Brass, Reeds, and Percussion

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, wind bands held a position somewhat similar to late 20th century rock and roll bands. They conveyed popular music to the population at large, and they went on tours. They were competitive and even charged high prices for concert tickets. No doubt, John Philip Sousa's band was probably the most famous and most popular, but an Italian named Guiseppe Creatore lead a competitive band. Born in Naples, Italy, in 1871, Creatore was a trombonist and a very colorful conductor.

The Janissaries were members of elite infantry units of the Ottoman Empire. Starting in the 1300s, the Ottomans kidnapped little boys in conquered areas: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, and Serbia. The Ottomans circumcised the boys, converted them to Islam, and incorporated them into Ottoman army where they were subjected to strict discipline. The Janissaries eventually became influential and powerful within the Ottoman government. During the 1700s, they were corrupted and eventually abolished by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826.

We’ve been airing Janissary music on Brass, Reeds, and Percussion. Today’s edition opens with the Military Band of the Old Turkish Army, a 700-year-old unit, playing the “Jihadi March.” If you were at the Battle of Vienna in 1683, you might have heard the Ottoman Muslim’s marching toward the city with 1,000 band members playing this march. In 1740, after the Polish King added the Janissary instruments to his military bands, other European military bands followed suit.

Born in Paintersville, Ohio, in 1891, Karl L. King was a self-taught composer and son of a salesman-father who played the tuba in the town band. When his family moved to Canton, Ohio, he received his formal musical training. It consisted of four piano lessons and one lesson in harmony from the director of a traveling music show. He sold newspapers to pay for his first cornet and later joined the Canton Boy’s Band as a trombonist.

Born in Japan in 1986, Naoya Wada is an an internationally recognized wind-band composer. He has been commissioned numerous times to write for band, ensembles, and radio programs, and often works as a guest conductor and clinician. He is one of the few Japanese composers making significant contributions to educational band music. His works for concert band, string orchestra, and small ensembles have been performed, published, and recorded worldwide by groups ranging from elementary to the professional level.

This edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion celebrates both Black History Month and Mardi Gras. All the music you heard on this edition was composed by African-American musicians, most born in New Orleans. All the music you will hear on today’s program was performed by African-American musicians, most born in New Orleans. Starting in roughly 1860, wind instruments of all types began to be made in factories, thereby making them inexpensive.

Many of our Western European percussion instruments are derived from the Turkish wind band called a mehteran. The influence of Turkish instruments on Western music is thought to date to the 1683 siege of Vienna when the Ottoman Turks attempted to capture the city. The Ottomans had Janissary or mehteran bands to accompany their troops.

Raymond Scott is a obscure composer whose music is probably familiar and recognizable to many people—because people have heard his music in the most unlikely of venues: cartoons. Scott was born in 1908 and was a 1931 graduate of the Juilliard School of Music. Although he didn’t deliberately write music for cartoons, his music was adapted for use in 120 Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and other Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons.

Wind-band arrangements of rock music can frequently reveal unnoticed elements of the music. You may have that experience when you hear a wind-band medley of music from the English rock band Deep Purple, formed in London in 1968. The band was pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock.

Normally, Brass, Reeds, and Percussion takes a trip to the cha cha palace for new year’s eve, but since today is new year’s day and a Saturday, we’re taking our annual trip to the cha cha palace this afternoon. And we’re going to start with a klezmer-influenced dance tune that was also a popular hit in 1920: "Lena from Palesteena." It was recorded and performed by the Original Dixieland Jass [how "jazz" was spelled circa 1920] Band, a group from New Orleans.