Musicologica Olomucensia

This study focuses on the growing significance of military music in the social life of the Aust.-Hung. Empire in the course of the 19th century. The activity of the military band within the garrison penetrated to all layers of the society through activities associated with the professional duties of the army, such as the changing of the guards, official welcome ceremonies, the tattoo, and concerts in large squares or the so called "Monster concerts." More significant, however, were activities outside of the life of the garrison. These included concerts in parks and gardens throughout the summer and in the restaurants and concert halls during the winter. Even though the repertoire was somewhat conservative with the bands having to play compositions within the framework of popular taste, still the importance of the institution of the military band for the dissemination of a wide musical repertoire throughout the realm cannot be underestimated. We thus find an enormous educational value in the activity of the what was essentially the most democratic musical instition of the 19th century, where high quality musical events were opened to the public without the need of fancy dress or an entrance ticket.
In the second part of the study, the author uses the typical garrison as model of how this activity was organized. In Olomouc there were two or three contemporary bands which cooperated with almost all musical institutions. Some of the members of these bands played at the German opera house from 1830 to the First World War, while others took part in the concerts of the Männergesangverein. There was also an important collaboration with the first Czech choral society, Žerotín for the first ten years after its establishment in 1880. Last, but not least, there were hundreds of military concerts organized every year. The study is completed by a catalogue of all the known regiments which had their own bands in Olomouc up until the year 1918.