American Music History Marching Band & 20th c. Contemporary

Brass and Wind Bands Marching Band Earliest bands became attached to military units By the 19th century, local bands began appearing and parades always had a brass and wind band present Repasz Band of Williamsport, Pennsylvania founded in 1831 and Salem Brass Band of Salem, North Carolina, and Boston Brass Band were among the most notable bands during the 19th century Considered today to be one of the fixtures of American life; by the 1960’s there were 50,000 wind bands through the United States. Every high school and college had one MUSIC: Marches, dances including the two-step, waltzes, and polkas were standard pieces played by marching bands JOHN PHILIP SOUSA: 1854 – 1932 (most famous of the bandmasters) In 1880 became the leader of the US Marine Band In 1892 he organized his own band which toured throughout the world Most notable compositions was “Stars and Stripes Forever” written in 1896

20th century Contemporary & Broadway Charles Ives – 1874 – 1954 ATONAL: Music without a tone center FREE DISSONANCE: Interval/chord that requires resolution, but remains unresolved POLYTONALITY: Two or more melody lines in different tonalities or keys Influenced by hearing two bands clash in tone and rhythm when heard playing different tunes at the same time Experimented with serialism: a style of composing where all structure is chosen from the 12 tones of the chromatic scale – also known as 12-tone or dodecaphonic Leonard Bernstein – 1918 – 1990 Known for his orchestral works, conducted concerts, musical theater and music education through television Music director of the New York Philharmonic beginning in 1958 Enjoyed success as Broadway composer Composed the music for the famous “West Side Story” written in 1957 and “Chichester Psalms” written in 1965

A Few Vocabulary Words Tin Pan Alley: Collection of New York City music publishers & songwriters who dominated the popular music of the U.S. early 19th century into the early 20th century Ostinato: Repeated bass pattern: organ or synthesizer Musical comedy: The Broadway Musical – reflected popular fashions and supplied new songs with each change; started gaining popularity in the 1920’s and continued to gain popularity through writers like Richard Rogers (1902 - 1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 – 1960)