Brass bands have played a unique role in the cultural history of Britain. Amidst the industrial revolution, an increasingly urban population turned to music for mass entertainment. Brass bands became intimately associated with working men and spread across the country at breathtaking speed. At their height in the late Victorian era, there were thousands of them.

Trevor Herbert reveals the story of these bands, from their working-class origins and the enormous popularity of Victorian contests to their sophistication in modern times. It is a tale of the survival of tradition and the embrace of change. Victorian brass bands solidified communities and promoted shared local identities. As new modes of popular culture posed existential threats in the twentieth century, they reinvented themselves. The model British bands created is now replicated throughout the world.

This event comprises a concert by Carlton Brass, wrapped round a talk on brass bands by perhaps the most significant writer about them.

Carlton Brass aims to encourage and provide opportunities for all ages to play or learn a musical instrument, and are particularly keen to support the development of local young people. The band organisation founded in 1902 as the Netherfield Railwayman’s Band, and in 1950 became the Carlton Silver Band. In 1988 Nottingham City Transport’s sponsorship included renaming the band as the Nottingham City Transport Band for several years.

Since then, the Carlton Brass Association has grown and they now have two thriving bands: Carlton Brass and Burton Joyce Community Band.

Trevor Herbert reveals the story of brass bands, from their working-class origins and the enormous popularity of Victorian contests to their sophistication in modern times. It is a tale of the survival of tradition and the embrace of change. Victorian brass bands solidified communities and promoted shared local identities. As new modes of popular culture threatened, they reinvented themselves. The model British bands created is now replicated throughout the world.

Trevor Herbert’s musical research runs from the Middle Ages to the modern period and includes jazz and vernacular music. His books include The British Brass Band: A Musical and Social History, and  The Trombone and he is the joint editor of both the Cambridge Companion to Brass Instruments and the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Brass Instruments ), he is also lead editor of the Cambridge History of Welsh Music. He is a prolific contributor to the world’s major music reference works.  His new book is The Brass Band Story.

This event is 6.30 for 7.00, bar available