Canadian military bands

Canadian military bands are a group of personnel in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) that performs musical duties for military functions. Military bands form a part of the Music Branch of the CAF, composed of six full-time professional Regular Force bands, 15 Regular Force voluntary bands, and 53 part-time reserve force bands.[1] Bands of the Music Branch are often badged with the unit or Canadian Forces base insignia that they support.

Musique du Royal 22e Régiment is one of six full-time professional military bands with the Canadian Armed Forces.

The concert bands in the CAF are referred to officially as "brass and reed" bands. They are performing ensembles consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family. The Band Branch also has pipe and drum bands. There is also a dedicated string quartet attached to the Central Band of the CAF. Most bands also form smaller ensembles to suit a variety of performance venues, including show bands, jazz ensembles, rock bands, Celtic ensembles, brass quintets, woodwind quintets, parade bands, and Dixie bands.

The Regular Force musicians are selected nationally by competitive audition prior to enlisting.[2] Members of these bands often come from prestigious conservatories and schools of music. Reserve force musicians are hired and trained at the discretion of the local unit to which they apply. The training and career progressions of both components are separate.

History
See also: Navy bands in Canada and Unification of the Canadian Armed Forces
The Band of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Battalion.

The earliest known activity of a Canadian military band performing during the Trooping of the Colour at the Champ de Mars in Montreal on 18 July 1867, over two weeks after the Confederation of Canada.[3] The first full-time Canadian military band was formed in 1899 with the Royal Canadian Garrison Artillery in Quebec with Joseph Vézina as its bandmaster.[4] In 1909, an order by Minister of Militia and Defence, the then Frederick William Borden, provided the basis that Canadian bands were to never be unionized, during which a violation of this would result in the prolonging of outside engagements with the American Federation of Musicians.[5] Bands were spread across the country for most of the early to mid-20th century, with units such as the Canadian Military Engineers[6] and The Canadian Guards maintaining regimental bands. The band of the latter unit, was the basis for the establishment of the Band of the Ceremonial Guard in the modern Canadian Forces.

During the Second World War, the RCAF Overseas Headquarters Band became the first Canadian military band to be based outside the country on a permanent basis.[7][8] In 1941, Captain Frank Coleman became the first Inspector of Bands for Canada, during which he standardized the musical requirements for members in Canadian bands. Captain Robert Farnon led the overseas based Canadian Band of the Allied Expeditionary Force as its conductor/arranger, being the equivalent of the American Band of the AEF led by Major Glenn Miller.[9] Alfred Edward Zealley, a Naval officer who was considered to be the "Father of the Royal Canadian Navy bands", became director of music of the RCN in 1939 after her created a permanent music band at no cost to the Naval Service of Canada. Over the course of 4 years, he organized 19 navy bands for active service and oversaw the RCN School of Music in Toronto.[10][11]

The Canadian Women's Army Corps Brass Band leaving for a concert in Apeldoorn, 1945.

During the Korean War there was a large expansion of the army, and the size and number of bands increased. In 1954, a school of music was established in Esquimalt, originally for musicians of the Royal Canadian Navy, but now for all Canadian Forces musicians to receive training, being the Canadian equivalent of the United States Armed Forces School of Music and the Royal Military School of Music.[12] The largest gathering of Canadian military bands took place in 1967 during the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo 1967 for the Canadian centenary.[13] In 1974, Lynn Hong became the first woman to join a military band in Canada. Until the early 21st century the Music Branch also had drum and bugle corps and corps of drums within all branches of the CAF (the former formation is now only present in a few bands of the reserve formations). In 1994, the federal budget of Prime Minister Jean Chretien resulted in the disbanding of five of the nine regular force bands. In June 1997, Art Eggleton, Minister of National Defence announced a restructuring of the Music Branch to included the creation of a new band in Victoria and another one in Edmonton[14], acting a full-time regular force naval band in the West. [15]

Pipes and drums

Following the defeat of the Jacobite Army, which drew its main strength from Highland clans, in the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the British placed a ban on Highland influences such as bagpipes. As a result, many Scottish pipers immigrated to North America, often settling the bagpipe culture on the eastern coast in what is now Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. During the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution, the British government employed Scottish pipers.[16] The great Highland bagpipe was a popular type of bagpipe used by Canadian pipe bands during the First World War.[17] During this period, Canadian regiments often had pipe bands who played during battle alongside their units. The most notable among these bands was the Pipe Band of the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish), CEF, which was called in to escort the unit in the war.[18]

By the time the Second World War ended, there was no full-time pipe band in the Canadian Army. When the Korean War broke out in 1950, the a pipe band was authorized in the 27th Canadian Infantry Brigade known as the 1st Canadian Highland Battalion. It would later become the Canadian Guards Pipe Band. In 1951, there were 24 reserve pipe bands. By 1965, there were 30 pipe bands divided into the following military commands and areas: 2 (Eastern Command), 1 (Quebec Command), 4 (Eastern Ontario Area), 8 (Central Ontario Area), 4 (Western Ontario Area), 2 (Manitoba Area), 3 (Saskatchewan Area), 3 (Alberta Area), 3 British Columbia Area).[19]

Corps of drums
A Royal Canadian Army Service Corps Band in Calgary, 1934.

The earliest example of a Canadian corps of drums are found through the Fort Henry Guard and the Fort York Guard, historical group who both sport corps of drums that include fifes and are led by a Drum Major and a Drum Sergeant. During WWII, many regiments maintained small corps of drums that were stationed at all major bases. Whle most of them were staffed by active duty troops, others were volunteer band, staffed by reservists and professional civilian percussionists.[20] Corps of drums have been historically been based on the front-rank tradition of the Royal Marines Band Service. In the late 1940s, the Naval Band Service of the Royal Canadian Navy and the HMCS Naden School of Music, alongside bands from several line infantry regiments of the Primary Reserve, continued this tradition. With the unification of the CAF in 1968, corps of drums in both the RCN and the regular army withered away as various bands were merged. While the navy recovered from this particularly in the mid 1980s within naval reserve bands, most of the army bands never recovered. The sole corps of drums in service today within the Canadian Army is assigned to Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and is more modelled on the Corps of Drums of the British Army Royal Logistics Corps. In July 2013, a five-person corps of drums in the Naden Band made a return to the public at the Victoria Day Parade.[21]

Bands based on demographics

In the mid-1910s, a band was raised in the No. 2 Construction Company, which was the first all-black unit in the Canadians military. The band was created to perform at civic gatherings and in black churches. In 1917, it performed at the Dominion Day festivities, with a war diary noting that their performance "greatly assisted in entertaining the crowd and making the holiday a success."[22] At the time of World War Two, various all-female bands were formed throughout the services. In the RCAF, the female band unit was the RCAF Women's Division Band (notably led by Maurice Dunmall from 1943-1944),[23][24] while in the army the women's unit was known as the Canadian Women's Army Corps Pipe/Brass Band.[25]

Band characteristics

These bands are typically structured as brass and reed bands, or pipe and drum bands.[26] This status, as defined in Queen's Regulations and Orders Chapter 32 and the Canadian Forces Band Instructions, requires that the bands follow all of the applicable Department of National Defence and Canadian Forces regulations concerning military bands and the provision of musical support. When two bands are perform together, they are referred to as Combined Bands. When more than two bands are on parade, they are referred to as Massed Bands.[27] Additionally, all band uniforms must be as described in Chapters 5 and 6 of the Canadian Forces Dress Instructions.

Performances
Members of the Governor General's Foot Guards performing during the Fortissimo Sunset Ceremony in 2012.

Military bands in the Canadian Armed Forces perform as a marching band in parades, military parades, or seated, in concert, and play a part in military funeral, convocation, ceremonies such as Trooping the Colour, and parades. They participate in community events such as Remembrance Day parades and band concerts. These bands wear a mix of authorized military service dress; such as ceremonial dress (including Highland dress), service dress, and operational dress.

Military bands perform at military tattoos within and outside Canada, festivals of military bands, and at civilian competitions presenting a musical gathering of pipes and drums, musical mass performances, with choreographies and multi-media effects. The military bands play ceremonial and marching music, including the national anthems and patriotic songs. A concert band's repertoire includes original wind compositions, arrangements of orchestral compositions, light music, popular tunes and concert marches found in standard repertoire. To honour the armed services, the bands play the Tri-Service March Past, which consists of Heart of Oak (RCN); The Great Little Army (Army) and RCAF March Past (RCAF). Standard pipe band repritorire include Highland Cathedral, Killaloe and Highland Laddie. During military funerals and ceremonies commemorating those who have fallen in war, buglers play Last Post and The Rouse.

Military festivals and tattoos situated in Canada include:

Past or defunct military festivals include:

Professional bands
The Stadacona Band of the Royal Canadian Navy is one of six full-time professional bands in the Canadian Armed Forces.

There are six full-time professional bands of the Canadian Armed Forces Regular Force. Two professional bands operate with the Canadian Army, two are operated with the Royal Canadian Navy, one is operated with the Royal Canadian Air Force. In addition to the five professional bands managed by the three service branches, there is also the Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces, which is the more senior band and reports directly to the CAF Headquarters and the Ministry of National Defence. All six full-time professional bands of the Canadian Armed Forces are brass and reed bands, a band consisting of brass instruments and woodwind instruments.

The Canadian Army operates two full-time professional bands, the Musique du Royal 22e Régiment and the Royal Canadian Artillery RCA Band. The Musique du Royal 22e Régiment is based in Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, while the Royal Canadian Artillery RCA band is based in Edmonton.

The Royal Canadian Air Force operates one full-time professional band, the Royal Canadian Air Force Band. The Royal Canadian Air Force Band is based in Winnipeg.

The Royal Canadian Navy operates two full-time professional bands, one for each operational area of the Royal Canadian Navy, Atlantic and Pacific. The Stadacona Band is based in Halifax, and represents Maritime Forces Atlantic, whereas the Naden Band represents Maritime Forces Pacific, based in Esquimalt.

Voluntary bands

There are 15 voluntary bands within the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Voluntary bands are a part of the Canadian Armed Forces Regular Force, although their band members are not composed of full-time professional musicians.

List of voluntary bands

Canadian Army
Bagpiper and trumpeter with the Band of the Royal Military College of Canada, one of several voluntary bands maintained by the Canadian Army.

The Canadian Army maintains six voluntary bands within the Canadian Army Regular Force. The Band of the Royal Military College of Canada, and the CFB Borden Brass and Reed Band are the only brass and reed voluntary bands in the army, with the other four being pipes and drum bands. Voluntary bands in the Canadian Army includes:

  • 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Pipes and Drums Band[28]
  • 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Pipes and Drums Band
  • Band of the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC Band)
  • Camp Gagetown Pipes and Drums
  • Canadian Forces Base Borden Brass and Reed Band
  • Canadian Forces Base Borden Pipes and Drums Band

Although not officially part of the army structure, the Communications and Electronics Garrison Band at CFB Kingston serves as a voluntary band.

Royal Canadian Air Force

The Royal Canadian Air Force has eight authorized voluntary bands, located at 4 Wing Cold Lake, 8 Wing Trenton, 12 Wing Shearwater, 14 Wing Greenwood, and 22 Wing North Bay. With the exception of 22 Wing they consist of a voluntary brass-reed concert band and a voluntary pipe and drum band. 4 Wing and 22 Wing do not have a pipe and drum band. By custom, military and civilian volunteer musicians parading as part of a band may be authorized to wear the uniforms of that band as optional items. No rank insignia shall be worn unless the individual holds that rank by right. Appointment badges such as that of drum major may be worn. In addition to the bands of the four wings, the Royal Canadian Air Force also maintains the Royal Canadian Air Force Pipes and Drum, a pipe and drums band. Voluntary bands in the Royal Canadian Air Force includes:

Reserve Force bands

The three service branches of the Canadian Armed Forces also maintains military bands for their Primary Reserve units. Reserve Force bands are typically manned by part-time musicians with the Primary Reserve, and are staffed with one or two Regular Force members who serve as musical instructors and administrators.

Canadian Army

The Canadian Army maintains a number of military bands in order to support various units of the Canadian Army Reserve.[30]

Brass and reed bands
Members from the Band of the Ceremonial Guard during the Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa.

Pipe and drums bands
Members of the Calgary Highlanders Band during the Calgary Stampede parade.
  • 1st Battalion, The Nova Scotia Highlanders (North) Pipe Band
  • 26th Field Regiment RCA Pipe Band
  • 48th Highlanders of Canada Pipes & Drums
  • 49th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA Pipe Band
  • Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders Pipe Band
  • The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (PL) Pipe Band
  • The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada Pipe Band
  • The Calgary Highlanders Pipe Band
  • The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) Pipe Band
  • The Cape Breton Highlanders Pipe Band
  • The Essex and Kent Scottish Pipe Band
  • The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton) Regiment Pipe Band
  • The North Saskatchewan Regiment Pipe Band
  • The Pipes and Drums of The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa
  • The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada Pipe Band
  • The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada Pipe Band
  • The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Pipe Band
  • The Toronto Scottish (Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mothers' Own) Regiment Pipe Band
  • Strathcona Pipes and Drums

Royal Canadian Air Force
The 402 Squadron Pipes and Drums is one of three military bands operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force Air Reserve.

The Air Reserve of the Royal Canadian Air Force maintains three military bands. The 400 Tactical Helicopter Squadron Pipe Band, and the 402 Squadron Pipes and Drums are pipe and drum bands, the former based at CFB Borden, the latter based in Winnipeg. The Air Reserve also maintains one brass and reed band, the Musique du 438e Escadron Tactique d'hélicoptères, based in Montreal.

Royal Canadian Navy

The Naval Reserve of the Royal Canadian Navy maintains five military bands. Each summer, musicians from the five active Naval Reserve bands come together to form the National Band of the Naval Reserve and perform throughout Canada. They have played at every Halifax International Tattoo since the mid 1970s, performed on Parliament Hill, at the National War Memorial, at Grey Cup parades, for royal tours and other events.[31] The five active reserve bands in the Royal Canadian Navy include:[32]

  • HMCS Chippawa Band
  • HMCS Montcalm Band
  • HMCS Star Band
  • HMCS Tecumseh Band
  • HMCS York Band

Former military bands

Bands converted into civilian bands

Many of the civilian marching bands that exist today, such as the Oshawa Civic Band and the Toronto Signals Band, have military roots and were formerly Canadian Army bands. In the case of the two bands mentioned, they were formed from the bands of The Ontario Regiment and the 2nd Armoured Divisional Signals Regiment respectively. Other than the aforementioned bands, the following is a list of former military bands re-purposed for civilian use:

Several civilian bands also trace their origins civilian units that supported larger military units. The Concert Band of Cobourg (The Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines Association, Ontario), traces its origins to the Band of the 6th Northumberland Militia, a civilian band that supported the militia unit. The band was briefly under military administration from 1898 to 1905, as the 40th Battalion Artillery Band, before it was re-instituted as a civilian band.[33]

Disbanded military bands
The 48th Highlanders Brass and Reed Band in 1910.
The Bugle Band of the 144th Battalion (Winnipeg Rifles), CEF.

The following is a list of notable military bands in Canada that have since been disbanded:[34][35]

See also

References
  1. http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/musi/index-eng.asp
  2. http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/musi/ar/index-eng.asp
  3. https://montrealgazette.com/sponsored/mtl-375th/from-the-archives-city-swung-to-a-military-beat/amp
  4. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bands-emc#RegularArmedForcesBands
  5. http://regimentalrogue.tripod.com/blog/index.blog?topic_id=1129460
  6. https://cmea-agmc.ca/band-royal-canadian-engineers
  7. https://books.google.com/books?id=gQ4iAQAAIAAJ&q=RCAF+Overseas+Headquarters+Band+-&dq=RCAF+Overseas+Headquarters+Band+-&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiWgvSr-anmAhVCRK0KHUviARgQ6AEIKDAA
  8. https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/living-story/8166230-canada-day-1945-in-london/
  9. https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4399192
  10. https://navalandmilitarymuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CFB-Esquimalt-Museum-Crowsnest-Volume13-Number-09-Jul-1961.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjZwPKq0M_mAhWVZM0KHfZLDCIQFjAAegQIBRAC&usg=AOvVaw1KM298OjrMj8BBGDBy7fI9
  11. https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/4/7/m15-523-e.html
  12. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-forces-school-of-musicecole-de-musique-des-forces-canadiennes-emc
  14. Andre E. Sallown, "CFWA's New RCA Band Forms up in Edmonton," The Ram, April 1998: 15
  15. https://curve.carleton.ca/system/files/etd/995a2466-839e-48f5-bdc9-9ce5a82c09f9/etd_pdf/2a3f4fa47622f5a74b67b1419d5e8e42/alaimo-musicalperformanceinthecanadianmilitaryapreliminary.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiS_9uUvO_nAhUIPK0KHRy8C404KBAWMAJ6BAgIEAE&usg=AOvVaw0ggxuvLW8ec0D2BwQzD6cT
  16. Stewart, Tim, , "The Pipes Play On: Canadian Pipers at War, 1914–1918 An Inspired Tradition," The Journal of Military History, Pg. 58.
  17. Allen, Greg Dawson, "Pipes and Pipers: Bagpipes in War," The North Eastern Folklore Archive.
  18. Corporal D.M. Drysdale, "Pipe Band of the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) C.E.F." Pipes of War. Pg. 1.
  19. http://kilby.sac.on.ca/ActivitiesClubs/cadets/Piping/pipers.html
  20. http://www.dcxmuseum.org/assets/15%2520-%2520Canadian%2520Military%2520erum%2520and%2520Bugle%2520Corps.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjJw9qw5tPmAhUFXM0KHdBUBu4QFjARegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw2p9l-GZYX4FDm3EkT4dJFS
  21. http://www.lookoutnewspaper.com/corps-of-drums-return-to-band/
  22. http://espritdecorps.ca/history-feature/no-2-construction-company-breaking-new-ground
  23. https://theheritageofmilitarymusic.com/military-musicians
  24. https://militarymusic.com/blogs/military-music/13516337-women-and-military-bands-in-north-america
  25. Canadian Women's Army Corps Pipe Band Accessed 13 Nov 2009
  26. Canadian Forces Military Bands and Marches Volume 1 Band Instructions A-PD-202-001/FP-000 (Ottawa, National Defence, 1992)
  27. https://www.canada.ca/en/services/defence/caf/military-identity-system/drill-manual/chapter-14.html#figure-14-a-4
  28. http://www.petawawapostlive.ca/stories_site/march2018/29march/2cmbgpipesanddrumsmarchonmapleleafs.html
  29. https://www.cafconnection.ca/Trenton/In-My-Community/8Wing-Volunteer-Bands/8-Wing-Pipes-Drums.aspx
  30. http://www.grahamnasby.com/misc/music_local-resources.shtml
  31. https://www.friendsofthepublicgardens.org/calendar/2017/8/26/royal-canadian-navy-national-band-of-the-naval-reserve-nbnr
  32. https://www.nstattoo.ca/show/2019/NBNR/
  33. http://www.theconcertbandofcobourg.com/?page_id=997
  34. http://www.dcxmuseum.org/assets/15%2520-%2520Canadian%2520Military%2520Drum%2520and%2520Bugle%2520Corps.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjJw9qw5tPmAhUFXM0KHdBUBu4QFjARegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw2p9l-GZYX4FDm3EkT4dJFS
  35. http://pipesforfreedom.com/webtxt/0204canadian_units_with_pipe_bands.htm
  36. https://milart.blog/2014/11/16/badges-of-the-1st-service-battalion-band/amp/
  37. http://dutchboydrumcorps.com/history-48th.html

Further reading
  • CWO (Ret'd) Jack Kopstein CD When the Band Begins to Play: A History of Military Music in Canada (1992).
  • CWO (Ret'd) Jack Kopstein CD & Ian Pearson The Heritage of Military Music in Canada (St. Catharines, Ont.: Vanwell Pub., 2002)
  • CWO (Ret'd) Jack Kopstein CD & Ian Pearson The History of the Marches in Canada: Regimental/Branch/Corps (Hignell Printing Ltd, 1994).
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