Early American Wind and Ceremonial Music, 1636-1836: Phase 2 of the National Tune Index

Abstract

Some years ago Kate Keller was having difficulty matching the titles of some eighteenth-century fife tunes to the actual melodies. Quite frustrated by the lack of any reference tools, Keller made an index of the melodies and titles in whatever original sources she had at hand. Her working index was very limited since the field was far too large and the sources were scattered in libraries all over the United States and Europe. She discussed her idea of a larger and more comprehensive index with several colleagues, and then, with Carolyn Rabson and this writer, submitted an application to the National Endowment for the Humanities. The NEH looked favorably on the project, and the National Tune Index was born. To make the index as broadly based as possible, an effort was made to choose representative and available works from six categories: American imprints, ballad operas and British theater works, dance collections, British instrumental collections, British song sheets and song collections, and manuscripts. The first phase of the National Tune Index, 18th-Century Secular contains about 38,500 titles, taken from over five hundred original sources, and has been available on microfiche since 1980. But the NEH did not grant full funding, and most of the wind band and ceremonial music had been omitted. The author went back to the NEH to seek additional funding. Happily, the NEH was so pleased with the results of the first project that it was willing to provide additional support, though not enough to complete the project without help. Finally, after ten years of slow work, the second phase was published in 1989. Early American Wind and Ceremonial Music, 1636-1836 is a computer-generated seven-part index of 20,733 citations taken from 1,077 pieces of sheet music and 298 collections found in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and France. Fully compatible with phase 1 (18th-Century Secular Music), phase 2 places a primary emphasis on the roots of early American wind band, field music, percussion, and ceremonial music. For that reason, Hessian, French, and British sources form a major portion of the data base. The period covered runs from 1636 (Marin Mersenne's Harmonie Universelle, the earliest printed source located for trumpet and drum signals) to 1836 (Samuel Cooper's A Concise System of Instructions and Regulations for the Militia and Volunteers of the United States). There are some exceptions: to aid those interested in early hunting signals the titles of the unmeasured horn calls in Turbevile's The Noble Art of Venerie or Hunting of 1575 are included, as are later field music signals, thus allowing a logical survey and comparison. Three genres are represented in phase 2: American imprints, European instrumental collections, and manuscripts. Within the boundaries of wind band and ceremonial music dating from 1636 to 1836, comprehensive coverage is the goal. The flute, a gentleman's leisure-time instrument not included in the band, is omitted, but all known published tutors for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, keyed bugle, trumpet, fife, and drum are included. Besides instrumental tutors, phase 2 includes collections of social and ceremonial music; arrangements for wind band; field music manuals and collections; individual marches and pieces relevant to the wind band; military regulations containing bugle, trumpet, fife and drum signals; and horn signals for the hunt. These musics played a vital role in the life of early America, combining social, religious, military, and ceremonial experiences and traditions. In this regard, the manuscripts are especially important, since they freely crossed social barriers and because they provide a measure of popularity. The National Tune Index is a bibliographical finding tool. Because the index is so large, it had to be published in microfiche form, but that medium should pose no problem for most researchers. …