ABSTRACT
Brass bands in Britain have their origins in the village bands of the early nineteenth century. Their instrumentation included clarinets, ophicleides and serpents, along with valveless trumpets and horns and, later, keyed bugles. From about 1836 the term ‘brass band’ became accepted as applying to a recognizable type of ensemble, and the first published brass band music appeared. It was, however, to be some time before the brass band became the principal form of amateur wind band in Britain, but during the 1850s, by which time the valve had become established, there was a range of reliable instruments. In England the army had been enlarged mainly through a voluntary militia system and had little effect on bands. The chief function of what bands there were was to provide music for training sessions and parades, and occasionally as an added attraction to special local events or celebrations.
