Reprinted with permission from Tempo, the official magazine of the New Jersey Music Educators Association.
Citation information:
Berz, William, "What's in a Name?," Tempo, 52 no. 1 (November 1997): 28-29.
What's in a Name?
by
William Berz
While the term "orchestra" is clearly understood by even the most casual of musicians, "band/wind ensemble" is not well defined even by many professionals in the field. First, the term band is very broad, referring to almost any collection of instruments: rock bands, jazz bands, marching bands, Dixieland bands, and string bands (for those of you in South Jersey). A collection of classically trained wind and percussion instrumentalists is but one narrow definition of the term.
Second, there are numerous different labels for essentially the same kind of ensemble. Especially in the East, "band" is a four-letter-word in many cultural circles. Some conductors have devised new labels to give their group a more artistic sense of purpose: wind orchestra, symphonic winds, wind ensemble, wind symphony -- to name but a few. Many are not very different in function and character from older configurations such as concert and symphonic.
Third, the structure of the band medium is not very standardized. Many groups including CBDNA and NBA have tried to develop a set instrumentation. While the actual instruments included in the concert band appear to be at least somewhat set, actual numbers of players vary considerably.
The medium has long been either hampered (or helped) by non-standardization. This is due in part to its history; its divergent past has in some ways created the split into the different kinds of bands that we see today.
The modern band movement can be traced back in two different lines. The most obvious is from the military band. Since the time of the Civil War, military bands, both in the United States and in Europe, have grown and prospered, and it is from this heritage that the modern concert band has developed. Many of the famous professional band leaders, such as the legendary John Philip Sousa, came from military backgrounds. As they formed their own professional bands, their military roots came into play, contributing to the configuration of the band. As bands spread into schools and colleges, the "Sousa-military" model was followed; the University of Illinois Band, one of the first such bands, is an excellent example. It is from this stream that we have concert, symphonic, and symphony bands: large groups of massed wind and percussion instruments. The modern marching band has its roots in this heritage as well.
The second line arises from the harmoniemusik of the eighteenth century. The harmonie band consisted usually of 8 players: 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, and 2 horns; sometimes a double bass was added. Often their members were the best wind players of the time, and they performed for a variety of civic functions, often in the royal courts. There is a considerable repertoire of original music for this ensemble, perhaps most notably the wind serenades and divertimenti by Mozart. In addition, there were a great many transcriptions of music of the time, especially arrangements of operas. Mozart himself arranged part of Die Entführung aus dem Serial for wind octet.
The Modern Wind Ensemble
1952 was a year of great importance for the band world--for that is the year of the formation of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. The wind ensemble represents a more orchestral approach to performance, a pool of players from which performers are selected to play only on certain pieces, this stemming from the harmoniemusik heritage discussed above.
Fennell, in his book Time and the Winds, describes the formation of the Eastman Wind Ensemble:
The Eastman Symphonic Wind Ensemble, which was organized in September, 1952, for the purposes of established a new medium of musical activity, . . .at its maximum, utilizes 45 players. [It] has been established as a point of departure--one from which it is possible to deviate when a particular score requires more or less instruments than are considered basic to the Wind Ensemble. This instrumentation is considered in the same sense that composers have always evaluated the tutti orchestra. . .a sonority resource to be utilized only when desired. A wind ensemble does not have to contain 45 players in its personnel. This, indeed, is the utmost of players. Any group larger than a quintet could certainly be called a wind ensemble. . . . But this traditional grouping of the flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn has a distinguished musical history and a small but highly superior musical literature. It has been as established form of musical art for over 200 years. . . (1954, pp. 52-55).
Beginning in the 1970s, the wind ensemble began to evolve, taking on a somewhat different organization. This movement was led in part by the conductors David Whitwell and H. Robert Reynolds, as well as by their students; Reynolds' students especially have been influential. (They include Eugene Corporon, Allan McMurray, and Stanley DeRusha.) The wind ensemble concept assumed additional qualifications from the Eastman model: there would be one player on a part only, and music to be performed would be only of the highest aesthetic caliber with an emphasis on original repertoire, not transcriptions. The wind ensemble would no longer perform "band" works such as the Hindemith Symphony in Bb as the Eastman Wind Ensemble had. This movement created considerable controversy in band circles. The 1970s and 1980s were times of great division, a period of band against wind ensemble, with many conductors strongly advocating one philosophy over the other. Thankfully, the battle seems to no longer have the fire that it did in the past.
Many people have held to Fennell's definition of wind ensemble rather than that supported by Reynolds. Eastman was a kind of hybrid, a cross between a band and a harmoniemüsik ensemble. Some follow Fennell's original terminology referring to this kind of band as a symphonic wind ensemble. Especially in the East, many bands use the designation wind ensemble to denote a small chamber band; New Jersey's All-State Wind Ensemble is but one example.
Therefore the label wind ensemble currently would seem to have two definitions: 1.) An outgrowth of the orchestral wind section with the addition of saxophones, with one player per part playing repertoire that was expressly composed for that medium. 2.) A small chamber-sized band, approximately 40 players in number.
Wind Symphony
Recently, the term wind symphony has become popular. The wind symphony is a small band, but sometimes has a somewhat larger instrumentation than the Eastman model. Some conductors have held that the symphonic wind ensemble has inherent balance problems: the woodwinds are too soft in relation to the brass, the bass line is thin with only one player on the tuba part, and trumpet and cornet parts are often difficult to cover with the Eastman instrumentation. Typical instrumentation for a wind symphony might include: 5-7 flutes, 3 oboes, 6-9 clarinets, 1-2 bass clarinets, 2-3 bassoons, 4 saxophones, 6-8 trumpets, 4-5 horns, 4 trombones, 2 euphoniums, 2-3 tubas, and percussion. Other conductors use the same instrumentation as a wind ensemble even to the practice of using one player per part.
Other Bands
There are a number of other labels for bands of different configurations. Chamber winds has been gaining in popularity. It is really a further refinement of wind ensemble where any possibility for doubling players is eliminated. Many colleges and some of the military bands now offer such ensembles. Typically these groups perform the chamber repertoire (often octets or larger) that the wind ensemble of the 1970s championed.
Yet another label is wind orchestra. The Toyko Kosei Wind Orchestra is probably the most famous example. A small chamber-sized band, its instrumentation is close to the original Eastman Wind Ensemble.
The concert band, along with labels for what is essentially the same configuration (i.e., symphonic, symphony bands), continues to be one of the most popular designations for the traditional grouping of wind and percussion instruments dedicated to the performance of serious wind music. Although the actual number of performers might vary somewhat, it is understood that each part is doubled by several players, much like the string sections of the orchestra. There has been a trend in the last decade to reduce the total number of players in this type of band to about 80, this quite a reduction from the Big Ten bands of the 1970s that had memberships of well over 100.
Final Thoughts
Perhaps so much concern over labels might seem overdone. However, it is important for conductors to understand the differences in these designations so that repertoire appropriate to the composers' intentions can be chosen for performance and study. For example, some music, like Alfred Reed's Armenian Dances, was written for a very large group--the University of Illinois Symphonic Band. It might not be best performed by a small, chamber band. I doubt that labels will ever become standardized in the band world. As an example of one of the sources of confusion, the Rutgers Wind Ensemble is not a "wind ensemble" but is really a wind symphony following the model of instrumentation given earlier. We at Rutgers continue to use the name "wind ensemble" because of the group's history. Several years ago when I suggested to my students that we change the name to wind symphony, a number of them raised considerable alarm over a change of tradition. And the title born in 1953--just one year after Eastman--continues to be used, somewhat inaccurate though it may be. An ideal program might include bands of different proportions to allow performance of all types of wind music. Since this is not practical in most schools, conductors might choose instead to adapt a larger wind symphony or concert band to form several wind ensembles (or chamber wind groups) at certain times of the year. An excellent approach is outlined by Tom Dvorak and his co-authors in Best Music for High School Band (pp. 99-100).
References Dvorak, T. L., Grechesky, R., and Ciepluch, G. M. (1993). Best Music for High School Band. Brooklyn: Manhattan Beach Music.
Fennell, F. (1954). Time and the Winds. Kenosha, WI: G. Leblanc Corporation.