What a nice surprise to find such interest in this topic. In the 19th and
early 20th centuries, many industries (e.g., mines and mills) sponsored
their own bands -- both here in the US and abroad. The resident bands
created by the colleries in England were formidable. How many of you saw
that British film a few years back, "Brassed Off"? (you can rent the
video). I believe the soundtrack used an actual British collery band, and
it was awesome. Many of the American bands were probably a bit funkier, as
that group in Como looks to be.
The most interesting questions for me are:
1) What was the Burlington's interest in these bands? Were they just being
civic-minded and, say, springing for instruments or donating money or other
resources to schools et al. in some of their on-line communities, or were
there also "official" employee-based bands?
2) What function, if any, did these bands serve for the company? One of the
interesting things about the Como children's band photo Ken Martin mentions
is that the caption says they played often at the depot for arriving and
departing trains.
3) When were these bands in existence? The post-Civil War era through
World War I was probably the golden age for brass bands in this country. It
would seem worthwhile to have an accurate timeframe if you wanted to
recreate an "authentic" band -- which would be neat. Knowing this
information would give you a better sense of both your choice of music and
the specific mix of instruments you'd want to approximate (I assume nobody
out there plays the ophicleide?). The Como band mentioned above looks like
it had 3 trombones (at least one of them a smaller, valved instrument), 3
cornets or trumpets, 2 tubas (different sizes), and 2 drums (bass and
snare).
4) But it's repertory that matters the most -- at least if historical
accuracy is as important as it is in modeling. At the Historic Brass
Society conclave in Berkeley two years ago, we heard a concert by a Civil
War era band (big!); they played a mixture of waltzes, some polkas,
marches, and other popular songs of the time. What would the Burlington
bands have played? Didn't someone have a concert program? The British bands
(as those who saw "Brassed Off" can attest) were much more ambitious in the
music they tackled. Those guys really COULD go toe-to-toe -- or
bell-to-bell -- with the Canadian Brass.
Good luck,
Jonathan
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