Civil War Battle of the Bands ready to rock GABBF
Danville, KY – There is a battle brewing for the 2011 Great American Brass Band Festival—and it is going to be a ton of fun!
From 4-4:50 p.m. on Sunday, June 12 during the festival, the GABBF will have a Battle of the Civil War Bands on the front porch of Old Centre. The 50-minute concert is, like all GABBF events, free and open to the public
During the event, two historical-period Civil War bands that will be playing ‘solo’ concerts throughout the festival—Saxton’s Cornet Band of Kentucky and Dodworth Saxhorn Band of Michigan—will do ‘battle.’ They will be alternating tunes from their repertoire, demonstrating the best brass band music of both the North and the South during that great conflict.
Plans are underway for the two groups then to combine at the end on several items that would have been played by both sides in the war.
Imagine a time when two armies were across a river from each other, and regimental bands from both sides would compete with one another and entertain the troops. Northern bands liked to play ‘Dixie’ as much as the Southern units and Southern bands were not above playing Union favorites, too!
Both bands use Civil War-era instruments, wear authentic uniforms of the period, and only perform music played by the bands during the conflict, frequently playing of facsimile copies of band books carried by the bands within the war. They follow what is known as ‘historically-informed’ performance practice.
Each band will supply its own commentary, or back ground for their contributions in the concert. Whether a vote will be taken at the end of the concert to see who ‘won’ remains to be seen!
This festive event should prove of great and wide interest, and will provide a suitable conclusion to the great 4-day event.
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