Four Portraits of Drummers

A bass drum is the heartbeat of any musical ensemble. In a military band its beat sets the stride cadence for marching soldiers. In a pop band its thumping accents mark the step turns for dancers. In an orchestra it thunders at every crescendo and always strikes the last wallop in a finale. It's an essential instrument for a wide variety of rhythmic music but it's often underappreciated for how it synchronizes the pulse of an ensemble's musicians. 

This bass drummer certainly knew his worth as he wrote a note on his postcard photo. 

Let this do Your Drumming  

He is a young man, late teens or early twenties, dressed in dark trousers, a bright white uniform jacket with white bowtie, and a white hat with his band's name — ELLINGTON. He is actually holding two instruments—a bass drum and a set of cymbals. His drum uses old-fashioned rope tensioning for the heads. Bits of leather called ears tighten the rope loops to make the heads taunt for a ringing thud. One cymbal is attached to the drum shell while the other is held in the drummer's left hand. It's a traditional coupling for a percussionist which lets the bass drum sound strong beats while cymbals mark weaker afterbeats as in BOOM-pah, BOOM-pah, BOOM-pah, etc. And so he doesn't lose count there is a music lyre attached to the top of the drum to hold his part.

Unfortunately his postcard is not marked and I can only guess that it was taken in the United States sometime around 1906-1916. There are eight towns named Ellington in the U.S. and it's likely that each one had a band in the early 20th century. And of course the band might be named for its band leader, too. However I don't think Duke Ellington's band, which was formed a few decades later, every did much marching. 

* * *

My second drummer stands in front of a photographer's studio backdrop, a painted scene of a bucolic landscape. At his waist hangs a snare drum which has threaded rod tensioners and possibly a metal shell. The drum is tilted so that his drumsticks are positioned in a characteristic grip that puts more power to the dominant right hand. Notice that he has his music held in a lyre which is pinned to his coat. This man looks to be in his late twenties or thirties. He wears a bandsman's uniform and kepi hat in a dark color, typical of those worn by bands in the late 19th century. His long twisty mustache likely dates him to the 1890s. 

This cabinet card photograph was taken at the Photographic Art Studio of C. Numa in Halstein, Iowa. At sometime in the distant past the photo was mounted on a wall as it has four holes punched through the cardstock.  

Halstein is situated in west central Iowa about 46 miles east of Sioux City. In 1890, on its first census, it had just 539 inhabitants. A decade later in 1900 it could boast of a 61.4% increase to 870. Its current population is about 1,500.   

* * *

My third percussionist is a cymbals player, technically not a drum, but still a vital part of a drum section. The flashy clash of brass cymbals has always been an important sound color in music dating back to the ancient cultures of China, Egypt, and India. European music adopted cymbals from the Ottoman Empire's Janissary military bands. In the late 18th century both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn used cymbals to add an exotic Turkish flavor to their music.  

This young man stands in front of another photographer's faux wooded glen but with extra 3-D shrubbery, grass, and stumps to add realism. He keeps a tight grip on his pair of cymbals as the most embarassing moment for any percussionist is to unwittingly initiate an accidental cymbal crash. His bandsman's uniform is similar to the previous drummer but I think it dates from the 1880s. The white belt across his left shoulder is for his music satchel, hidden by his right hand. I don't know that I've ever seen a cymbalist use a music lyre. Maybe they just memorize the score. His kepi hat has large badge that in neat lettering reads Seventh Ward Band,  which relates to a neighborhood section of his hometown of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

The photo was taken by photographer G. M. Greene of No 127 Franklin Steet, opposite the M. E. Stone Church, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Johnstown. His full name was George Miles Greene. Born in 1835 he set up a successful studio in downtown Johnstown which was tragically destroyed in the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889. 

This horrendous catastrophe occurred on Friday, 31 May 1889, after the South Fork Dam, located on the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles (23 km) upstream of Johnstown, ruptured after several days of extremely heavy rainfall. Over 14.55 million cubic meters of water was suddenly released and the resulting flood killed 2,208 people. The damage cost to the city and environs was estimated at $17 million (equivalent to $536 million in 2024).

Mr. Greene was able to restart his business but in 1894 poor health forced him to sell it. He died the following year at age 65. 

Because of this terrible calamity this photo must date prior to May 1889. It also begs a question, did the young man survive? We can never know but it adds a special back story to the photo.

* * *

My fourth drummer is a handsome young man with arguably the best mustache. He leans against a faux plinth with a dramatic natural scene behind him, not a landscape, I think, but either a seascape or river/lake view. His arms and legs are casually crossed with his shako hat and music satchel placed atop the plinth and his snare drum lying at his feet. He wears a very impressive military style uniform with striped trousers, cutaway jacket, white belt, and fringed epaulets. It very like a state militia/nation guardsman's uniform. On his white music satchel is a name: Chelsea.  

Chelsea is a small city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, about 53 miles west of Detroit, in between Ann Arbor and Jackson, Michigan. In 1880 Chelsea had 1,160 residents and in 140+ years its population has grown to around 5,500. 

The photographer was E. E. Shaver of Chelsea whose cardstock back has an nice illustration of a camera and artist's palette illuminated by the sun. Just above is a wonderful clear note with names and a date. 

Mr. G. A. Lacey
Original member of the
Excelsior Cornet Band
organzed (sic) Feb. 19 - 1878
Presented by Lillie Wackenhut

The snare drummer was George A. Lacey. In the 1880 U. S. census for Chelsea village he was listed, age 29, next to his wife, Phebe Lacey, age 27, with no children. George's occupation was "Watch Tinker", i.e. watch repairer. Unfortunately I was unable to find any more references to him in any official records or newspapers. So he will remain lost in time.

The photographer was Ernest Ebenizer Shaver. He was also listed in Chelsea's 1880 census, at age 30 living with his wife, Martha Shaver, age 22, but without children. Ernest's occupation was "Deguerian (sic) Artist."  According to another short history on Chelsea, Ernest Shaver, like George Lacey, was also a founding member of Chelsea's Excelsior Cornet Band. I found just one reference to the band in an 1881 report about a county band contest where it won 2nd prize. It was described as having just 13 musicians. In other reports it played for local dances and patriotic events but does not seem to have lasted more than a decade. Shaver died in 1917.

 Lillie Wackenhut was also in the 1880 census. She was the youngest of two daughters of George and Martha Wackenhut. Her older sister Letta was 3 and Lillie was just 1 year of age. George Wackenhut was 29 and worked as a "Clerk in Store". Since he was the same age as George, I suspect they both played together with Ernest in the Excelsior Cornet Band. I'd bet anything that Ernest made portraits of all the band's members, too, especially as I think George Lacey is posing in a splendid new uniform. 

The bottom phrase in the annotation: "Presented by Lillie Wackenhut" sounds to me like it was a gift from Lillie, and not to Lillie, especially as she was not yet born when the Excelsior Cornet Band was established. I suspect that when she was much older she gave this photo to someone or some historical society as a memento of Chelsea's cultural history. I also think it's possible that she had copies of the other portraits of the band's members and may have donated them too. Lillie May Wackenhut died in 1965 at age 86 and is buried with her parents in a cemetery in Chelsea, Michigan. I could not find any information that she ever married or had children. 

***

Nearly every antique photograph in my collection of a band has drummers. A band's name was often stenciled onto the head of a bass drum which serves to identify the band and its location. Bass drums, snare drums and cymbals are not complicated instruments and, of course, never get to play a melody. But to keep a musical group together, drums require a player who has a fine sense of rhythm and impeccable timing. For some inexplicable reason portraits of drummers are surprising rare. I have hundreds of cdv and cabinet photos of individual musicians with their cornet, clarinet, trombone, tuba, violin, cello, and the like, but hardly any percussion musicians pictured with their drum. The cymbal player from Johnstown is the first one I have acquired like that. I'll keep my eye out for more.      

To finish with some drum noise
here is a short YouTube video
from the Marching.com channel
of the U.S. Marine Drum & Bugle Corps Percussion
playing their warmup drill just before the closing ceremony
of the World Association of Marching Show Bands (WAMSB)
2023 World Championships held in Buckhannon, West Virginia.
It's a good demonstration of how drummers
think differently than other musicians.

Did you know the U.S. military issued cow bells?

And here is another YouTube video
from the Marching.com channel
of the Euroband Rotterdam (Netherlands)
in the 2025 Corso Zundert flower parade.
The cameraman is positioned at the front
of the band as it marches
giving a great viewpoint of the drummers
and the drum major.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where no one ever keeps score.

 

Opera Houses of Kansas, part 1

 

They called it an "Opera House" because it was a temple of music; a playhouse of thespian art; a venue for education, science, and culture; and most of all a center of civic pride. This fancy big-city term for a theater, or theatre to use the more refined spelling, was adopted in the 19th and early 20th centuries by countless small communities all across America from Maine to California. Some towns built their opera house with public funds that incorporated civic offices like police and fire departments into the building. Others were private ventures into America's burgeoning entertainment industry that subsidized the investment in a theatre by renting out ground floor space to small shops and businesses. Many opera houses were built by fraternal societies as both a lodge assembly hall and a community auditorium. These innumerable stages in small towns served as as platforms for politicians' speeches, high school commencements, church conclaves, music school recitals, and much more. 

And in the center of the continent, in the state of Kansas there were a surprising number of opera houses. Want to make a guess how many? The answer will be revealed at the end of this story.   

We begin with this colorized half-tone photo of a stout red brick building situated on the corner of two unpaved streets. It is the Opera House of Caldwell, Kansas that was pictured on a postcard sent from Caldwell on 4 July 1909 at 7:30 PM to Floyd A. Barnes of Ft Worth, Texas.     

                                7/4/09
                                Dear Floyd,
                                Did you get my letter
                                about the papers.  Don't
                                over look sending them
                                because I would like to
                                keep up with the club &
                                also will have to send
                                off my report from here.
                                            Yours
                                            F. E. Ligon
                                P. O. Box 312

Caldwell, Kansas is a city in Sumner County, Kansas that was founded in 1871. In 1910 it boasted of 2,205 citizens, but over a century later in 2020 its population has reduced to 1,025. It is located about 2 miles north of the Oklahoma border and 45 miles south of Wichita,  Kansas.

Caldwell KS News
25 March 1909

Melodramas and comedies were standard fare for theatres like the Caldwell Opera House. In the late 19th and early 20th century small companies of actors traveled the continent by rail following a growing circuit of small town theaters. A theatrical troupe was booked by an opera house manager, usually through an agency, and the production would be promoted by the local newspapers. In March 1909 the Opera House offered "A Dangerous Friend", "a comedy drama that's just right. No play of late years has met with such success and praise. 50 nights in New York. 35 nights in Chicago."  The newspaper advert for the show shows a scene from the production with two women, and four men. A couple of fellows look like they need some help getting off the floor.

Though it was called an "opera house" this theater presented all kinds of entertainment from plays to concerts to lectures. Many performances were by local talent or groups. Most theaters would also employ local musicians to accompany acts. According to the 1905 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide, the Caldwell Opera House seated 800 and used oil lamps for illumination. Its proscenium opening was 24 ft wide and 30 ft high. There was one hotel in Caldwell that charged $1.50 and $2 for rooms.  

Today in 2026, on the corner of South Main Street (U.S. 81) and West 2nd Avenue in Caldwell, Kansas is a sign that commemorates the opera house and its historic importance to the people of Caldwell.

The Grand Opera House

By 1884 the growing city of Caldwell was interested in promoting the finer cultural aspects of life and plans were made to construct a new Grand Opera House. During that year an opulent three story brick structure was erected on this site. It was the pride of Caldwell and its size and elegance were unmatched anywhere in the Southwest. It was erected at a cost of $20,000, seated about 1200 people and contained a roller skating rink in the basement. The dedication was held on the evening of January 12, 1885 and was followed by the opening performance of "The Mascotte" presented by the Fay Templeton Comic Opera Company.

Over the years it became the hub of the Caldwell social scene and was used for such events as graduation ceremonies as well as being visited by the major theatrical troupes of the day, such as the Boston Opera Company.

On February 19, 1918, the Grand Opera House was destroyed in a spectacular fire. While nearby businesses were saved, the Opera House was a total loss along with 25 trained dogs which were kennelled in the basement and a number of Home Guard rifles which added to the flames. Plans were immediately begun to build again on the old site, but never came to fruition.

 

Erected 1993 by The Caldwell Historical Society.

* * *

Thirty-four miles due east of Caldwell's Opera House is the Fifth Avenue Opera House of Arkansas City, Kansas. This three-story opera house was made of grey limestone blocks, a common building material used throughout Kansas. Just below the top edifice is an arch with "Fifth Avenue Opera House" carved in the stone. Below it is the entrance flanked with billboards for an upcoming show. On the two front corners of the building are shops with tall glass windows. 

The Fifth Avenue Opera House was larger than Caldwell's with 1,400 seats, both gas and electric lights, and a square proscenium stage 36 feet wide and tall. It was served by several hotels and train connections to four railroads. It was constructed between 1886 and 1890 at a cost of over $100,000. It became a popular venue with traveling shows that considered it one of the finest theatres in Kansas.

Arkansas City is in Cowley County, Kansas, situated at the confluence of the Arkansas and Walnut rivers in the southwestern part of the county. In 1890 when its opera house was built the Arkansas City counted 8,347 inhabitants. Its current estimate is around 11,765 citizens, roughly half the number of Etzanoa, the ancestral city of the Wichita people, which flourished there from 1450 to 1700 with an estimated population of 20,000. Arkansas City was established in 1870 and its name is pronounced R-Can-sis, unlike the state of Arkansas which is R-Can-saw. Kansas doesn't even share a border with Arkansas, which has its own Arkansas City, too.

This picture postcard of the Fifth Avenue Opera House was likely printed in around 1910 but was sent from Arkansas City on 28 January 1925 to Mrs. G. W. Kirk of Kansas City, Kansas.

                                Arkansas city  Kansas
                                Jan  28th 1925
                                  My Dear Shirley and
                                all received card and
                                am a shamed I had not
                                wrote but will write you
                                a long letter some day

                                We have all been sick
                                with bad colds and
                                Tilda not(?) over hers but
                                is better  hope your mother
                                get's to feeling better
                                yes I guess Edward is
                                keeping you busy these
                                days  Tell him we are
                                looking for to see him
                                this Spring and wish
                                your mother could come
                                to and will look for
                                glad to tell Glad the radio
                                is fine these nights
                                ual(?) I will do better next
                                time  love Mrs C E Stewart

In the post-war years small town theaters were competing against several new mediums. The first rival to theatrical entertainment came from cinema films, silent at first, though always accompanied by live music performed by a single keyboardist on piano or organ, or an orchestra of many instruments. In 1926 

Warner Bros. studios released Don Juan, the first feature-length film with a musical score and sound effects synchronized to the film but without spoken dialogue. Then in October 1927 came Al Jolson's breakout movie The Jazz Singer which had synchronized singing and limited spoken dialogue using the Vitaphone disk system. Soon Hollywood's movie industry was taking up all the space on the entertainment page of newspapers. 

The second rival to live theater shows was invisible and didn't even need an actual building. Radio broadcasting stations first began operating in the 1920s providing multiple kinds of programs with music, spoken drama, and even real opera, and as Mrs. C. E. Stewart notes it was "fine". Now anyone with a radio receiver could listen to shows in the privacy of their own home. In response many theaters in the 1920s converted their auditorium space into radio sound stages for live performances sent over the airways. 

To cope with the changing times the Fifth Avenue Opera House changed its name to just the "Fifth Avenue Theatre". 

Arkansas City, KS Daily News
24 January 1920 

But no film or radio of this era could match a theater for a live display of a bevy of feminine charms. This 1920s advert for the Fifth Avenue Theatre promoted a "smart revue deluxe" called "Oh! Baby" with 50 performers. This newspaper illustration for the show has over a dozen women revealing far more ankles and bare shoulders than what a chorus line would have shown a decade earlier. "Seemingly a never ending vista of fair women bedecked with the masterpieces of the modiste's art making in fact and without question Queen of All Beauty Shows."
 

* * *

This is a postcard of the Opera House of Colby, Kansas. According to information from the Prairie Museum of Art and History in Colby, this theater opened in 1908 but was not the success its investors hoped for. Made of brick with just two floors it is smaller than the Caldwell opera house so I'd guess that it seats only 500 patrons. 

Colby, Kansas is located in the northwest corner of the state and is the county seat of Thomas County. In 1910 its population was 1,130 and its current number is about 5,590.  This postcard was sent on 12 July 1910 from Colby to Miss Hazel Kowes of Wichita, Kansas.

This looks
good on
          paper      x Gen
but it is
dry and hot
out here

As far as I can discover, real authentic opera productions were never programed at any of the small opera houses in Kansas, though many did host large musicals and minstrel shows. Nonetheless they still booked high class entertainers who would play one-night engagements as they toured the western states. Colby is about 400 miles west from Kansas City, Missouri (the larger of two Kansas Cities) and another 200 miles on to Denver, Colorado. For an artiste traveling by train it was easy money to stop in a small town for a concert and then as soon as the curtain fell, run to catch a late night train.   

Colby KS Tribune
13 January 1910

In January 1910 the Colby Opera House presented an adaption of Goethe's immortal tragedy, Faust, starring Miss Olga Verne as Marguerite. This show had six acts and must have had a large company. It also brought its own elaborate scenery with "wonderful electrical effects". 

Colby KS Free Press Tribune
7 April 1910

Later in April 1910 the Colby Opera House presented two nights of "illustrated  lectures" by W. D. Street on "The Great Wild West" and "Camp Fires on the Plains". The speaker was William Daniel Street (1851–1911), a pioneer plainsman and Indian fighter who served as a scout and guide for General George Armstrong Custer, though he was not present at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. The newspaper illustration on the advertisement of his lecture shows an Indian warrior on horseback chasing down a buffalo. In 1910 such a scene would have been within the living memory of many Kansans.  

  

That summer of 1910 found the Colby Opera House in dire financial trouble. Construction of the building in 1908 had cost $18,000 but its investors, all local businessmen, were only able to raise $13,000 which forced them to take out a mortgage for $5,000. In its first two seasons the theatre's ticket sales had been insufficient to cover operating costs and now payment on the note was overdue with interest. In August the bankruptcy law required that the Colby Opera House be sold by auction on the steps of the county courthouse. 

On that day the investors lost their money, but the town's wealthiest businessman, J. T. Fitzgerald, owner of the county's largest general store, bought himself a great bargain as he was the only bidder at $5.000. And he was also the holder of the mortgage, too, so he was essentially paying himself. This might be a story worthy of an opera or a melodrama. 

Colby KS Tribune
10 November 1910

In November 1910 a touring company of "Nancy" by C. H. Kerr played the Colby Opera House. It starred Grace Cameron, "America's Favorite Comedienne" and was a "Great, Soul Stirring Play of Home Life." It also came "with special music" which suggests it had songs with instrumental accompaniment. 
 

The Colby Opera House continued to present shows for a few more years but by 1918 it began offering more movies than live acts. In 1924 the building was converted into a Baptist Church. During the next war it briefly became a National Guard armory until it was replaced by a new building. The Colby Opera House was demolished in 1959. 

* * *

According to the Kansas Magazine which cites 

the Kansas Historic Theatres Association
the state once had an estimated 900 "opera houses",
of which roughly 200 are still standing.
The oldest is White Cloud Opera House, constructed in 1862. 

Today I featured three opera houses
which leaves just 897 more to present.
So stay tuned for the next thrilling sequel:

Opera Houses of Kansas, part 2.

                              

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where Noah's ark apparently went a little off-course.

Doubling the Double Bass

 

It's scary how some musicians
seem naturally created to play their instrument.
Their hands and physique have just the right form
to grapple with the many difficulties
of producing a musical sound.  

 

But occasionally an instrument of great size 

requires extra help
as no human is big enough
to meet its monstrous requirements.

Today I present one of the largest of musical instruments
the double bass 
and its very rare gigantic cousin
the Octobass. 
 

 

The name of this well-dressed gentleman standing with his double bass is unknown but his postcard has the marks of one printed in the United Kingdom so I think he is likely posed outside the stage door of some British theatre. I think his formal long black coat and bowtie date him to sometime between 1905 to 1915. His heavy dark eyes, long mustache, and large hands give him a rather menacing appearance only partly alleviated by the corsage in his lapel.

His instrument is a double bass, also called an upright bass, acoustic bass, bull or bass fiddle, contrabass, or usually just a bass. In an orchestra it is the largest and lowest-pitched of string instruments, played with a bow or plucked with the right hand. 

Double Bass C Extension
Source: The Internets

A standard full-size double bass is about 6 feet 3 inch (190 cm) not counting the end pin. but most players use a slightly smaller 3/4 size bass that is ½ inch less than 6 feet. The four strings of a bass are tuned to E1, A1, D2, and G2. However many players modify their instrument by adding an extension on the lower string which takes it down to C1, an octave below the lowest note on the cello. This allows a bass to easily double a cello part only pitched an octave lower.

In this closeup of a bass extension the top nut of the lower string is placed about 10-12 inches above its normal position just below the head.
It is made of wood with its own narrow finger board and has an auxiliary key mechanism for the player's left fingers which press down pads corresponding to the positions of the extra bass notes.

 

The sound of a double bass serves as the foundation of an orchestra string section. Its power is stronger than the other string instruments—violins, violas, cellos—so fewer players are needed to balance a section's dynamic range. A double bass is also regularly used in concert wind bands to add more sonic texture to woodwind and brass colors. To transport a bass, players may carry it on their back or attach a small wheel to the end pin. However that still does not make it a practical instrument for playing in a marching band.

Bass viola da gamba,
by Pieter Rombouts, 1726
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Source: Wikimedia

\

In the earlier Renaissance or Baroque eras a bass viol de gamba or violone, similar to the double bass but with more strings and usually a fretted fingerboard, managed the bass voice
in musical ensembles. 

But beginning in the Classical era performers, composers, and instrument makers began searching for better string sounds. Like the violin, the viola, and the violoncello (cello), the double bass offered improvements that fulfilled a need for bigger bass. This inspired more composers of the Romantic era to write music for larger ensembles which, of course, required a larger performing space. 

In the early 19th century music instrument makers were developing grandiose ideas of bigger, louder, higher, and lower instruments. In Berlin the Prussian instrument maker Johann Gottfried Moritz ((1777–1840) invented a brass instrument with valves that he called a chromatic bass tuba. It was granted a patent in 1835. The Belgian inventor, Adolphe Sax (1814–1894) had a successful career in Paris creating entirely new categories of wind instruments like the saxhorn and the saxophone, each available in different sizes to cover a complete range of voices from soprano to bass. 

In the 1800s string instrument makers were mainly refining the standards of string instruments crafted during the late 17th and early 18th centuries by Italian makers like Antonio Stradivari. But one of them got caught up in the excitement for MORE BASS. His name was Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798–1875) a French luthier working in Paris. In 1850 he built an instrument that measured 11 ft 5 in (3.48 m) in length, nearly twice the size of a double bass. It had only three strings but its enormous size required a special stand for the player to reach them and a key mechanism to change the pitches.

Vuillaume called it an Octobasse.

In this illustration captioned Fig. 117 — Octobasse de Vuillaume 
a forlorn player stands on a platform and saws away at an instrument so huge it dwarfs the man who is half its height. It is shaped like a member of the violin family but it looks absurdly oversized since there is a violinist and a cellist in the picture to provide a a sense of scale. A closer look shows how the player steps on foot pedals and controls levers with his left hand as he runs a bow over the three strings. 

As indicated in purple ink stramped on the back, this picture postcard was sold by Paul Frankenstein, Atelier for Photography and Photogravure at Mollardgasse 69 in Wien, Austria  There is also a message written in English but no date.

                            Dearest Dorthea.   Daddy really saw

                            this funny big violin in a library

                            in Vienna.
                            How are you — my cutey?   Are you a
                            good girl — and do you ever
                            practise the piano?
                            Love — hugs — squeezes — kisses
                                            Daddy & Mama 

The address for Paul Frankenstein, (I'm not making this up!) is a business location for the son of noted Viennese photographer Michael Frankenstein. This particular address seems to have begun in 1909 and continued until 1918.  It is just 1½ miles from the Kunsthistorisches Museum where one of the three Octobassi that Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume built is still extant. Only one other octobass by Vuillaume is preserved at the the Musée de la Musique in Paris. A third reproduction of his original Octobass is displayed at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Vuillaume initially tuned his octobass to be an octave below a cello, but the string length allows it to be tuned even lower to the pitches C0, G0, D1. This is two octaves below the cello range, and one octave below the modern double bass with low C extension. Its C0 string vibrates at a frequency of about 16.35 Hz, which is even lower than a tuba or contrabassoon and below the hearing of most people. It's equivalent to a 32-foot pipe on an organ. It makes a fluttering sound that is more felt than heard. Imagine a Harley-Davidson motorcycle on low idle. Of course now that C pitch can be replicated by a synthesizer in different wave forms but it not a pitch that has much practical musical use. Of course in its time, that low pitch from a handcrafted wooden instrument would have seemed wonderous to anyone who heard it in a performance.  

I think it fair to say that the Octobass never became a popular instrument and didn't make Vuillaume wealthy from its patent. Size matters when you have to carry your instrument on a bus. The only known work which specifically calls for an octobass is French composer Charles Gounod's Messe solennelle de Sainte-Cécile of 1855. And then it is only played in two movements, the "Benedictus" and the "Agnus Dei". A few modern instrument makers have taken the challenge to build their own version of an octobass and one of these new instruments is owned by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the only orchestra that uses the instrument. Wikipedia provides us with a photo of it.

 

Eric Chappell of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
playing the orchestra's octobass.
Source: Wikimedia

I can't provide a better explanation of the Octobass
than this YouTube video from
the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona
where Colin Pearson, a curator at the museum
demonstrates the Octobasse in its collection.

And this next video may be my favorite rendition
of a piper's tune familiar to everyone.
The double-bassist is Jonathan Camps
with Nicola Moneta on Octobass.
They performed this duet on 10 February 2018
at the Festival Mardi "Graves" in Saint Jean de Védas, France. 

And just for fun
here is short video from 

the YouTube channel - BEST MUSIC TOOLS
on how to tune the three strings of an Octobass.

Isn't YouTube amazing? 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where a rising tide lifts all boats
except those that weren't tied up
in a sailorly manner.

 

Going Rococo

Velvet coats with fancy embroidery.
Frilly shirts with lace on the collars.
And curly mops of hair. 

They're not
John, Paul, George, and Ringo.
But they were the first
to use hair for an artistic statement.

Some groups went for an extra long coiffure
with tresses heaped onto shoulders. 

Others took a more conservative approach
 with a restrained style suitable for all occasions.

And others wanted to appeal to the youths
by choosing matching curls
that would do any mother proud.

Today I present four musical groups
that copied fashion styles from centuries past
in order to set themselves apart.

Bad hair was good.

My first example was evidently the very first ensemble of its kind to affect a return to the olden days. These five men called themselves the Original Elite Orchester „Roccoco”, directed by Herr P. Schmeida. They were from Germany, or maybe Austria. and chose costumes imitating the apparel of gentlemen of the 18th century. Each one is slightly different but they all wear velvet knee breeches, justacorps coats embroidered with silks and gold sequins, contrasting long waistcoats, and white shirts with frilled collars and cuffs. All topped off by a curly white wig that to a modern eye resembles a mop head. Today I found a very similar outfit for sale on Etsy for $1,349.25. But that's without the wig.

The group is pictured without instruments but I suspect they played string instruments and perhaps included a piano. The term Rococo refers to a style of architecture, art, and decoration that dates roughly from the death of the French King Louis XIV in 1715 to the French Revolution of 1789. According to its Wikipedia entry, "It is characterized by extensive ornamentation, fluid curves, asymmetry, and a smaller scale designed to foster intimacy. .... Rococo fashion was based on extravagance, elegance, refinement and decoration. ... These fashions spread beyond the royal court into the salons and cafés of the ascendant bourgeoisie. The exuberant, playful, elegant style of decoration and design that we now call 'Rococo' was then known as le style rocaille, le style moderne, le gout."

The Rococo era was very influential in art and architecture, but other terms, were used for the music of this period. In France it was called Style Galant, described by Voltaire as music which “aims to please." French composers Jean Philippe Rameau, Louis-Claude Daquin and François Couperin were popular in this era. In Germany it was called Empfindsamer Stil (sensitive style) which inspired German composers like Johann Christian Bach and Carl Philip Emanuel Bach, both sons of the great titan of Baroque Music – Johann Sebastian Bach. 

This postcard of the Original Elite Orchester „Roccoco” has a stamp and postmark from Denmark on 23 January 1904.    

* * *

This next ensemble is considerably larger with twenty musicians posted outdoors in a garden or park setting. According to the postcard's caption they are: 

Madame H. E. Angless's Pompadour Ladies' Orchestra
permanent address:  78, Norwood Road, London, S. E.

The players in this all-women group are dressed in long, wide gowns, possibly with interior structural support, and heavy white wigs, most appearing to be identical in shape. They have the usual string instruments as well as a flute, two clarinets, trombone, tuba, and drums in the back row and two cornetists sitting on the grass in front. Though not identified as pretending to be from the Rococo era, their attire is pretty close.

The woman standing center, left of the harp, holding a baton is the conductor, Madame Harry Edward Angless, also known as Emily Angless (nee Leer). She had previously organized a Anglo-Swiss Ladies' Orchestra in the 1890s which performed in quasi-Swiss costumes. Though the Pompadour ladies are all beautifully matched in fancy French costume, I can't help but observe that several players have noticeably masculine faces. Maybe it's the light or the half-tone print, but the tuba player on the right, the double bassist on the left, and a few other musicians sure look like they could use a shave.   

This postcard was sent from London on 30 March 1905 to Mrs Beales of Horley, familiar to people of 2026 as being next to Gatwick airport.

"Oh, listen to the Band"
That is what we were
doing last Saturday.
Sorry you were not
there.  Hope you are
 quite well.                
AF.    HP.

I found only a few British newspaper references to the Pompadour Ladies Orchestra. The group seems to have started around 1904 and ended in 1908, mostly playing variety shows that included other acts like comedians, acrobats, and magicians. One of the places where they performed over a few seasons was at the Britannia Pier in Great Yarmouth on the North Sea coast. This next postcard shows a long pier that projects over a very sandy beach and an impressive palace at the end. It certainly looks suitable for a Rococo style ensemble. The garden in the foreground might well have been the location for the postcard photo of the Pompadour Ladies Orchestra.

Britannia Pier, Great Yarmouth, UK, circa 1911
Source: Wikipedia

The Britannia Pier is still in operation today but it has endured a difficult history. It first opened in July 1858 and was originally 700 feet long. However in 1859 the pier was reduced by about 80 feet when during a terrible storm two ships crashed into the structure. In 1868 another storm again reduced the length. The remains of the old pier were demolished in 1899 and replaced by a new 810 foot pier in 1901. The Grand Pavilion, seen above, opened on 21 June 1902. 

Britannia Pier Pavilion, Great Yarmouth
by destroyed by fire on 17 April 1914
Source: Wikipedia

Sadly this new Grand Pavilion was destroyed in a fire on 22 December 1909. A replacement pavilion was quickly constructed and completed in 1910, but this too was ravaged by an arson fire on 17 April 1914. The arsonists were two militant suffragettes, Hilda Burkitt and Florence Tunks, both of whom received prison sentences for their incendiary protest. Once again a third pavilion was hastily constructed and opened on 27 July 1914, just one day before the start of World War One.

The pier's Floral Hall Ballroom opened in May 1928 but was destroyed by fire in August 1932. The pier was closed during World War II to prevent enemy troops using the pier as a landing station and did not reopen until 1947. A new Grand Ballroom had opened in 1933, but it too was destroyed by fire in April 1954, along with the third pavilion. 

The current Britannia Pier pavilion opened on 27 June 1958 and became home to the Pavilion Theatre, now called the Britannia Pier Theatre. However the ballroom (called the Ocean Ballroom from 1947) was never replaced.

* * *

My third time-traveling musical group are seven men known as the:

Rokoko Salon-Orchester
Direktion: Fried. Bauer

The men wear clothing similar to the costumes worn by the Elite Orchester Roccoco but less flashy and with white stockings. Their wigs are also similar but with less curl. They have four string instruments, including a cello and double bass, a flute, and a piano hidden behind the two men on the right. The instrument we know today as a piano was created by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Italy in 1700. He called it a pianoforte (soft loud) later known as the fortepiano (loud soft). These first pianos were constructed of wood much like a harpsichord. But a pianoforte keyboard triggered small hammers to strike the strings with dynamics unlike the way a harpsichord keyboard flips wooden jacks which pluck the strings for a softer uniform sound. In any case I don't think this group is using a historically correct instrument but instead has a kind of upright piano of a later 19th century design.

The postcard was sent from Hannover, Germany on 8 November 1913 to someone in Bordeaux, France.    

* * *

My final costumed group is five men who called themselves the:

Farinelli-Ensemble
Sächsische Konzert un Volkssänger. 
Vielseitigstes Instrumental-, Vokal-
und Schauspiel-Ensemble der Welt
~

Farinelli Ensemble

Saxon concert and folk singers.

The world's most versatile instrumental, vocal,

and theatrical ensemble. 

The men are wearing matching long gowns, which to my eye look like women's nightgowns, and curly feminine wigs. One man holds a girl's doll which the others seem focused on.   

The group's name refers to Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi (1705–1782), a celebrated Italian vocalist of the 18th century who performed under the stage name Farinelli. He was a singer and composer whose castrato soprano voice had an incredible range of over three octaves. Farinelli is considered one of the greatest and most influential singers in the history of opera. 

Presumably some of the men in the Farinelli Ensemble were countertenors who specialized in a high treble style which with a standard men's voices of tenor, baritone, and bass would give their group the same quality as if they had women or boys singing. I can't explain the feminine nature of their costumes since I have no idea what kind of music or comic skits they performed. But I think it's fair to say that their era was filled with lots of rude humor and racist characterizations that we would find vulgar and hateful today.

Their postcard was sent from Bischofswerda, a small town in eastern Germany at the western edge of Upper Lusatia in Saxony, on 6 April 1903.

These ensembles were more about making music fun. Their costumes served to give them a hook for an audience that they hoped would stay longer for the music. 

It still works today and I found a great video to illustrate this story. If you went to Wien/Vienna in 2026 you might hear a concert by the Wiener Mozart Konzert which performs in beautiful period costumes. (Though their instruments are modern and not historically accurate for the music.) Technically Mozart's music is of the Classical era rather than the Rococo but he is reputed to enjoy fine clothing which was inspired by the Rococo fashions. This band sounds good even in wigs.

 

I should add that many years ago
I performed on that same stage in Wien.
I was on tour with a small American chamber orchestra,
but my costume was the standard musician's uniform
of white tie and black tailcoat.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where it's costume day for everyone.