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    The Wind-Bands: A social history of a global phenomenon
    The Wind-Bands: A social history of a global phenomenon
    The Wind-Bands: A social history of a global phenomenon
    Ebook127 pages2 hours

    The Wind-Bands: A social history of a global phenomenon

    By Emanuele Raganato

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    Traditionally, if we exclude the military field, the Wind-Band has been considered a popular and folkloric musical expression linked to civil, ritual, religious and, above all, local customs and traditions. This historical survey on the spread of the phenomenon worldwide, albeit with different methods, concentrations and meanings, highlights not only an important fact, namely that the band is the most widespread phenomenon of musical aggregation at global level, but also many similarities, contaminations and historical crossings between the ensembles around the world. In a period in which the historical memory is lost at the same speed with which it is possible to find information on the Internet, a comparative and synthetic analysis can be useful to retrieve all those symbolic and cultural meanings that with the Wind-Band have been interiorized, contributing, often in an evident and fundamental way, to shape the current society.
     
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStreetLib
    Release dateJun 6, 2019
    ISBN9788834133583
    The Wind-Bands: A social history of a global phenomenon

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      The Wind-Bands - Emanuele Raganato

      Carbotti.

      Preface

      Writing about Wind-Bands in Italy is a difficult task, since, over the years, different traditions have already been stratified on the national territory. These stratifications, moreover, animate a debate that at different levels and on different media ( magazines, social, etc.) confirm the relevance of a very dense phenomenon with not only musical, but also social, cultural and anthropological implications. A synthesis work was therefore necessary, at least to understand the historical and social reasons that allowed these stratifications. However Raganato's book has not stopped at the existing rich national reality, on the contrary, it has crossed its borders to trace historical-social trajectories through which investigate the Wind-Band phenomenon at a global level. In some countries there is a rich literature on the subject but since extremely different forms of Wind-Bands have developed over the centuries even in contiguous territories (I think of my region, Apulia, in Italy, opposite to Albania) every comparison can hide the pitfalls and be arbitrary. Raganato has avoided the comparative approach ( usually made just on the Wind-Bands' staff) , through a historical-social global examination, which highlights attractive poles greatly homogenized ( such as the United States and Japan) that dictate important market rules, unique glocalizing ( such as the various realities present in the territory of the former Soviet Union) and reality in settlement (as are generally European), implicitly demonstrating that, in terms of spreading, the Wind-Band ensemble is, today, the most relevant in the world. Although I was able to know very different international band realities directly, re-reading this essay carefully I have recognized a common thread that makes the international band phenomenon something global, important and almost unique. Finally , I leave this Preface open, just as Raganato's research work is open (it is in fact a small part of his PhD thesis) , with one suggestion: coming from Apulia, a land notoriously and historically rich of bands, I have always lived and imagined the band as artistic, civil and religious expressions of popular matrix. The story that Raganato tells confirms my impression, that the bands are the amplifier of a completely popular vocal and choral style. On a global level, however, something is happening today that is bringing out new scenarios ( such as the powerful system of musical education in the United States or Japan) in which the predominant values are gradually changing. The research in this field is therefore open and I recognize to the author of this essay the primacy and depth of an essential analysis that I hope will be an invitation to new and further studies, especially in Italy.

      Domenico Zizzi

      International musician and researcher

      www.domenicozizzi.it

      Chapter 1- Did you say Wind-Band?

      Questions on the definition and the translation

      When we talk about Wind-Bands, the first question arising is usually assumed to be «What is a Wind-Band?». Unfortunately, it is hard to find an unambiguous definition ¹ .

      In this chapter a set of definitions drawn from the most prestigious Italian dictionaries and the most widespread ones is listed. This is meant to be barely an example, considering the even more intricate scenario at an international level ²). Lastly, we'll add below a personal proposal, then awaiting a space for a proper analysis:

      «The Wind-Band is an orchestral group composed by wind-instruments and percussion (sometimes, there are string doublebasses and, as in Spain, cellos)» (Fulvio Creux - ex-conductor of Italian Army Wind-Band ³);

      «The Wind-Band is a musical group composed by wind-instruments, both in wood and brass, including any percussion and seldom, string doublebasses». (Nuova Enciclopedia della Musica Garzanti ⁴);

      «[We consider Wind-Bands] organized groups of wind-instrument and percussion players, who especially perform outdoor» (Nuovo Soggettario Thesaurus della Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze ⁵);

      «The Wind-Band is a musical group composed by wind-instruments and percussion who especially perform outdoor (sometimes in concert halls and auditoriums too)». (Dizionario Enciclopedico Universale della Musica e dei Musicisti, UTET ⁶);

      «The Wind-Band is a musical group composed by wind-instruments and percussion, whose members can be both military or civilians, who perform on solemn occasions». (Dizionario della Lingua Italiana Devoto - Oli ⁷);

      «The Wind-Band is a variable ensemble of players of musical instruments, which the most of which are wind-instruments. It especially performs outdoor, in ritual, civilian, military and recreational ceremony. It may be composed by professional or amateur musicians». (Emanuele Raganato ⁸).

      Since there are too many definitions of heterogeneous models, it is hard to define an effective frame of reference, whether both in distant cultural backgrounds (Europe, America, Asia, etc.), and even when we talk about while considering closer ones (such as in Italy, between for Northern and Southern Wind-Bands). The situation analysis becomes even more complicated when it comes of if qualitative aspects (i.e. one Wind-Band is better than another one, or which staff is more efficient, etc.) are taken into account. By reading the next chapters it can be deduced that as these questions were born with the concept conceived together with the concept of Wind-Band itself ⁹.

      In the past, institutions (mainly in the military field) produced definitions and comparisons were generally made in quantitative terms (number of musicians in the staff and variety of instruments used). However, as we will see, every attempt in this direction has not been successful and has indeed highlighted the inadequacy of the purely technical investigation perspective on the subject. Then, at the international level, the situation becomes even more complicated as any attempt at translation inevitably clashes with the many exceptions already present at the local level. In this regard, some authors, such as Lorenzo Della Fonte ¹⁰, aims for a standardization of the staff at the international level ¹¹. Other authors, more tied to the territorial realities (such as Bianca Tragni, Angelo Cappello, etc.) ¹² prefer instead to highlight the peculiarities of certain phenomena from an anthropological rather than musical perspective instead. Finally, there is the position of the sociologist Vincent Dubois ¹³, who, noticing the arbitrariness of each comparison, proposes only a sociological investigation in order to explain the musical phenomena through their social environment and immediately clarifying the limits placed by each translation.

      As demonstrated by a great deal of research conducted all over the world ¹⁴, the Wind-Band is certainly one of the most widespread musical phenomena. However, it would be reductive to speak univocally of Wind-Band as «organized groups of wind-instrument and percussion players who perform mainly outdoors» ¹⁵, because the variety indicated by this general name is enormous and each bandistic ¹⁶ culture seems to have adapted its characteristics locally ¹⁷. Moreover, in order to convey the concept at an international level, using the terms in English, we are often forced to make simplifications, because many forms of Wind-Bands are not univocally or accurately referable either to the most used suffix, -band, or to the related prefixes, that from the comparison of international catalogues seem to be the most frequent ( Wind-band, Concert-Band, Brass-Band, Marching-Band, etc.). Finally, the analysis of the specific terminology in the various national contexts may reveal not only the social function of the Wind-Band but also the regard, in terms of cultural legitimacy, that these groups enjoy or not at local level, and thus be a useful support to any international comparisons ¹⁸.

      Some authors ¹⁹ trace the term band back to the gothic " bandwa ²⁰, used to indicate a group of heterogeneous musical instruments that at the end of the Middle Ages animated city life and, occasionally, accompanied even the criers. Others, on the other hand ²¹, recall the term bandum (or band), which still in the Middle Ages indicated the transverse band used by trumpet players during the royal processions. Still others ²² trace the term Banda" back to the popular name given to the military musical troops that accompanied the banners (flags) or to the musicians of the Compagnie di Ventura, whose militiamen were divided into bandisti and banditi ²³ . However, as it is later clarified, the currently used term may have extremely varied national and local counterparts that refer to different terminological origins. If the prevailing term, also conveyed by the dominant American market is, in fact, Wind-Band, in Europe in particular, where the Wind-Band tradition was started, the variations may be significant and have a different origin from the English term, while indicating more or less similar formations. A first interesting example, may be detected in Poland where the prevailing term to indicate a group of wind-instruments and percussion players is « orkiestra» ²⁴. This term, in the various declinations, also specifies the type of staff (for example, the Orkiestra dęta is the equivalent of the fanfare ²⁵, or a Brass-Band, Orkiestra marszowa indicating the Marching-Band, both in parades and in local celebrations, Orkiestra wojskowa, or the Military-Band, Orkiestra reprezentacija, representative groups such as those very popular fire-fighters or postmen). This logic is also followed approximately in the Czech Republic and Slovakia ( Dychový Orkester, for fanfare, etc.) and in neighbouring countries, with the exception of Hungary ²⁶. The term " Oркестр" ( Orkyestr, Orchestra, in

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