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It is a blustery late autumn day at Fort York in 1824; the winds howl and the skies are dark, with the promise of a cold rain later that day and an interminable winter stretching out 76th ahead. Spirits are low among the troops of the Regiment, who have been garrisoned at Fort York for two years and have another two long years of duty ahead of them. Suddenly a fifer strikes up Thomas Arne’s “Rule Britannia.”The skies do not part, yet the troops’ spirits lift and they sing along lustily with the tune that has stirred British souls for many decades. This vignette is fictional, though inspired by the performance of a fifer during a recent visit to Fort Henry. Nonetheless it is clear that in addition to playing calls and signals that regulated the daily life of his regiment, one of a military musician’s chief duties was to lift his comrades’ spirits.
Fort York’s Drum Major Baknel Macz is flanked by fifers Jaime Reford (l) and Graeme Sylvia (r). (Credit: Richard Lautens, Toronto Star) town musicians. When a British regiment’s tour of duty in Canada ended, band members often decided to stay on here rather than relocate with their regiment. Some of these musicians were active in organizing and training the first Canadian military bands, while others integrated into civilian musical life. Indeed, during the period before Confederation, it is likely that the majority of professional musicians active in Canada were former British military bandsmen who elected to stay here rather than return to Britain. British band musicians were active in Fort York from the time of its founding in 1793. Elizabeth Simcoe notes in her diary that when her husband and family set sail from Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) on 29 July 1793 to take up residence there, the regimental band was playing on board the ship. Even an al fresco dinner could be accompanied by band music, as Mrs. Simcoe noted in a diary entry in 1796: “We dined in the woods on Major Shanks’ farm lot where an arbour of branches of hemlock was prepared, a band of music stationed near.”That
Throughout the 19th century, British regimental officers paid for musicians out of their own pockets; the wealthier the officers, the bigger and better the regimental band they were able to employ. The basic plan for a British regimental band was similar to the German Harmonie, after which it was modelled: a core of six to eight wind instruments–pairs of oboes and/or clarinets, bassoons, and horns–to which drums and percussion, and occasionally other wind instruments, were added. British army regulations in the 19th century permitted one soldier in each company to be trained as a musician; these men formed the regimental drum corps, which consisted of fifers, drummers, and buglers–a total of a dozen or so musicians, depending on the size of the regiment. Thus the regimental band members were professional musicians in the employ of the officers, while the drum corps consisted of career military men with musical training. British regimental bands provided some of the earliest professional music-making heard in Canada. In addition to their military assignments, regimental musicians often played in public concerts, theatrical events, balls, and other civilian entertainments, either alone or as part of an ensemble with
diary entry is dated February 19th; presumably the musicians were playing with their gloves on! An idea of the scale of investment which a regimental band entailed can be gleaned from the tragic fate of the Nais (also known as the Aeneas). This was a troopship that set sail from 100th Britain to Canada in 1805 with a contingent from the Foot, a regiment of 900 soldiers which had been raised in Ireland the year before. The Nais was wrecked off the coast of Newfoundland on October 23rd; all but seven of those on board perished. A report by John Murray, Lieut.-Colonel 100th, of the notes: “[all of ] the Instruments were lost in the unfortunate Shipwreck of the Nais Transport; [we] sustained the loss of one hundred and eighty Pounds, the amount of the 100th Musical Instruments Maker’s Bill.”The funds which the Regiment had invested in purchasing its musical instruments in 1805 would be roughly equivalent to £10,000 in today’s currency. In addition to lifting the spirits, military music also solemnized important occasions. One notable example of this occurred on 16 October 1812 at Fort George (Niagara on-the-Lake), during the funeral of Major General Isaac Brock and Lieut.-Colonel John Macdonell. According to a report in the York Gazette (24 Oct. 1812, p. 3), the funeral cortege was accompanied by the 41st band of the Regiment, as well as “Drums covered with Black Cloth and Muffled.”
time of the 1837 Rebellion. He served as bandmaster of the 93rd Highlanders Regiment, stationed at Fort York from 1838 to 1844. In the summertime of 1841 he led them in weekly concerts in the grounds of Government House. In addition to his activities as a bandmaster and pianist, he was also a composer and arranger. Crozier married a Canadian and was one of those British military musicians who ended up settling here; he moved in the early 1860s to Belleville, where he continued to work as a professional musician until his death in 1892. His brother, Thomas Charles Crozier, was the bandmaster of 81st Regiment of Foot, which served at Fort York from the 1846 to 1847. T.C. Crozier continued the practice of giving weekly outdoor concerts by the regimental band during the summertime. According to the lawyer and businessman 81st Larratt William Smith, the Regimental Band “is a famous one & about one of the best in the service; Crozier the Band Master is a splendid musician & has written some exceedingly popular Polkas” (Young Mr. Smith in Canada, ed. Mary Larratt Smith [Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1980]: 113). T.C. Crozier also settled in Belleville later in life.
Incidentally, St. George Baron le Poer Crozier is not to be confused with his exact contemporary Baron [Rudolph] de Fleur, a pianist and composer who was also active in Toronto in the 1840s and on occasion was heard in concert with regimental bands. Baron de Fleur led a colourful life in the grand Romantic era style. He was either a German aristocrat, or an Irishman posing of the Rifle York from 1847 to 1850. as one (the newspaper accounts vary). He of the Royal too married a Canadian, and his adventures Twickenham, UK.) took him across Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Prince Edward Island) and the USA, as well as to Russia (he claimed to have been “Pianist and Inspector General of Military Music to His Majesty the Emperor of Russia”), Guyana, and Bermuda.
Reports found in letters, newspapers, diaries, and other documents allow us to trace regimental band activity in York/ Henry Schallehn, Bandmaster Toronto. A preliminary chronological list Brigade Band at Fort has been compiled of notices of public (Credit: By kind permission Military School of Music, musical activities by bands of the following regiments garrisoned in Fort York (dates 76th in brackets are the date of the document): the (Mar. 79th 66th 15th 93rd 1825); (Feb. 1832); (Dec. 1833); ( Jan. 1836); 82nd 81st Highlanders (Aug. 1841); (Sept. 1844); (Feb. Apr. June 1847); Rifle Brigade (Aug. 1847, June, July 1848, July, 71st 30th Oct. 1849); (May, June 1851, Jan. 1852); (Aug. Dec. 17th 13th 1861); (Aug. 1866); Hussars (Oct. 1866, Aug. 1868); 29th and (Sept. 1868). From this preliminary list, it seems likely that every regiment stationed at Fort York had its own band and that most, if not all, of these bands also entertained the civilian population on occasion. German musicians were often recruited for service in British military bands. One of the most notable to serve in Canada was the violinist, clarinetist, and bandmaster Henry Schallehn. He was bandmaster of the Rifle Brigade Band, which was stationed at Halifax from 1842 to 1846 before replacing T.C. 81st Crozier’s Regiment Band at Fort York in 1847. A report in the Globe (18 August 1847) stated “The [Rifle Brigade] band, we understand, is a very fine one, the master [Schallehn] being an excellent musician, and having been attached to the Regiment for many years, this will make us less regret the 81st, parting with Mr. Crozier and the band of the who so often delighted Torontonians with their music.” According to reports in Halifax newspapers, Schallehn had conducted orchestras for balls given by Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace. After his service in Canada, he conducted the Crystal Palace Band in London in 1854. One of the most eminent There is a wealth of information waiting to be uncovered here–enough for a good sized book or dissertation. In the space of this short article, I can only mention a few of the notable regimental bands and bandmasters that were stationed at Fort York. The Crozier brothers were two British military bandmasters active at the fort in the 1840s. St. George Baron le Poer Crozier was born in England of Scottish-Irish parentage, and arrived as a military musician in Upper Canada at the 2 The Fife and Drum
military musicians in Britain during the 19th century, he later helped to found the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall, and was the school’s first director from 1857 to 1859. Like the Croziers, he composed polkas and other short dance pieces. Two of his brothers, Ferdinand and Theodore C. Schallehn, were professional musicians; Theodore was also active in Toronto musical circles in the 1840s.
his memoirs, Clarke left a picture of Bayley which could serve for many of the British military musicians who served in Toronto over the course of the 19th century: “a finished musician of high order; he was a remarkable organist and one of the best clarinetists I have ever heard in my life.” The versatility and high standards of these British military musicians exercised a defining influence on Canadian music during the 19th century. And as illustrated by the case of the QOR Band, which continues to flourish and celebrated its 150th anniversary in April 2010, that influence has been a long lasting one.
The versatility and high standards of these British military musicians exercised a defining influence on Canadian music during the 19th century. And as illustrated by the case of the QOR Band, which continues to flourish and celebrated its 150th anniversary in April 2010, that influence has been a long lasting one.
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