The Fanfare du 27e Bataillon de Chasseurs Alpin is a

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...

unit of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

. The band is attached the

27e bataillon de chasseurs alpins The ''27 bataillon de chasseurs alpins'' (27 BCA) is a Chasseurs alpins battalion of the French Army. It is a heavily decorated unit, whose members wear the fourragère of the Legion of Honour. Organisation The 27 BCA operated under the 27th ...

(27th BCA) and effectively serves as the regimental band of the

Chasseurs Alpins The ''chasseurs alpins'' ( en, Alpine Rangers) are the elite mountain infantry force of the French Army. They are trained to operate in mountainous terrain and in urban warfare. History France created its own mountain corps in the late 19th ...

, being that it is the single and last fanfare band of the regiment as well as this combat arm of the Army.

Brief description

The band incorporates as part of its instrumentation the

Alphorn The alphorn or alpenhorn or alpine horn is a labrophone, consisting of a straight several-meter-long wooden natural horn of conical bore, with a wooden cup-shaped mouthpiece. Traditionally the Alphorn was made of one single piece, or two par ...

, a traditional instrument of the

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

hill and mountain villages of Savoy, which has been able to attract the public's favor and which allows to complete the extent of its musical repertoire. The Alphorn is the ancestor of the big family of musical horns and historically has been used by sheepherders to aide in herd recall in the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

. In wartime, it is also has been used to signal the arrival of invading forces to the region. Today the band can be distinguished by its small size (18 musicians) as compared to the other bands of the armed forces, as well as its

gender diversity Gender diversity is equitable or fair representation of people of different genders. It most commonly refers to an equitable ratio of men and women, but may also include people of non-binary genders. Gender diversity on corporate boards has be ...

, with

females Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females ...

making up more than 30% of its ranks. Since December 2016, the band has explored creating a

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 ...

ensemble in its structure.

Performance Schedule/History

Beginning in February every year, the band begins to develop its performance schedule for various events around the country. In many cases, the participation in events mostly revolves around parades and ceremonies as there are not many

military tattoo A military tattoo is a performance of music or display of armed forces in general. The term comes from the early 17th-century Dutch phrase ''doe den tap toe'' ("turn off the tap"), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeeper ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. On

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In French, it is formally called the (; "French National Celebration"); legally it is known as (; "t ...

in 2012, the band had the honor to perform on the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is l ...

alongside the French Foreign Legion Music Band (MLE) during the annual military parade. This was the second time that the band has done this, with the first time being in 2005. Outside of the French Republic, the band takes part in

s around the world, mainly travelling to countries within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. The band represented the

in the

Quebec City International Festival of Military Bands The Quebec City International Festival of Military Bands (FIMMQ) was a major cultural event in Quebec City that notably included a military tattoo by Canadian and foreign military bands as well as display teams. It has taken place annually in Au ...

in 2013.

Traditions

Marching pace

When Chasseurs Alpins are marching with the band and horns, the marching pace is 140 steps a minute – faster than most other armed forces units, with the exception of the Italian Bersaglieri, whose pace, as well as of its bands, is 180 steps per minute in double time. This tradition has been in place ever since it was restored in 2004.

Terms

Like the rest of the regiment, the band has a few terms which they say differently from other army bands. *not uniforme (uniform), but tenue (outfit, or dress), like in the Royale; *''la fanfare'' instead of ''la musique'' *''sonne'' instead of ''joue'' *''caisse claire'' instead of ''tambour''

References