The Military Brass Band of the Commandant Regiment of the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan (known simply as the Military Band of the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan), is the official regimental military band of the commandant regiment of the Ministry of Defence of Tajikistan. Being subordinate to the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, it is the seniormost military band in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan. The band performs a series of tasks that include providing entertainment in activities concerning the

Tajik National Army tg, Қувваҳои Мусаллаҳи Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, italics=off , image=File:Tajik Armed Forces Shoulder Patch.jpg , image_size= , image2 = , alt2 = Roundel , caption=The shoulder patch o ...

, as well as in various state concerts and celebrations. It has performed during the quinquennial

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

and National Army Day parades in

Dushanbe Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (r ...

on September 9 and February 23 respectively since 1993, and has attended every military and state function at various locations, from the

Kohi Millat The Palace of the Nation ( tg, Қасри Миллат, Qasri Millat; russian: Дворец Нации) is the official residence of the President of Tajikistan. It is located on Shirinsho Shotemur, Shirinshoh Shohtemur Street in central Dushanbe. ...

to military tattoos in foreign countries. A notable ensemble in the brass band is a regiment is a karnaists group. Standard marches by the band include ''March of the Tajik Army'' and ''

Farewell of Slavianka "Farewell of Slavianka" (russian: Прощание славянки, Proščanije slavjanki) is a Russian patriotic march, written by the composer Vasily Agapkin in honour of Slavic women accompanying their husbands in the First Balkan War. The ...

, Vatan,'' and ''Askaram man, askaram''. The

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

, National Guard, and the

Internal Troops The Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs (MVD) (russian: Внутренние войска Министерства внутренних дел, Vnutrenniye Voiska Ministerstva Vnutrennikh Del; abbreviat ...

also maintain military bands in the country. The bands of regional garrisons (the Band of the Dushanbe Garrison for example) also provide musical support to the armed forces and like the band, are part of the Commandant's Regiment.

Origins

Tajik military bands follow the Russian and Persian precedent for military bands while adding traditional Central Asian instruments such as the

Karnay The karna or karnay (russian: карнай; Arabic, fa, کرنا ''karnā'', ''qarnā'', Hindi ''karnā'', Tajik ''карнай'' ''karnai'', also ''karnaj'', Uzbek ''karnay'', Kazakh ''керней kernei'') is a metal natural trumpet. The ...

(specifically the Muiuz kernei). Although many military bands in Tajikistan were formed from former Soviet military bands based in the Tajik SSR, they have for the most part been relocated to neighboring countries and to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. An example of this is the Band of the

201st Motor Rifle Division The Russian 201st Military Base ( tg, Пойгоҳи низомии 201-и Русия; russian: 201-я российская военная база) is a Russian military base based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, part of the Central Military Distric ...

, which was for many years prior to independence the main military band in the country. The present day band was founded by order of the Tajik Cabinet on 26 August 1994. The repertoire of the band consists of the national anthems of foreign countries as well as military music. The trumpets of Mirzo Mansurov are used in the band.

Structure

Marching Band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

Concert Band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

Fanfare Team A fanfare band, fanfare corps, fanfare battery, fanfare team, horn and drum corps, bugle band, drum and bugle corps, or trumpet and drum band (including the German ''fanferenzug'', ''fanfarenkorps'' and ''regimentsblaserkorps'', the Dutch ''drumba ...

Ensemble * Wind Ensemble *

Big Band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

Although officially part of the

, the band is a directly reporting unit of the

, specifically its commandant's regiment.

Activities

The band is more often than not, at a public event, usually participating in many military and civilian settings.

Scheduled ceremonies

* Welcoming Ceremonies: Held in the Palace of Nations in Dushanbe. The band plays the national anthem of Tajikistan and the guest. It works with the Honor Guard Company of the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan. * Inauguration Ceremonies: Held in honor of the inauguration of the President of Tajikistan. * Parades: The band provides musical accompaniment in the annual Victory Day parade, as well as the

an Army Day parades.

Notable performances

* Spasskaya Tower Military Music Festival and Tattoo (2010) * Trumpet of Peace international Festival of Brass Bands (2014) * II Military Music Festival of the Armed Forces of the SCO member-states (2015) * Pipes of Peace international Festival of Brass Bands (2015) * Trumpet of Peace international Festival of Brass Bands (2016) * Armed Forces Day Concert (2018)

Gallery

File:Dushanbe Garrison Brass Band 01.jpg, The band at the

. File:Closing ceremony of the international festival "Trumpet of Peace 2016" (Kazakhstan, Astana) 07.jpg, The band drum major File:Tajik Karnay.jpg, A lone karnaist File:Первый военно-музыкальный фестиваль «Труба мира» 04.jpg, The Karnaists Ensemble in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

References

{{Reflist Military bands Brass bands Musical groups established in 1994 Ministry of Defence (Tajikistan) 1994 establishments in Tajikistan