Blowing their own trumpet: Scotland’s brass bands undergoing major revival
THEIR rousing sound raised the spirits and exercised the lungs of coal miners and factory workers, bringing sweet music, gleaming instruments and uniforms with shiny buttons to hard working communities up and down the land.
At their peak, brass bands were part of the fabric of town and village life, providing entertainment and something for the men to do that didn’t involve the pub, offering friendly competition and an escape from the drudgery of day to day life.
But as Scotland’s industrial landscape changed, many brass bands performed their own requiem and another slice of national heritage seemed set to drift away.
This weekend, however, the Concert Hall in Perth will reverberate to the stirring sound of trumpets, French horns, trombones, euphoniums, tubas and cornets, when about 1,500 musicians from 54 brass bands gather to celebrate the Scottish Brass Band Association’s (SBBA) 125th anniversary at the Scottish championships.
According to Carrie Boax, the association’s president, the scale of the anniversary gathering is evidence that Scotland’s brass bands are not just marching on but are soaring – boosted by rising interest in “brass banding” among women and young musicians.
There are now thriving brass bands stretching from Stranraer to Shetland, Lewis and Harris to Lochgelly.
“We are back to seeing brass bands growing in numbers,” says Ms Boax. “As music services in schools are being squeezed with local authorities threatening cuts, people are turning back to brass bands to learn and play music.
“Our youth section is doing really well. Around the country young people are taking part in brass bands and enjoying all the benefits that brings.”
They include her 13-year-old daughter Charlie, who is so hooked on brass she has spurned typical pop stars in favour of following some of the country’s leading brass bands and playing baritone for Irvine and Dreghorn
Brass Band.
Much of the credit for the boom in brass is being given to a visionary youth development programme. Launched by the association in 2002, it is now reaching a crescendo as young players mature and act as inspirational role models for a new generation.
Meanwhile, recent local authority cuts to music tuition has caused concern among parents, but there has been an unexpected spin-off for the SBBA, with rising numbers said to be turning to community brass bands to provide musical education and, in some cases, even to help children with asthma improve their lung capacity.
“With the cuts in funding for brass tuition in schools, young musicians are a particular area of focus for SBBA and a £90,000 grant from the YMI scheme is helping to make a real difference,” adds Ms Boax.
As a result, youth participation in the Scottish brass band movement is now at an all-time high, with more than 20 new youth bands currently up and running – bringing the number of youth bands across the country to 50.
Of the 4,000 people in the association’s member bands, 52 per cent are under 21 years old.
At the same time, the traditional image of the all-male brass band made up of miners and factory workers has been shed.
In a mirror image of the 1996 British
Music services in schools are being squeezed ... people are turning back to brass bands to learn and play music
film Brassed Off, which saw a young female flugelhorn player, played by Tara Fitzgerald, battle to join an all-male band, women and girls now make up almost half of the SBBA bands’ members.
It’s an impressive turnaround in fortunes for a movement that at one point seemed set to struggle as the collieries, paper and textile mills, foundries and factories that many bands were historically linked to faded and closed.
The craze for brass bands emerged in the early 19th century. But while English bands tended to be linked to churches, Scottish Presbyterian churches’ preference for unaccompanied
Psalms meant early brass bands in Scotland tended to be linked to the military.
The industrial revolution, however, saw an explosion in brass bands across the country, with groups of workers encouraged by pit owners and factory bosses to form bands rather than spend their time drinking in the pub.
In some cases, landowners formed their own bands: the Marquis of Lothian’s Band is thought to date from the 1850s.
Others, including Langholm, St Ronan’s Barrhead, Peebles and Penicuik, are among Scotland’s