Scarecrow Press Opera at the Bandstand: Then and Now

In Opera at the Bandstand: Then and Now, George W. Martin surveys the role of concert bands during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in making contemporary opera popular. He also chronicles how in part they lost their audience in the second half of the twentieth century by abandoning operatic repertory. Martin begins with the Dodworth bands in New York City from the 1850s and moves to the American tour of French conductor and composer Louis Antoine Jullien, bandmaster Patrick S. Gilmore's jubilee festivals, the era of John Philip Sousa from 1892 to 1932, performances of the Goldman Band of New York City from 1920 to 2005, and finally the wind ensembles sparked by Frederick Fennell. He illustrates the degree to which operatic material comprised these bands' overall repertory and provides detailed programs in the appendixes. Opera at the Bandstand describes how the technological advancements sweeping the country, such as radio, automobiles, recordings, television, and air conditioning, along with changes in demographics, affected the country's musical life. It will appeal to bandmasters and their players, as well as those with an interest in American history, music, popular culture, and opera. Review [This] is an important book. It is well written, amply documented and illustrated, and provides an unusually good survey of band history from a refreshing, unexpected viewpoint.--Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association Martin studies the concert bands that flourished in the US from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. During the 19th century, a major part of popular entertainment was band concerts, and a large percentage of the repertoire was opera. By the end of the century, there were nearly 10,000 bands, most of which were concert bands, not marching bands. Martin proceeds to examine the best known bands and conductors from 1850 to 1950, including the Dodsworth bands (bandmaster Mons. Jullien), the Jubilees and the 22nd Regiment Band (Patrick Gilmore), the Marine Band and Sousa's Band (John Philip Sousa), and the Goldman Band (Edward Franko Goldman). During the Depression, funds for the touring bands became scarce; the dance band became popular, and band repertoire accordingly shifted from opera arias to the waltz and the fox-trot. Martin observes that technology--the radio, the phonograph, television, the automobile--helped to bring about the decline of the touring civilian bands. Martin makes a plea for a revival of concert bands with operatic repertoire. The book concludes with 17 appendixes, which provide detailed programs from different bands of the period and numerous photographs of famous band conductors. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; professionals; general readers.--CHOICE Martin's writing is clear and well structured, and he presents a good deal of compelling evidence for the prevalence and importance of operatic repertoire within the programming of nineteenth-century bands. Aside from what he discusses in the main body of the text, the book's seventeen appendices provide a great deal of data in the form of concert programs or repertoire lists for specific bands. . . .The book includes both a general index and an index of musical works; both are well constructed. Opera at the Bandstand is an important addition to a too-small body of scholarly work related to American wind bands. While some individual ensembles or leaders (most notably Sousa) have received a good deal of attention, less work has been done in examining the genre as a whole. Martin's work here suggests more avenues for investigation, both relating to the history of bands themselves and analysis of other segments of their repertoire.--ARSC Journal About the Author George W. Martin is the author of twelve books, including Verdi in America: Oberto through Rigoletto (2011) and The Opera Companion (1961, paperback edition 2008).