Musical military brass bands. Abstract: on the history of “Military bands. Group of basic percussion instruments

As soon as I heard the sound of a military band...

What emotions does instrumental music evoke in you? Most likely positive. How do you feel when you hear solemn drum sounds and brass instruments? Undoubtedly, cheerfulness, cheerfulness, high spirits. The role of a military orchestra in the life of every person is amazing and irreplaceable. In childhood, delighted boys run after the mustache trumpeters, dreaming of being like them; in adulthood, not a single wedding ceremony takes place without the famous Mendelssohn March, at the end of life orchestra sounds accompany the deceased on his final journey. If you think about it, music performed by a military brass band accompanies us everywhere. Moscow railway stations, hospitably welcoming and seeing off passengers, are filled with a variety of sounds: loudspeakers, the voice of dispatchers, screams, noise, din. But there is one song that immediately comes to mind if you remember the crowd on the platform and the train sounding its last whistle. Yes, this is the “Farewell of the Slav” March, again performed by a military brass band. In Russia, historically, such orchestras played an important role in society. After the decree of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who in 1547 ordered the creation of the first court military brass band, it was difficult to imagine any significant event in the vast country without a march. Remember the Soviet film “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession”, the troops leave the capital city on the orders of the Tsar to the famous “Marusya”, since then they went to war with music and came back from the war to the sounds of percussion and wind instruments.

Today, in peacetime, any military band song evokes emotions among contemporaries, because it is associated with the events of the recent past - the Great Patriotic War. Annually 9th May In every city in the country, trumpeters and drummers in beautiful military uniforms walk along the avenues, boulevards, parks and stadiums. Solemn sounds trombones, trumpets, horns, clarinets, saxaphones, drums and timpani resound through the city streets, announcing to residents that they need to celebrate, rejoice, remember their exploits and live peacefully today.
In the modern world, a brass band performs military marches not only during parades, shows, and special events that need to be given a certain flavor. Nowadays, orchestra members are invited to weddings and anniversaries; a popular service is ordering a military orchestra for corporate events and large-scale city holidays. Their repertoire includes music from different times and genres; do not be surprised if at the wedding ceremony you hear the song “Yesterday” by the legendary The Beatles from a military orchestra or some jazz composition.
In European countries, people are creative in their own way, they invite groups of trumpeters and drummers to the discharge of a newborn from a maternity hospital, to graduations from schools and colleges, on Youtube military bands are presented in various versions, you can admire these bright and unusual performances.
If the idea has come to your mind to decorate your holiday, add solemnity to some event, add a musical zest to the evening, invite a military band. Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Samara, Vladivostok - let high-quality live music thunder in all Russian cities, let every event take place on an unprecedented scale.

A list of them will be given in this article. It also contains information about the types of wind instruments and the principle of extracting sound from them.

Wind instruments

These are pipes that can be made of wood, metal or any other material. They have different shapes and produce musical sounds of different timbres, which are produced through air flow. The timbre of the “voice” of a wind instrument depends on its size. The larger it is, the more air passes through it, which makes its vibration frequency lower and the sound produced low.

There are two ways to change the output of a given type of instrument:

• adjusting the air volume with your fingers, using rockers, valves, valves, and so on, depending on the type of tool;
• increasing the force of blowing an air column into the pipe.

The sound depends entirely on the flow of air, hence the name - wind instruments. A list of them will be given below.

Varieties of wind instruments

There are two main types - copper and wood. Initially, they were classified in this way depending on the material from which they were made. Nowadays, the type of instrument largely depends on the way the sound is extracted from it. For example, the flute is considered a woodwind instrument. Moreover, it can be made of wood, metal or glass. The saxophone is always produced only in metal, but belongs to the woodwind class. Copper tools can be made from various metals: copper, silver, brass and so on. There is a special variety - keyboard wind instruments. The list of them is not so long. These include harmonium, organ, accordion, melodica, button accordion. Air enters them thanks to special bellows.

What instruments are wind instruments?

Let's list the wind instruments. The list is as follows:

• pipe;
• clarinet;
• trombone;
• accordion;
• flute;
• saxophone;
• organ;
• zurna;
• oboe;
• harmonium;
• balaban;
• accordion;
• French horn;
• bassoon;
• tuba;
• bagpipes;
• duduk;
• harmonica;
• Macedonian gaida;
• shakuhachi;
• ocarina;
• serpent;
• horn;
• helicon;
• didgeridoo;
• kurai;
• trembita.

You can name some other similar tools.

Brass

Brass wind musical instruments, as mentioned above, are made of various metals, although in the Middle Ages there were also those made of wood. The sound is extracted from them by strengthening or weakening the blown air, as well as by changing the position of the musician’s lips. Initially, brass instruments were played only in the 30s of the 19th century, valves appeared on them. This allowed such instruments to reproduce a chromatic scale. The trombone has a retractable slide for these purposes.

Brass instruments (list):

• pipe;
• trombone;
• French horn;
• tuba;
• serpent;
• helicon.

Woodwinds

Musical instruments of this type were initially made exclusively from wood. Today this material is practically not used for their production. The name reflects the principle of sound production - there is a wooden reed inside the tube. These musical instruments are equipped with holes on the body, located at a strictly defined distance from each other. The musician opens and closes them while playing with his fingers. Thanks to this, a certain sound is obtained. Woodwind instruments sound according to this principle. The names (list) included in this group are as follows:

• clarinet;
• zurna;
• oboe;
• balaban;
• flute;
• bassoon.

Reed musical instruments

There is another type of wind instrument - reed. They sound thanks to a flexible vibrating plate (tongue) located inside. The sound is produced by exposing it to air, or by pulling and plucking. Based on this feature, you can create a separate list of tools. Reed wind instruments are divided into several types. They are classified according to the method of sound extraction. It depends on the type of reed, which can be metal (for example, as in organ pipes), freely slipping (as in Jew's harp and harmonicas), or beating, or reed, as in reed woodwinds.

List of tools of this type:

• harmonica;
• Jew's harp;
• clarinet;
• accordion;
• bassoon;
• saxophone;
• kalimba;
• harmonic;
• oboe;
• hulus.

Wind instruments with a freely slipping reed include: button accordion, labial. In them, air is pumped by blowing through the musician’s mouth, or by bellows. The air flow causes the reeds to vibrate and thus produce sound from the instrument. The harp also belongs to this type. But its tongue vibrates not under the influence of an air column, but with the help of the musician’s hands, by pinching and pulling it. Oboe, bassoon, saxophone and clarinet are of a different type. In them the tongue is beating, and it is called a cane. The musician blows air into the instrument. As a result, the reed vibrates and sound is produced.

Where are wind instruments used?

Wind instruments, the list of which was presented in this article, are used in orchestras of various compositions. For example: military, brass, symphonic, pop, jazz. And also occasionally they can perform as part of a chamber ensemble. It is extremely rare that they are soloists.

Flute

This is a list related to this has been given above.

The flute is one of the oldest musical instruments. It does not use a reed like other woodwinds. Here the air is cut through the edge of the instrument itself, due to which sound is formed. There are several types of flutes.

Syringa is a single-barreled or multi-barreled instrument of Ancient Greece. Its name comes from the name of the bird's vocal organ. The multi-barreled syringa later became known as the Pan flute. This instrument was played by peasants and shepherds in ancient times. In ancient Rome, syringa accompanied performances on stage.

The recorder is a wooden instrument belonging to the whistle family. Close to it are the sopilka, pipe and whistle. Its difference from other woodwinds is that on its back there is an octave valve, that is, a hole for closing with a finger, on which the height of other sounds depends. They are extracted by blowing air and closing the 7 holes on the front side with the musician’s fingers. This type of flute was most popular between the 16th and 18th centuries. Its timbre is soft, melodious, warm, but at the same time its capabilities are limited. Such great composers as Anthony Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel and others used the recorder in many of their works. The sound of this instrument is weak, and gradually its popularity declined. This happened after the transverse flute appeared, which is by far the most used. Nowadays, the recorder is used mainly as a teaching instrument. Beginning flutists master it first, only then move on to the longitudinal one.

The piccolo flute is a type of transverse flute. It has the highest timbre of all wind instruments. Its sound is whistling and piercing. Piccolo is half as long as usual. Its range is from “D” second to “C” fifth.

Other types of flutes: transverse, panflute, di, Irish, kena, flute, pyzhatka, whistle, ocarina.

Trombone

This is a brass instrument (the list of those included in this family was presented in this article above). The word "trombone" is translated from Italian as "big trumpet". It has existed since the 15th century. The trombone differs from other instruments in this group in that it has a slide - a tube with which the musician produces sounds by changing the volume of air flow inside the instrument. There are several types of trombone: tenor (the most common), bass and alto (used less frequently), double bass and soprano (practically not used).

Khulus

This is a Chinese reed wind instrument with additional pipes. Its other name is bilandao. He has three or four pipes in total - one main (melodic) and several bourdon (low-sounding). The sound of this instrument is soft and melodic. Most often, hulus are used for solo performance, very rarely - in an ensemble. Traditionally, men played this instrument when declaring their love to a woman.

MILITARY ORCHESTRA - spirit. an orchestra that is a regular unit of a military unit (see Brass band). In Sov. Army of V. o. exist in combat units and formations (in regiments, divisions, on ships), during military operations. educational institutions and military. academies, at military headquarters. districts.

The basis of V. o. is a group of copper spirits. instruments - saxhorns. It includes cornets in B, altos in Es, tenors and baritones in B, basses in Es and in B (in some V. altos are replaced by horns in Es). In addition, the typical composition of the Sov regimental orchestra. The army (the so-called medium mixed composition) includes a group of wooden spirits. instruments: flute, clarinets in B, as well as horns in Es or in F, trumpets in B, trombones, percussion instruments, snare and bass drums and cymbals. Orchestras with a larger composition (the so-called large mixed composition) also have oboes, bassoons, clarinet in Es, timpani, and sometimes saxophones and strings. double basses, and a group of horns, trumpets and trombones is represented by a large number of instruments.

Unlike the symphony. orchestra, compositions of the V. o. not completely unified; in the armies of different countries various types are used. combinations of the above tools. In French orchestras. armies have long been dominated by a wooden spirit. tools in it. armies - brass, in American orchestras. army means. Saxophones take their place.

V. o. Sov. The Army and Navy are staffed with qualified profs. military musicians in long-term service and from ordinary conscripts. With many V. o. there are music pupils. At the head of V. o. costs military conductor with a higher education in music. education and being at the same time an officer-commander.

Among V. o. Sov. There are a lot of highly professional people in the army. groups (Exemplary Orchestra of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, Exemplary Orchestra of the Navy, exemplary orchestras of the Air Force Engineering Academy named after H. E. Zhukovsky and the Military Academy named after M. V. Frunze, headquarters of Moscow, Leningrad, etc. military districts).

Repertoire of V. o. consists of plays for service purposes (marching, counter, funeral marches, music of military ceremonial - evening dawn, changing of guards), conc. plays and entertaining music (dances, pieces of light, so-called garden music, fantasy music, rhapsodies, medleys, overtures). See also Military music.

Literature: Matveev V., Russian military orchestra, M.-L., 1965; Saro J. H., Instrumentationslehre für Militärmusik, V., 1883; Kalkbrenner A., ​​Die Organization der Militärmusikchöre aller Länder, Hannover, 1884; Parés G., Traite d'instrumentation et d'orchestration a l'usage des musiques militaires..., P.-Bruss., 1898; Laaser C. A., Gedrängte theoretisch-praktische Instrumentationstabelle für Militär-Infanterie-Musik, Lpz., 1913 ; Vessella A., La banda dalle origini fino ai nostri giorni, Mil., 1939; Adkins H. E., Treatise on the military band, L., 1958.

P. I. Apostolov

For several centuries, military brass bands have created a special atmosphere at celebrations, ceremonies of national importance and many other events. The music performed by such an orchestra can intoxicate every person with its special ceremonial solemnity.

A military brass band is a regular orchestra of a military unit, a group of performers playing wind and percussion instruments. The orchestra’s repertoire includes, of course, military music, but not only: when performed by such a composition, lyrical waltzes, songs, and even jazz sound great! This orchestra performs not only at parades, ceremonies, military rituals, and during drill training of troops, but also at concerts and generally in the most unexpected situations (for example, in a park).

From the history of the military brass band

The first military brass bands were formed in the medieval era. In Russia, military music occupies a special place. Its rich history dates back to 1547, when, by order of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, the first court military brass band appeared in Russia.

In Europe, military brass bands reached their peak under Napoleon, but even Bonaparte himself admitted that he had two Russian enemies - frosts and Russian military music. These words once again prove that Russian military music is a unique phenomenon.

Peter I had a special love for wind instruments. He ordered the best teachers from Germany to teach soldiers how to play instruments.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia already had a fairly large number of military brass bands, and under Soviet rule they began to develop even more actively. They were especially popular in the 70s. At this time, the repertoire expanded noticeably, and a lot of methodological literature was published.

Repertoire

Military brass bands of the 18th century suffered from an insufficient supply of music. Since at that time composers did not write music for wind ensembles, they had to make transcriptions of symphonic works.

In the 19th century, music for brass bands was written by G. Berlioz, A. Schoenberg, A. Roussel and other composers. And in the 20th century, many composers began to write music for wind ensembles. In 1909, the English composer Gustav Holst wrote the first work specifically for a military brass band.

Composition of a modern military brass band

Military brass bands can consist only of brass and percussion instruments (then they are called homogeneous), but they can also include woodwinds (then they are called mixed). The first version of the composition is now extremely rare; the second version of the composition is much more common.

Usually there are three types of mixed brass band: small, medium and large. A small orchestra has 20 musicians, while the average is 30, and a large orchestra has 42 or more.

Woodwind instruments in the orchestra include flutes, oboes (except alto), all types of clarinets, saxophones and bassoons.

Also, the special flavor of the orchestra is created by such brass instruments as trumpets, tubas, horns, trombones, altos, tenor trumpets and baritones. It is worth noting that altos and tenors (varieties of saxhorns), as well as baritones (varieties of tuba) are found exclusively in brass bands, that is, these instruments are not used in symphony orchestras.

Not a single military brass band can do without such percussion instruments as small and large, timpani, cymbals, triangles, tambourine and tambourine.

Leading a military band is a special honor

A military orchestra, like any other, is controlled by a conductor. I would like to draw attention to the fact that the location of the conductor in relation to the orchestra members can be different. For example, if a performance takes place in a park, then the conductor takes a traditional place - facing the orchestra and with his back to the audience. But if the orchestra performs at the parade, then the conductor walks ahead of the orchestra members and holds in his hands an attribute that is necessary for every military conductor - a tambour pole. The conductor who directs the musicians in the parade is called a drum major.

An orchestra is a group of musicians playing various instruments. But it should not be confused with an ensemble. This article will tell you what types of orchestras there are. And their compositions of musical instruments will also be sanctified.

Types of orchestras

An orchestra differs from an ensemble in that in the first case, identical instruments are combined into groups that play in unison, that is, one common melody. And in the second case, each musician is a soloist - he plays his own part. "Orchestra" is a Greek word and is translated as "dance floor." It was located between the stage and the audience. The choir was located on this platform. Then it became similar to modern orchestra pits. And over time, musicians began to settle there. And the name “orchestra” went to groups of instrumental performers.

Types of orchestras:

• Symphonic.
• String.
• Wind.
• Jazz.
• Pop.
• Orchestra of folk instruments.
• Military.
• School.

The composition of the instruments of different types of orchestra is strictly defined. Symphonic consists of a group of strings, percussion and winds. String and brass bands consist of instruments corresponding to their names. Jazz bands can have different compositions. The pop orchestra consists of winds, strings, percussion, keyboards and

Types of choirs

A choir is a large ensemble consisting of singers. There must be at least 12 artists. In most cases, choirs perform accompanied by orchestras. The types of orchestras and choirs differ. There are several classifications. First of all, choirs are divided into types according to their composition of voices. These can be: women's, men's, mixed, children's, and boys' choirs. Based on the manner of performance, they distinguish between folk and academic.

Choirs are also classified according to the number of performers:

• 12-20 people - vocal and choral ensemble.
• 20-50 artists - chamber choir.
• 40-70 singers - average.
• 70-120 participants - a large choir.
• Up to 1000 artists - consolidated (from several groups).

According to their status, choirs are divided into: educational, professional, amateur, church.

Symphony Orchestra

Not all types of orchestras include this group: violins, cellos, violas, double basses. One of the orchestras, which includes a string-bow family, is a symphony. It will consist of several different groups of musical instruments. Today there are two types of symphony orchestras: small and large. The first of them has a classic composition: 2 flutes, the same number of bassoons, clarinets, oboes, trumpets and horns, no more than 20 strings, and occasionally timpani.

It can be of any composition. It can include 60 or more string instruments, tubas, up to 5 trombones of different timbres and 5 trumpets, up to 8 horns, up to 5 flutes, as well as oboes, clarinets and bassoons. It can also include such varieties from the wind group as oboe d'amour, piccolo flute, contrabassoon, English horn, saxophones of all types. It can include a huge number of percussion instruments. Often a large symphony orchestra includes organ, piano, harpsichord and harp.

Brass band

Almost all types of orchestras include a family. This group includes two varieties: copper and wooden. Some types of orchestras consist only of wind and percussion instruments, such as brass and military. In the first variety, the main role belongs to cornets, bugles of various types, tubas, and baritone euphoniums. Secondary instruments: trombones, trumpets, horns, flutes, saxophones, clarinets, oboes, bassoons. If the brass band is large, then, as a rule, all the instruments in it increase in number. Very rarely harps and keyboards may be added.

The repertoire of brass bands includes:

• Marches.
• European ballroom dancing.
• Opera arias.
• Symphonies.
• Concerts.

Brass bands most often perform in open street areas or accompany the procession, as they sound very powerful and bright.

Folk Instruments Orchestra

Their repertoire includes mainly folk compositions. What is their instrumental composition? Each nation has its own. For example, the Russian orchestra includes: balalaikas, gusli, domras, zhaleikas, whistles, button accordions, rattles, and so on.

Military band

The types of orchestras consisting of wind and percussion instruments have already been listed above. There is another variety that includes these two groups. These are military bands. They are used to voice ceremonies, as well as to participate in concerts. There are two types of military bands. Some also consist of brass instruments. They are called homogeneous. The second type is mixed military bands; they, among other things, include a group of woodwinds.