Independent Silver Band

This post is about an ensemble based out of Mt. Vernon, Illinois - the Independent Silver Band (ISB). This is a recreation of a town band from 1884-1889 in Mt. Vernon. This group, which originally began as ten men but later grew in size, played for all manner of local events. The quasi-professional nature resulted in the group eventually folding and being all but lost to the sands of time.

The modern Independent Silver Band

The ISB lay dormant for 115 years until 2004 when a local music educator, William L. Reynolds, revived the band with other like-minded individuals from Southern Illinois. They play on a variety of period instruments many of which are tuned to A=445. Their repertoire is primarily period music but their website says they also have some swing numbers in their book if the situation calls for them.

Curiously, the modern ISB also doubles as a separate Civil War re-enactment band: the 48th Illinois Volunteers which were nicknamed "Pharaoh's Army". Being in the "land of Lincoln" there must have been enough requests for this type of re-enactment group and, since they were becoming familiar with period instruments anyway, it made sense to make the most of additional performing opportunities as they arose.


The ISB's Civil War group - the 48th Illinois Volunteers a.k.a. Pharaoh's Army
In addition to a conductor and a vocalist, the ISB utilizes E-flat cornet, B-flat cornet, E-flat alto horn, B-flat tenor horn, B-flat trombone, B-flat baritone horn, B-flat bass horn, snare drum, bass drum and cymbals. About seventeen musicians play at a performance but the ISB also draws from a substantial list of qualified substitutes from throughout Southern Illinois. 

Here you can see a photo of the original ISB and a photo of the modern ISB. The photos were actually taken in the exact same spot but separated by 117 years!

A performance of March GMB can be found on YouTube here. An 1884 presidential campaign song for James Blaine and John Logan (who lost to Grover Cleveland and Thomas Hendricks) can be heard here. Logan was an Illinois Senator so there would have been a local link between the ISB of old and this campaign song. Lastly, I share a video of Cape May Polka which starts with a close-up on an ISB uniform which can be seen here. There are a few more videos out there, including multiple videos featuring the vocalist for the ISB so I recommend giving them a listen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dodworth Saxhorn Band

Image
This post is about another period-specific group: The Dodworth Saxhorn Band. So you probably are familiar with the horn and are probably familiar with the saxophone - so what is a saxhorn? Adolphe Sax (1814-1894) was a Belgian inventor who contributed a lot to music throughout his innovations. The saxophone family, his invention, is named after him. He also influenced the development of the tuba and euphonium via other instruments like his saxhorns . Wikipedia  also has some interesting information. So, now that everyone knows about saxhorns, I would like to introduce the Dodworth Saxhorn Band. The Dodworth Saxhorn Band in period dress. The Dodworth Saxhorn Band  is modeled after a similarly-named Dodworth band that was well-respected ensemble whose heyday was in New York City from 1840 to 1880. This ensemble was reborn in 1985 thanks to the avid instrument collector Alexander Pollock. Today's Dodworth Saxhorn Band is based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The band only uses
Read more

Rayner Brown

Image
Rayner Brown was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1912. At age 14, Brown would move to California and live there for the rest of his life. He attended the University of Southern California where he completed a B.M. in organ and a M.M. in composition. He studied with Hanns Eisler and Lucien Cailliet. He would go on to teach at Biola University for thirty years until his retirement in 1977. Brown's primary instrument was the organ therefore he maintained various church positions as well some notable leader positions in organ guilds. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that much of his compositional output involves the organ. His catalogue includes over two-hundred compositions including a Requiem Mass for Winnie the Pooh. Throughout his career,  Brown was asked to compose numerous commissions, received multiple Ford Foundation grants and was even the recipient of ASCAP awards for a surprising fifteen years straight. Rayner Brown  passed away in 1999. The Music of Rayner Brown - Los Ang
Read more

Garden Rain - Toru Takemitsu

Image
Toru Takemitsu  (1930-1996) was a Japanese composer. He first heard Western art music when a military officer played a record for him and his fellow soldiers. After the war, in 1948, Takemitsu began studying composition with Kiyose. Takemitsu would remain largely self-taught in all things composition. Toru Takemitsu Takemitsu's greatest influences include Debussy and Messiaen. The timeless quality of their music can be heard in his music. Like them, he composed music with ambiguity: using modal melodies to mask the harmony for example. His 1957 Requiem caught the attention of Igor Stravinsky and this helped Takemitsu receive more recognition. Toru Takemitsu In 1964, he was invited to contribute to a series of lectures in Hawai'i by the East West Center. Another composer present, one who was a generation older than Takemitsu, was John Cage . The two exchanged many ideas but interestingly, Takemitsu was already employing some of Cage's most unique approaches: ind
Read more