The Royal Swedish Army Band ( sv, Arméns musikkår) is the largest professional

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 ...

in the

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces ( sv, Försvarsmakten, "the Defense Force") is the government agency that forms the armed forces of Sweden, tasked with the defense of the country as well as with promoting Sweden's wider interests, supporting internati ...

. The establishment of 53 musicians and extensive musical versatility makes it possible to perform at most occasions, ceremonies, events, concerts and pageants. The band performs more than 200 times yearly. The band is a part of the Life Guards in Stockholm, and wears the uniform of the 2nd Regiment of Foot Guards 1886. The Swedish Armed Forces Music Corps heads all bands in the Swedish Armed Forces.

Composition

The wind ensemble consists of: 3

flutes The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

(the third doubling piccolo), 2

oboes The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

, 2 bassoons, 1 clarinet in E-Flat, 8 clarinets in B-Flat, 1 bass clarinet in B-Flat, 2 alto saxophones, 1

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

, 1 baritone saxophone, 5 French horns, 8

trumpets The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

cornets The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

trombones The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

(3 tenor, 1 bass), 2

euphoniums The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" ...

, 3

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

s, a percussion section that includes 3 players, 6 military drummers and one

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

Ensembles

The band has several ensembles available: *

Marching band A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, woodwind, and percus ...

Symphonic 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 fami ...

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 ...

* Serenade ensemble * Wind octet *

Wind quintet A wind quintet, also known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players (most commonly flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon). Unlike the string quartet (of 4 string instruments) with its homogeneous blend of sound color, the in ...

Administration

* Commanding Officer – Warrant Officer II Peter Rehnberg * Second-in-Command – Warrant Officer II, Mattias Arveheim * Director of Music Major Andreas Hanson * Drum Major WO I David Lindberg

Events

The Band of the Royal Swedish Army plays regularly at many events, some of the more well known are listed below, although this is not a comprehensive list: * State visits * Changing of the King's Guard * The King's birthday parade, * Beating the Retreat * Veteran's Day, * Royal Pageants * Opening of the Parliament * National day (6 June) The Band of the Royal Swedish Army regularly performs at Swedish regiments and has been deployed with the Swedish troops in Afghanistan and Kosovo. The orchestra also performs several concerts and at other non-military events throughout Sweden and other countries such as Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Switzerland etc. File:Arméns Musikkår i Rikssalen.jpg, In the Royal Palace in Stockholm File:Regementstrumslagaren.JPG, The drum-major 2017 File:Uniform m1885 1. Sergeant.JPG, Uniform m1885 WO I File:AMK i Afghanistan 2013.JPG, Afghanistan 2013 File:Arméns Musikkår Profilbild.jpg, On stage. File:Grenadjärer 1870.jpg, Band and Grenadiers 1870

Discography

* ''Konsert med Arméns musikpluton 1982'',Titeln på skivetiketten angiven. På skivomslaget står istället ''Konsert 1982 med Arméns musikpluton''. Arméns Musikpluton 1982, dirigent Torgny Hanson, soloist

Håkan Hardenberger Ulf Håkan Hardenberger (born 27 October 1961 in Malmö) is a Swedish trumpeter. Taking up the trumpet at the age of eight under the guidance of hometown teacher Bo Nilsson, Hardenberger pursued further studies at the Paris Conservatoire, with ...

, Prophone LP PROP 9925 (1984). * ''Under blågul fana'', Arméns musikpluton 1984, dirigenter Torgny Hanson och Harry Sernklef, Proprius LP PROP 9945 (1985). * ''På parad och estrad'', Arméns musikpluton 1985, dirigent Ulf Sigurdson, Proprius LP PROP 9950 (1986). * ''Sound of Brass'', Arméns musikpluton 1988, dirigent Torgny Hanson, soloist Daniel Kåse (slagverk), Proprius PRCD 9018 (1989). * ''Festival of Brass'' (''Festspel''), Arméns musikpluton 1989, dirigent Mats Janhagen, soloist Andreas Hanson (kornett), Proprius PRCD 9045 (1990). * ''Världens marscher'' (''Great Marches of the World''), Arméns musikpluton 1990, dirigent Mats Janhagen, Serpent SERCD 901 (nyutgåva 1997). * ''A Touch of Sweden'', Arméns musikpluton 1991, dirigent Mats Janhagen, solister Sonny Wallentin (sång), Olle Hermansen (ess-kornett), Proprius PRCD 9065 (1992). * ''Flygvapnets marscher'' (''Swedish Air Force Marches''), Arméns musikpluton 1992, dirigent Mats Janhagen, Serpent SERCD 1 (engelskspråkig utgåva: SERCD 1 E) (1993) * ''I parad, på konsert'', Arméns musikkår 1994, dirigent Mats Janhagen, Serpent SERCD 6 (1995). * ''Musique Royale'', Arméns musikkår 1995 (skiva tillägnad Carl XVI Gustaf på hans 50-årsdag), dirigent Mats Janhagen, Serpent SERCD 9 (1996). * ''On Tour 1996'', Arméns musikkår 1996 (liveinspelningar), dirigent Mats Janhagen, soloist Andreas Sundén (klarinett), Serpent SERCD 14 (1997). * ''Scandinavian Winds'', Arméns musikkår 1997, dirigent Mats Janhagen, Serpent SERCD 16 (1998). * ''Vaktparad'', Arméns musikkår 1998 (några spår spelas av Arméns Musikkår 1996), dirigent Mats Janhagen, Serpent SERCD 17 (1999). * ''The Best of the ’99 Concerts'', Arméns musikkår 1999 (liveinspelningar), dirigent Mats Janhagen, Serpent SERCD 19 (2000). * ''La danza'', Arméns musikkår 2000, dirigent Mats Janhagen, Serpent SERCD 22 (2001). * ''Musik & tradition'', Arméns musikkår 2002, ensemble ur Svea Livgardes Musikkår, sångare ur

Orphei Drängar Sångsällskapet Orphei Drängar (OD) is a Swedish male voice choir and singing society based in Uppsala, Sweden. While best known for its high quality performances of the classical repertoire, OD sings music of all genres in many different langu ...

, dirigent Mats Janhagen, Serpent SERCD 25 (2003). * ''Great Swedish Marches, vol. 1'', Arméns musikkår 2003 och Arméns musikkår 2004, dirigent Mats Janhagen, Serpent SERCD 27 (2005). * ''Prayer for Peace'', Arméns musikkår (skiva tillägnad 60 år av fredsbevarande missioner, gåvoexemplar), sång: Gunilla Backman och Anders Ekborg, dirigent Mats Janhagen, Serpent SERCD 34 (2014). * ''Julmusik på Kungliga Slottet/Christmas Music at the Royal Palace. ''Arméns Musikkår 2013, dirigent Mats Janhagen och Mary Ljungqvist-Hehn, Solister: Miah Persson, sopran, Karl-Magnus Fredriksson, baryton jämte Kungliga Slottets vokalensembler.

References

External links

*
Arméns Musikkårs Veteraner (AMKV) – Army Band Veterans
{{Authority control Swedish military bands Wind bands Musical groups established in 1982 Articles containing video clips 1982 establishments in Sweden