Download The Rise and fall of Swing

AMERICAN MUSIC
HISTORY
Early American Music and Marching Band
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
MUSIC IN AMERICA
• Earliest form of music documented in America was
during the Colonial time period
• Earliest published music book: “Bay Psalm Book”, 1640
• WILLIAM BILLINGS: 1746 – 1800
• Most well-known composer of psalms and published
“New-England Psalm-Singer” in 1770
• Moravians: German-speaking protestant immigrants
who settled in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Came over
from Moravia and Bohemia.
• Chamber music
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
LISTENING #1:
(Click on the link below)
The Stars and Stripes Forever
Using your packet as a guide,
complete the listening criteria for
this John Philip Sousa march