The year 1877 was an important time for the development of music listening. It was in that year that Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. With the exception of some early player pianos, the phonograph allowed for people to listen to music removed from the source of the sound for the first time. In other words, people in earlier times had to be in the presence of a live performer to hear music. This helps to explain the importance of amateur music making before the era of mass media. Everything changed with Edison’s invention.
The great musicians of the late nineteenth century began to make recordings. According to Oxford Music Online even Brahms made recordings in the 1880s. The United States Marine Band began recording in the 1880s. The great tenor Enrico Caruso (1873–1921) was one of the most important performers in helping the phonograph to become so popular.
The technology has advanced very quickly moving from foil to wax cylinder to 78-rpm records to long-playing records (LPs), to cassettes, to compact discs (CDs), to music services, and finally to cloud-based storage.
With each technological advance, recorded music became more accessible to the public. Especially in popular culture, the technology shapes the nature of the art form.
The pioneering CD recordings made by Eugene Migliaro Corporon, first at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and then at the University of North Texas, dramatically increased the amount of band music that has been recorded. Before that time, the availability of band recordings was limited. Frederick Fennell’s recordings with the Eastman Wind Ensemble on the Mercury label were probably the most well known discs and they had enormous impact on the field. There were several other university bands that recorded. Some of the most important early instances were at the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan, and Cornell University.
A great many college and university bands now record. They are produced in a wide variety of ways ranging from in-house recording/distribution to fully commercial labels. The United States service bands release a great many recordings. Professional ensembles like the Dallas Wind Symphony, the Gotham Wind Symphony, and the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra produce many excellent CDs. There are countless numbers of recordings of bands and wind ensembles now available.
Many wind ensemble recordings can be found on music services such as iTunes (http://www.apple.com/itunes) and subscription services such as Sony Entertainment Network (http://www.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/music-unlimited). SmartMusic (http://www.smartmusic.com) is another excellent source for recordings. Listening services such as Spotify (https://www.spotify.com) continue to expand their offerings of classical music. The Internet is a tremendous source of recordings as well. Unfortunately some of these at times go beyond the rather fluid bounds of copyright law. All of these trends certainly make accessibility easier.
Another vitally important source of recordings is the Naxos Music Library (http://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com). At the time of this writing, more than 97,870 CD-length recordings have been uploaded, more than 800 added every month. Bands and wind ensembles are well represented. Individuals can subscribe to the service. However a great many libraries, especially at the university level, subscribe to the library and patrons can access recordings without fee.
AllMusic. http://www.allmusic.com/genre/classical-ma0000002521.
Discogs [music database]. http://www.discogs.com.
Encyclopedia Discography of Victor Recordings (EDVR). University of California, Santa Barbara. http://victor.library.ucsb.edu/index.php.
Johnson, Ellen S. “The Paul E. Bierley Band Record Collection Featuring John Philip Sousa.” CBDNA Journal 5 (Winter 1988): 11–23. Reprinted in The Wind Band and Its Repertoire: Two Decades of Research as Published in the College Band Directors National Association Journal, compiled and edited by Michael Votta Jr., 217–232. Miami, FL: Warner Bros. Publications, 2003.
Rasmussen, Richard Michael. Recorded Concert Band Music, 1950–1987: A Selected, Annotated Listing. Jefferson, NC; London: McFarland, 1988.
Rickson, Roger E. Ffortissimo: A Bio-Discography of Frederick Fennell: The First Forty Years, 1953–1993. Cleveland: Ludwig Music Publishing, 1993.
Smart, James R., comp. The Sousa Band: A Discography. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1970. Available online at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200152756/default.html.
Stoffel, Lawrence F. A Discography of Concert Band Recordings on Compact Disc: Promoting the Artistry of Band Composition. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2006.
Williams, Frederick P. “The Conway Band Recordings 1912–1922.” Journal of Band Research 27, no. 2 (Spring 1992): 20–33.
———. “The Times as Reflected in the Victor Black Label Military Band Recordings from 1900 to 1927.” Pts. 1–3. ARSC Journal 4, nos. 1-2-3 (1972): 33–46; 8, no. 1 (1976): 4–14; 8, no. 3 (1981): 21–59.
The resources above are dedicated discographies that include wind band/ensemble music. Selective discographies or lists of recordings are also available in other reference books, including:
Battisti, Frank L. The Winds of Change: The Evolution of the Contemporary American Wind Band/Ensemble and its Conductor. Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2002, pp. 285–304.
Fonder, Mark. Patrick Conway and his Famous Band. Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2012.
Miles, Richard, ed. and comp. Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. 10 vols. Chicago: GIA Publications, 1997–2014.
Nicholson, Chad. Great Music for Wind Band: A Guide to the Top 100 Works in Grades IV, V, VI. Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2009.
Salzman, Timothy, ed. A Composer’s Insight: Thoughts, Analysis, and Commentary on Contemporary Masterpieces for Wind Band. 5 vols. Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2003–2012.
Smith, Norman E. March Music Notes. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2000.
———. Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2001.
Recording Labels
http://www.bandleaderrecordings.co.uk
http://www.giamusic.com/products/P-GIA_Windworks.cfm
http://www.klavier-records.com
http://www.tresonamultimedia.com
http://www.walkingfrog.com/home.php
http://www.mirasound.nl/wwmshop/contents/en-uk/d18.html
United States Air Force Band (Washington, DC)
http://www.usafband.af.mil/recordings/
United States Air Force Band of the Pacific-Asia (Yokota Air Base, Tokyo, Japan)
http://www.bandofthepacific-asia.af.mil/recordings/
United States Air Force Band of the West (Lackland Air Force Base, TX)
http://www.bandofthewest.af.mil/recordings/
United States Air Force Heritage of America Band (Joint Base Langley-Eustis, VA)
http://www.heritageofamericaband.af.mil/recordings/
United States Army Band, “Pershing’s Own” (Fort Myer, VA)
http://www.usarmyband.com/jukebox/index.html
United States Army Field Band (Fort George G. Meade, MD)
http://www.armyfieldband.com/pages/listening/downloads.html
United States Army Training and Doctrine Command Band (Fort Eustis, VA)
http://www.tradoc.army.mil/band/recordings/default.asp
United States Military Academy Band (West Point, NY)
http://www.usma.edu/band/SitePages/Recordings.aspx
United States Coast Guard Band (New London, CT)
http://www.uscg.mil/band/recordings.asp
United States Marine Band, “The President’s Own” (Washington, DC)
http://www.marineband.marines.mil/AudioResources.aspx
United States Navy Band (Washington, DC)
http://www.navyband.navy.mil/sounds.shtml
United States Naval Academy Band (Annapolis, MD)
http://www.usna.edu/USNABand/listen.php
Dallas Wind Symphony, Dallas, TX
“John Philip Sousa: American Conductor, Composer & Patriot”
Gotham Wind Symphony, New York, NY
http://www.gothamwindsymphony.com/
Lone Star Wind Orchestra, Dallas, TX
http://lonestarwindorchestra.com/
Salvation Army Chicago Staff Band, Des Plaines, IL
http://centralusa.salvationarmy.org/usc/recordings_csb
Salvation Army New York Staff Band, West Nyack, NY
“Prevailing Winds” radio program
KDLG Public Radio, Dillingham, AK 99576
http://kdlg.org/programs/prevailing-winds
http://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com
http://www.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/music-unlimited
According to music education historians Michael L. Mark and Charles L. Gary,1 radio was adopted for educational purposes as early as 1917. Walter Damrosch began broadcasts for schoolchildren in 1928. Conductor Theodore Thomas also was a pioneer in radio broadcasts for children.
The format quickly moved to television. Leonard Bernstein’s iconic series of Young People’s Concerts was featured on CBS from 1958–1972. Bernstein conducted a total of 53 performances most of which are available on DVD.2 This and other efforts brought video to music education.
Many of the early efforts in educational video in music education were humble because of the costs involved with the technology of the time; films were expensive to produce. The development of video recording in the 1980s helped the technology to develop.
Like audio recording, digital technologies helped to make video more practical—the DVD especially so. There are hundreds of DVDs that feature notable conductors, many of which are produced by the major classical music labels such as Deutsche Grammophon (DG) and are available from many different sources including Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. Some titles are also available on Blu-Ray. Some of the conductors featured on DVD include the following:
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Bruno Walter |
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There are certainly fewer DVDs specific to bands and music education. GIA Publications in Chicago is one of the most important publishers of educational videos for the field. Notable conductors such as Frank Battisti, Eugene Migliaro Corporon, Frederick Fennell, Richard Floyd, Mark Hindsley, James Jordon, William D. Revelli, and H. Robert Reynolds are featured. Particularly notable in the GIA catalog is the 3 DVD set with Allan McMurray, “Conducting from the Inside Out.”
GIA Publications
http://www.giamusic.com/music_education/
The United States Army Field Band has released a number of educational DVDs on a variety of topics. They also feature instructional and performance videos on their web page.
United States Army Field Band
http://www.armyfieldband.com/pages/education/video.html
The United States Navy Band has produced some feature DVD recordings with educational and performance video. The other service bands also feature video materials on their own websites as well as on YouTube and other such services.
United States Air Force Band (Washington, DC)
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUSAFBand
United States Army Band, “Pershing’s Own” (Fort Myer, VA)
https://www.youtube.com/user/usarmyband
United States Marine Band, “The President’s Own” (Washington, DC)
https://www.youtube.com/user/usmarineband
United States Navy Band (Washington, DC)
https://www.youtube.com/user/usnavyband
http://www.navyband.navy.mil/videos.shtml
1 Michael L. Mark and Charles L. Gary, A History of American Music Education, 3rd ed., Lanham, NY: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, pp. 294–295.