British Army Music in the Interwar Years: Culture

There were approximately 7,000 full-time bandsmen serving in the British Army in the interwar years. This was about a third of the total number of musicians in the music profession in the United Kingdom, making the War Office the largest single employer of professional musicians in the country. British Army musicians were a key stakeholder in the music industry in the United Kingdom, but also farther afield, where it made a significant contribution to the maintenance of British imperial authority.

To sustain the large number of bands, residential institutions provided young boys for recruitment into the army as bandsmen and, as a consequence, the army set the standard for musical training and performance. The music industry relied upon the existence of army bands for its business and the military played a significant part in the adoption of an international standard of musical pitch. Nevertheless, there was a tempestuous relationship between army bands and the BBC, as well as the recording industry as a whole.

Using untapped sources and original material, Major David Hammond reveals the role and soft power influence of British Army music in the interwar years.