Brass Band Story
Product details
- ISBN 9780300282573
- Dimensions: 152 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 14 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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A lively and engaging history of the brass band in Britain and beyond
Brass bands have played a unique role in the cultural history of Britain. Amidst the industrial revolution, an increasingly urban population turned to music for mass entertainment. Brass bands became intimately associated with working men and spread across the country at breathtaking speed. At their height in the late Victorian era, there were thousands of them.
Trevor Herbert reveals the story of these bands, from their working-class origins and the enormous popularity of Victorian contests to their sophistication in modern times. It is a tale of the survival of tradition and the embrace of change. Victorian brass bands solidified communities and promoted shared local identities. As new modes of popular culture posed existential threats in the twentieth century, they reinvented themselves. The model British bands created is now replicated throughout the world.
This is a fascinating and revealing history of a much-loved aspect of Britain’s musical heritage.
Trevor Herbert was introduced to music in the junior brass band of the colliery where his father worked. His career has been divided between being a professional trombone player and academic life at the Open University, where he is now emeritus professor of music, and the Royal College of Music, where he is a research professor.
