"The music of this record is representative of military music during the period 1750 to 1830. Until the 1730s, signal musicians bore the responsibilities of musical support to officers and troops, under the auspices of town and trumpet guilds. As the craze for Turkish instruments spread throughout the martial courts of Europe, trumpets, hautboys and shawms were augmented by batteries of percussive instruments and the scope of military music was broadened considerably. As other, more sophisticated instruments were devised for military bands, so were serious composers writing for martial ensembles.
Whilst European nations vied with each other to produce larger and more lavish regimental bands, during the later part of the eighteenth century the young American army, through the Continental Congress, was desperately trying to recruit and train boy musicians to play the signal or field instruments."

This album was first released on record in 1975.

This is made available for personal and educational use only. To license this music for exhibition or commercial use, please contact the Rockefeller Library at rocklibrary@cwf.org