Book Review: Clark, James. Connecticut’s Fife & Drum Tradition

Abstract

Clark, James Connecticut's Fife & Drum Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2011, 196 pp. ISBN 978-0819571410, $26.96 (hardcover). parade audience in New England may be startled to hear a group with only high-pitched, flute-like fifes and accompanying drums, especially if they are not from New England. Their curiosity may be further aroused when they see large drums attached to the performers' legs and the heads of the instruments struck by a drum stick gripped upside down in the left hand--contrary to contemporary marching drum practice. pieces performed and visual image are very different from today's brass-heavy marching bands; audience members may consider the group unique and untraditional, even anachronistic. This is wrong thinking. fife and drum corps has been around a long and is the predecessor to contemporary high school bands, military bands, and drum and bugle corps. It is an active type of ensemble. James Clark, in Connecticut's Fife & Drum Tradition, seeks to preserve the uniqueness of the tradition as it has appeared in Connecticut. Connecticut, the third smallest state of the United States, is named after the long, tidal river that divides the state in half. Connecticut River, known for a wealth of history, marks an eastern boundary line to western Connecticut's rich music heritage. Clark, an active ancient fife and drum participant since 1965, recounts the legacy of large 17 to 19 snare drum corps and its fifes in Connecticut. He includes historical discussions of the fife--evolved from the medieval pipe--and the modified fourteenth-century rhythmic patterns, known as rudimental drumming. Clark also includes the social and historical significance of drum and fife groups in the Revolutionary and Civil War militias. Clark arranges his chapters in largely chronological order beginning with the Origins of the Fife and Drum during the Medieval Era, then proceeds to A New Nation, Early National Period and Civil War, The Connecticut Fifers and Drummers Association, Ancient Corps, and Contemporary Tradition. Clark explained concepts such as open drumming--a relaxed, smooth drumming technique (p. 48)--within the chapters addressing Connecticut's music heritage. publication enables readers to make contemporary connections to several ideas, including rhythm tempi such as quick time, equivalent to modern cut time tempi. Though Clark explains the fife and drum tradition through the eyes of fairly recent participants, he contextualizes their comments with discussions of ancient and modern corps. discussion provides a thorough overview of the larger drums and sticks, rudiments, militia calls, the march repertoire, and how ancient fifers played the melodic line. Older groups began with militia members but grew to using trained musicians following the wars. In contrast, more modern fife and drum corps used smaller drums, performed different music styles, and utilize tonal structures to divide fifers' musical lines into harmonies. Clark's work includes illustrations of period notation, discussions of out-of-print music, and provides a connection to General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, George Washington's military training officer. Songs such as the College Hornpipe, transcribed during the American Revolution in Rhode Island by Thomas Remington, enable readers to examine early notation. well-placed pictures of historical ensembles and performers tell the story of the corps tradition more effectively than any narrator. Clark's connection to Connecticut's heritage icon, Nathan Hale, provides interest not only for Connecticut natives, but connects to scholars of early American history. …