UBIQUITOUS AMBASSADORS
KNOTTINGLEY SILVER BAND
by TERRY SPENCER B.A. (Hons), Ph D.
CHAPTER TWO
CONTENTS |
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THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY: 1901 - 1920
PAGE ONE
At what date the ‘Town Band’
became known as ‘Knottingley Silver Prize Band’ is uncertain. As late as
August 1902, in an action that echoed the occasion when the Band welcomed
George Knapton in 1875, the ensemble welcomed Trooper W. Walker home from the
Boer War. Walker, who had been serving with the Yorkshire Hussars, was carried
in a wagonette through the town in a procession led by the Knottingley Brass
Band. It is therefore apparent that the name of the Band was unchanged at that
date. (1)
The last known reference to the
old title occurs in a newspaper report of a concert held at the Banks Garth
cricket field in July 1903, (2) but while the earliest extant formal
documentation concerning the Band is a somewhat fragmentary collection of
minutes covering the period from May 1904 to November 1912, this source offers
no direct information concerning the change of title nor the circumstances
which inspired the change. (3) However, an inscription on the inside front
cover of the book seemingly indicates its continuation from a previous volume,
since lost, and bears the title ‘Knottingley Silver Prize Band, 1904’.
The sparse evidence therefore
suggests that the Band was renamed in the latter half of 1903, presumably in
the wake of a prestigious contest victory of such significance that it was
considered worthy of incorporation into the Band’s title. Unfortunately, a
thorough search of all known data has failed to reveal any information
concerning such an event, suggesting that the changed title was, perhaps,
merely aspirational. Such conjecture is far from fanciful for the advent of a
new century appears to have prompted appraisal of the future course to be
taken by the Band in which refurbishment of the public image of the ensemble
was the immediate manifestation. To this end, in September 1902, the Band was
reported to be in need of assistance and had appealed to Knottingley Urban
District Council for financial aid. (4) The reason for seeking financial help
is uncertain. One source states new instruments were required while a second
source states more specifically that the need was for new uniforms costing £50
in order that “with their new outfit the Band hope to make themselves a
credit to the town.” (5)
The desire for change did not
occur in isolation and should be viewed within the context of developing
national trends within the sphere of brass band activity. By the close of the
nineteenth century uniforms were becoming fashionable and were being
increasingly adopted by bands. At that time there were more than half a dozen
firms within the county of Yorkshire alone specialising in tailoring for
bands. Not unnaturally, in view of the pride in the British Empire, conquered
and maintained by armed power, band uniforms tended to copy military style, a
fashion clearly evident in the earliest known photograph of Knottingley Band,
dating from 1895.
Within a year or two of that
date, the Huddersfield outfitter, John Beever, was offering band uniforms in
two qualities of cloth, epauletted, cuffed, frogged, flashed and buttoned, at
18s or £1-10-0 each. Caps, ornamented in gold or silver in the style of the
Brigade of Guards or of naval design, were 4s 6d and 6s 6d respectively. Great
coats at 13s and shoes at 8s or 10s per pair were optional extras. (6)
When Henry Iles promoted the
first National Brass Band Contest at the Crystal Palace in 1900 all players in
the 29 competing bands were required to wear uniforms. (7) In accordance with
the developing trend the adoption of uniforms by bands with ambition became
less of a fashion statement and more a practical necessity. Therefore, quite
apart from the obvious attempt to improve the public image of the Band and the
desire not to be outshone by the Glassworks band, or from the belief that a
smart appearance would bolster the self-esteem of the bandsmen and hopefully
produce an added dimension to their performance, particularly in contests, the
move by the Knottingley Band was promoted by awareness of developments in
general.
Given the Band’s consistent
record of charitable work in past decades the request for funding was no doubt
considered to be justified. Knottingley Urban District Council, however,
having become involved in a protracted and costly dispute concerning the town
drainage scheme and facing the expense of refurbishing the Town Hall recently
donated to the town by Mr. J.G. Lyon, and mindful of other projections of
substantial expenditure, felt unable to assist the Band and the appeal was
duly rejected, leaving the Band to ‘earn’ the requisite sum. (8)
An indication of the way in
which money was raised is seen in a resolution of May 1904, in which the Band
Committee formulated a pro rata scale of charges for submission to the
organisers of the forthcoming demonstration and sports at nearby Rawcliffe.
16 players 6 guineas
20 players 7 guineas
24 players 8 guineas. (9)
It is also of passing interest
to note the increase in the size of membership during the previous decade for
the 1895 photograph of the Band reveals only 14 people including the
bandmaster. Whilst the growth in the size of the Band was a positive factor
increasing membership brought logistical problems, not least in the provision
of instruments. The problem was circumvented where possible by making
membership dependant upon the ownership of an instrument (10) but conditional
acceptance was rarely possible and evidence exists of the creation of an
instrument fund subsidised by weekly contributions as early as 1905. (11) An
indication of the costs involved has been provided by Cooper who states that
the average price for cornets at this time was between £1-10-0 and £3-3-0,
while the best quality euphonium cost £4 and estimates that the cheapest rate
for which a small band of about 18 players could be equipped was about £50.
(12)
A further means by which money
was earned was through the provision of concerts, both indoor and al fresco.
As early as the 1870s such concerts took place on an occasional basis and were
to become more frequent during the early decades of the twentieth century. At
soirees, which often continued until the early hours of the morning and on
rare occasions all night long, music was provided by a small ‘Orchestral Band’
consisting of six members drawn from the full ensemble. (13) On such occasions
the surplus bandsmen, assisted by wives and other supporters, served
refreshments and undertook additional duties. (14)
The long established rapport
between the Band and the town cricket club is seen in a resolution of the Band
Committee dated June 1905, that,
“The Band give [the]
Cricketers a sacred concert in payment for use of the field”, (15)
and on other occasions the
profit from events held at the cricket field was shared with the club. Thus,
in July 1904,
“On Saturday evening last,
Knottingley Brass Band paraded the town followed by cyclists in fancy dress
[which was] followed by a gala in the cricket field with the proceeds shared
between the Band and the Cricket Club.” (16)
And again the following year
when a cycle parade led through the town by the Band was followed by a gala
and sports at the cricket field at which costume and other prizes were
awarded. The Band played selections at intervals between the races and a first
aid demonstration by a team from the town’s ambulance station, and concluded
the evening by playing for dancing. (17)
By 1903 a regular series of
Sunday concerts was being held at the cricket field. A report of that year
refers to the ‘great success’, of one such event, which drew an attendance of
1,500 people. Conducted by J.W. Stamp of Castleford, “a fine programme was
gone through and its execution reflected credit on the band and its conductor.”
(18)
Similarly, in 1904, the cricket
field provided the venue for a further season of sacred concerts. (19)
A concert given at Banks Garth
one Sunday in June 1907, which drew “a good attendance and a good gate
collection”, provides a sample of the musical fare provided by the Band.
The concert opened with the march ‘Silver Trumpets’ by Viviani and was
followed by Rossini’s ‘Il Barbiere’. A cornet solo ‘O Dry Those Tears’ by
Riego, was followed by a selection from Herold’s ‘Pre-aux Cleres’. Next came a
duet ‘Excelsior’ by Balfe and the concert concluded with Rummer’s ‘John Of
Gaunt’, all “ably accompanied” by the conductor, Mr. S. Marshall. (20)
By 1908, however, the seasonal
concerts were being held in Howards Field where, under the baton of bandmaster
Sammy Marshall, the opening programme was undertaken. The programme consisted
of the march ‘Nakorkus’, and air, ‘Variation’, and arrangement from ‘Veronica’
and selections of music by Haydn and Sir Arthur Sullivan. (21) The ‘sacred’
concerts took place at monthly intervals, a second one being held at the same
venue in August that year. (22)
The Band also undertook concert
engagements further afield, such as that given to, “a large and
appreciative audience”, at Carleton near Snaith, in June 1913, to boost
the fund to enable the Band to participate in the forthcoming regional and
national band contests. (23) Again, in late July 1914, the Band gave two
performances at Hillam Hall, the grounds of which had been placed at public
disposal by Mr. H.L. Lyon, to enable the Band to raise funds. (24) The Lyon
family had business associations with Knottingley and regularly engaged the
Band to play on social occasions such as the annual outings provided for their
workers. In September 1916, for instance, the Band, at the behest of Mr. C.G.
Lyon, accompanied the employees of Messrs Stainsby & Lyon, together with their
families, on an excursion to Whitley Lodge. The trip was undertaken by three
barges which made their way sedately along the Aire & Calder Canal with the
Band playing musical selections on each leg of the journey. (25)
A series of indoor concerts
took place annually during the winter season from 1906. The concerts, under
the direction of bandmaster Sammy Marshall, were held in Knottingley Town Hall
and were very popular. On the occasion of the inaugural concert of the second
season held on the evening of Monday 7th October 1907, a capacity audience
listened to a programme consisting of a selection from the opera ‘Il Travatore’
and music by Haydn. Samuel Marshall gave a “fine tenor horn rendering”
of an item entitled ‘Mea’ and artistes of both sexes sang a considerable
number of songs, serious and comic, including one by Master Percy Turpin who
reprised the sacred number ‘Angels Ever Bright and Fair’ for which he had
recently been awarded first prize at the Pontefract Music Festival. (26) The
end of a long programme did not, however, conclude the evening’s activity, for
the Orchestral Band then played music for dancing until 3.00am., not
withstanding that the next day was a normal working day for most of the
participants. (27)
A public notice of March 1914,
advertises
A GRAND CONCERT
of Sacred, Instrumental and Vocal Selections, promoted by the
KNOTTINGLEY SILVER PRIZE BAND
will be held in the
TOWN HALL, KNOTTINGLEY,
on SUNDAY NEXT, March 29th
MR TOM ROBERTS, the Yorkshire tenor,
MADAM E. HARRISON, Soprano
Admission: 9d, 6d, 3d. (28)
In scanning the list of Sunday
engagements undertaken by the Band it is interesting to note that in deference
to public sensitivity concerning Sabbath entertainment all events bear the
appellation ‘sacred’. While the changing nature of public attitude is
discernable with regard to strict observance of the Sabbath throughout the
decades spanning the turn of the twentieth century, the transformation was but
gradual before 1914. Even when the events of the Great War of 1914-18 produced
disillusionment and the erosion of faith which accelerated the transformation
of socio-religious observation, there remained a lingering element of the
former attitude which continued to decree what was regarded as suitable or
unsuitable forms of public entertainment for Sunday and which was only
vanquished in the wake of the Second World War.
Solomnity was not always the
order of the day, however, for the Band was engaged in many scenes of gaiety
and in one instance at least circumstances rendered the pre-planned gaiety
singularly inappropriate. A public notice in late July 1914, informed the
local population of a gala event to be held at the Banks Garth cricket field
on the 4th August with music by the Silver Prize band, the proceeds being
shared by the Band and the cricket club. (30) It is not known whether the
declaration of war on the proposed date resulted in the cancellation of the
gala, probably not, for the public perception was that the war would be short
and glorious and in that expectation the social life of the township continued
as normal with the feast and allied events such as the Dispensary Sunday
demonstration taking place as usual. (31)
Terry Spencer 2006
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