Vintage Brass Band » Recordings

CD Release Party Podcast

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:07:27 +0000

Our CD Release Party on July 8th, 2010, broadcast live on WUIS 91.9 Springfield was a great success!

If you didn’t catch us live on the radio, WUIS has immortalized the event as a podcast which is available as a downloadable .WAV file or through iTunes University.

Download

Download the broadcast by clicking here. Warning: extremely large file, 491MB, .WAV format.

If you are an iTunes user, subscribe to the WUIS Specials Podcast here. Look for the 12th podcast in the series – “Vintage 1876: Music of the Humboldt Brass Band” CD Release Show.
http://deimos.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/uis.edu.1256244545.01752182677

CD Release! Vintage 1876: Music of the Humboldt Brass Band

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:55:18 +0000

The Vintage Brass Band is proud to announce the release of our new CD Vintage 1876: Music of the Humboldt Brass Band!

Click here to Purchase

THE HUMBOLDT BRASS BAND | 1866 – ca. 1880

Upon his return home to Kansas following the Civil War, bandsman Richard Redﬁeld formed the Humboldt Brass Band in the spring of 1866. The band’s hand-written part books survive to this day, carefully collected and preserved by Carl Busch (former conductor of the Kansas City Symphony) and later the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music at the University of Illinois where they are housed today. This recording is a sampling of the over 70 works found in these books, brought back to life for the ﬁrst time in over a century by the Vintage Brass Band!

Track Listing

1. Dolly Varden Galop
2. Yankee Doodle
3. Helter Skelter Galop
4. Last Rose of Summer
5. Darling Quick Step
6. Star of the East Quick Step
7. Uncle Ned and Susanna
8. Les Rose Waltz
9. Home Sweet Home
10. The Girl I Left Behind Me
11. Mother Darling
12. Joe Polka
13. Bass Ball Quick Step
14. Dirge
15. Hail Columbia
16. Red White and Blue
17. Grand March

Live Recordings – A Concert of Music from the Benjamin Grierson Collection

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:43:26 +0000

The following tracks were recorded live on February 27, 2010 at the annual Grierson Society Winter Ball, a fund-raising dinner for the Grierson Days reenactment and the restoration of the Grierson Monument at East Cemetary in Jacksonville, IL.

This special concert was made possible through the research and friendly cooperatoin of musicologist and Grierson scholar Dr. Laverne Wagner of Quincy, Illinois.

Note: These recordings are for private use only. Written permission from the Vintage Brass Band is required for any other purpose including commercial use or public broadcast. Please use the Contact Us link to request permission.

Victoria Gallop - Vintage Brass Band dir. Todd Cranson

Composed by A.J.R. Connert, Victoria Gallop was one of many popular dance tunes written to commemorate the 1838 coronation of Queen Victoria. You may notice in the background of these recordings the sound of the Central Illinois Civil War Dance Society and others dancing!

Jenny Lind Polka - Vintage Brass Band dir. Todd Cranson

It is no surprise that this popular dancing tune was included in Grierson’s books. During her tour of the United States in 1850 through 1851, Jenny Lind gave six performances in St. Louis, Missouri. Benjamin Grierson made an extraordinary effort and incurred great expense when he travelled down the River to attend all six performances.

Medley: Woodman, Spare That Tree, Unidentified and Bowl'd Sojer Boy - Vintage Brass Band dir. Todd Cranson

Possibly arranged by Grierson himself, this medley contains three popular tunes, the second of which has not been identified. Please contact us if you are familiar with this melody!

Polka - Vintage Brass Band dir. Todd Cranson

This polka was found in Grierson’s books dating back to his youth in Youngstown Ohio. It is very typical of popular dance music of the time.

LaFayettes Welcome dir. Todd Cranson

General Lafayette of France made an important contribution to the Revolutionay War. Arthur Clifton penned this work to celebrate Lafayette’s return visit to the United States in 1824.

Bellini Medley - Vintage Brass Band dir. Todd Cranson

The inclusion of works from Italian Opera composer Vincenzo Bellini is an indication that Grierson’s band was rather sophisticated for its time.

Photos and Sounds from A Vintage Brass Christmas

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:52:03 +0000

The Vintage Brass Band at First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, IL - Photo by Liz Murphy Thomas

Vintage Brass Band’s first gala concert, A Vintage Brass Christmas, was a great success! We would like to thank to the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield for providing a beautiful location for this concert which was attended by over 100 people.

Sound Clips:

Of Welsh origin, this holiday classic, “Deck the Hall” has been performed for centuries as a winter and Christmas carol. This contemporary brass quintet arrangement is by Keith Snell.

Deck the Halls arr. Snell - Vintage Brass Band dir. Todd Cranson

Transcribed by G.W. Anthony and published as “Antiphony No. 2,” this work is more commonly known as “O Magnum Mysterium.” It is from a Christmas Motet by Venitian Composer Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612). This arrangement, instead of featuring choirs of voices and brass instruments contrasts two choirs of brass, one cylindrical and one conical.

Antiphony Number 2 by Giovanni Gabrieli - Vintage Brass Band dir. Todd Cranson

Modern audiences may not be aware that one of our favorite holiday carols, “Jingle Bells,” was composed by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) in 1857 under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh.” Vintage Brass Band Artistic Director Todd Cranson collaborated with soloist Mona Kreitner to create this arrangement from an 1857 publication of “One Horse Open Sleigh” for piano and voices.

The One Horse Open Sleigh by Pierpont - Vintage Brass Band dir. Todd Cranson

Recordings from the Humboldt Project

admin — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:50:37 +0000

The following recordings were made Saturday, April 18, 2009 at the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The instruments and music featured in this recording are part of the Carl Busch Papers and Music Instrument Collection at the Archives. The brass instruments date from the mid 1850′s to about 1864. The Humboldt Band Books date from about 1867-1880. The Vintage Brass Band presented performances throughout the day recreating the July 4, 1876 American Centennial Celebration which took place in Humboldt, Kansas. Newspaper accounts of this celebration mention specific selections performed by the Humboldt Brass Band, and today’s Vintage Brass Band performed these arrangements on instruments similar to what were heard in 1876.

Hail Columbia excerpt:

In 1876, Hail Columbia was an unofficial anthem of the United States of America. Today it is played to introduce the Vice-President of the United States. Be sure to compare this excerpt to the next, identical, excerpt played on modern brass instruments! This recording was made outside in front of the Harding Band Building. Pay no attention to the drum line rehearsing in the distance and busses passing in front of us.
Hail Columbia - Vintage Brass Band dir. Todd Cranson
Hail Columbia excerpt played on modern instruments:

This recording was recorded on Sunday, March 29, 2009 at the first rehearsal of the Vintage Brass Band. This excerpt is posted to compare the sound of the modern instruments to that of the period instruments. Technology has come a long way in 150 years, and everything in our world seems to be bigger and louder these days. Take a listen and compare for yourself.
Hail Columbia - Vintage Brass Band dir. Todd Cranson
Red, White and Blue:

The next two tunes are offered in their entirety as a sound sampler of this mid 19th century town band music. Patriotic music was a staple of town bands in the 1870′s. The popular military aires of the American Civil War still found a place in the repertoire of town bands, but some new music was growing in popularity and replacing the older “hits” of the 1860′s.
Red White and Blue - Vintage Brass Band dir. Todd Cranson
Bass Ball Quick Step:

The third selection mentioned in the newspaper account of the Humboldt US Centennial Celebration was “a grand march.” The Humboldt Band Books contain only one grand march, and it is incomplete. The Vintage Brass Band chose the “Bass [sic] Ball Quick Step” simply because it sounded fun! Hope you enjoy.
Bass Ball Quick Step - Vintage Brass Band dir. Todd Cranson