Besses o' th' Barn Band is an English

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

that has been in existence in the Besses o' th' Barn area of

Whitefield, Greater Manchester Whitefield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It lies on undulating ground above the Irwell Valley, along the south bank of the River Irwell, southeast of Bury, and northwest of Manchester. Prestwic ...

since at least 1818. A junior section, Besses Boys' Band, was established in 1943.

Origins

Besses o' th' Barn Band was in existence by 1818 and probably originally called Clegg's Reed Band, after a local cotton manufacturer and

keyed bugle The keyed bugle (also Royal Kent bugle, or Kent bugle) is a wide conical bore brass instrument with tone holes operated by keys to alter the pitch and provide a full chromatic scale. It was developed from the bugle around 1800 and was popul ...

player, John Clegg. It may have been called Stand Band for a period soon after that.

Stand Stand or The Stand may refer to: Other * To assume the upright position of standing * Forest stand, a group of trees * Area of seating in a stadium, such as bleachers * Stand (cricket), a relationship between two players * Stand (drill pipe) ...

is an area of Whitefield close to Besses o' th' Barn. The instruments used by the band in its early years were more varied than later became the case. Describing the Besses assemblage of 1818 as "extraordinarily haphazard", J. H. Elliot lists among its instruments the bass horn,

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

, drums,

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

, keyed bugle,

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

, and trumpet. In 1853, Besses became an all-brass band. A census of 1896 indicated that there were 40,000 brass bands in the United Kingdom, and Trevor Herbert describes Besses as "The most remarkably forward-looking and entrepreneurial band of the nineteenth century". In the 1880s, the band bought a building at Moss Lane, Whitefield, from which to operate. Having enjoyed considerable success by 1887, it was decided to establish the band as a

limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...

called the Besses o' th' Barn Old Band Union Limited.

Contests

The costs associated with operating a brass band in the 19th century included providing and maintaining instruments, uniforms and rehearsal facilities, as well as purchasing sheet music and paying conductors for their services. While a few bands were able to obtain patronage from wealthy sponsors, most relied on membership subscriptions, public appeals and concerts for their income. The latter was particularly significant but noteworthy institutions such as Besses and the

Black Dyke Band Black Dyke Band, formerly John Foster & Son Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and most well-known brass bands in the world. It originated as multiple community bands founded by John Foster at his family's textile mill in Queensbury ...

earned large sums from participating in contests. Although there had been a few contests before 1850, they came to the fore after that time and owe much to the enterprise of

Enderby Jackson John Enderby Jackson (14 January 1827 – 10 April 1903) was an English musician, composer, and the self-described founder of the British brass band competition and the cheap day railway excursion. After training in the family business of candl ...

, a man who promoted contests and liaised with railway companies to provide excursion arrangements for the contestants and spectators. Entrants to contests were expected not to be professional musicians, but participants for bands such as Besses supplemented their income with payments received for playing. The two major contests were the British Open and the National Championships, but there were many other more local events. By the 1870s, the roster of instruments permitted for use in contests had been codified and the number of members in a competing band was generally set at 24.

Recordings

Public interest in contests was in decline from the 1950s but Besses was among the bands that had diversified into recording its output. Sales of recordings continued to be significant for another decade. Among the band's earliest recordings was

Edward German Sir Edward German (born German Edward Jones; 17 February 1862 – 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur S ...

's ''Henry VIII Morris Dance'' in May 1904. Although instrumentation remains the same today as it was then, Arnold Myers notes that the instruments have "evolved" in the interim and that, "In general, the modern band is louder and thicker, the late Victorian band brighter, lighter, and crisper". The quality of the earliest recordings tends to obscure this. A list of known Besses recordings since 1904 is as follows: *78 rpm records **Rock of Ages / Sovereignty **Nearer My God to Thee / Fierce Raged The Tempest **Jerusalem the Golden / Jesus Christ Has Risen Today **Rock of Ages / Sovereignty **The Church's One Foundation / Lead Kindly Light **Deep Harmony / Lascelles **Bradford / Rimmington **I passed By Your Window / Besses o' the Barn Duet **The Victors Return / Land of the Kangaroo **Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffmann / Pilgrims Chorus from Tanhouser **Distant Greeting / After Sunset (Intermezzo) **Dot and Carrie Polka / Hailstorm **Edwinstone / Harvey House **With Sword and lance **The Conqueror **Solferino *LP records **Variety in Brass **Your Favourite Hymns **Alex Owen 60th Anniversary **Music from Vale Royal **Well done Lads **Pride of the North **Besses in Australia **Viva Vivaldi **Showcase for Brass **Heritage of the March – Volume LLL **Heritage of the March – Volume IIII **20th Century Soloists **Well Done Lads **Hymns and Things *Digital recordings **Capriccio Brilliant (Frank Bryce, 1973) **Hymns and Things (Roy Newsome, 1982) **Concertos for Brass (Roy Newsome, 1982) **Heritage of the March v. 3 (Roy Newsome, 1983) **Showcase for Brass (Roy Newsome, 1983) **British Bandsman (Roy Newsome, 1987) 4. Brass Band Recordings.com a. Disk 3 – 1 x track Willie Wood b. Disk 18 – 2 x tracks Willie Wood c. Disk 133 – 2 x tracks Ifor James d. Disk 177 – 8 tracks Roy Newsome e. Disk 196 – Besses Boys x 7 Barrie Chappel f. Disk 197 – 9 tracks Roy Newsome g. Disk 254 – 7 tracks Frank Bryce h. Disk 258 – 9 tracks Roy Newsome

Tours

The band made two "world tours" in the early 1900s, one between 1906 and 1908 and the other also lasting for more than a year. With

Alexander Owen Alexander Owen (29 April 1851 – 29 July 1920) was an English brass band conductor, arranger and cornet player. It was said that he "bestrode the banding world for over 50 years."

as its conductor, the band visited Australia, Canada, Fiji, Hawaii, New Zealand, South Africa and the US. A tour of Canada between August and October 1932 saw them play 112 concerts.

Besses Boys' Band

Besses Boys' Band was formed in October 1943, having been preceded from 1940 by classes that taught musical theory and practice. There had been a trend for the creation of junior bands since around the early 1930s. J. C. Wright was the first bandmaster and senior members assisted in teaching the newcomers, who numbered around 60 boys within a year. Besses Band faced "massive problems" during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the new section ensured its survival. The Boys' Band won the National Youth Band Championships in five of the six years between inauguration of the competition in 1945 and its demise in 1950. It was ineligible to compete in 1948 because the rules stipulated that a band that had won on three consecutive occasions could not compete.

Peter Skellern Peter Skellern (14 March 1947 – 17 February 2017) was an English singer-songwriter and pianist who rose to fame in the 1970s. He had two Hit song, top twenty hits on the UK Singles Chart – "You're a Lady" (1972), which typifies his signature ...

was a notable member. He had success as a singer-pianist and entertainer, sometimes collaborating with the

Grimethorpe Colliery Band The Grimethorpe Colliery Band is a brass band, based in Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire, England. It was formed in 1917, as a leisure activity for the workers at the colliery, by members of the disbanded Cudworth Colliery Band. Along with the Bl ...

in recordings, on television and on stage.

References

Citations Bibliography * * * * * *

External links

* – Besses Band * – Besses Boys' Band {{Authority control 1818 establishments in England British brass bands Musical groups from Lancashire Entertainers from Bury, Greater Manchester Besses o' th' Barn