, appointing a local musician to tutor the members. Even in 1860, the size and instrumentation of bands varied, providing a hindrance to mass publication of brass band music and a challenge to publishers to create flexible scoring which could be adapted to a range of sizes and formations.