HISTORY OF THE ROYAL MILITARY SCHOOL OF MUSIC
The Royal Military School of Music owes its existence to an embarrassing musical fiasco, which highlighted the need for common standards of performance and training for Army bands. In 1854, during the Crimean War, a grand military revue was held at Scutari, in Turkey, to celebrate the birthday of Queen Victoria. During the parade the approximately twenty bands on parade were required, for the first time ever, to combine in a performance of the National Anthem. the custom, at this time, was for Regiments to hire civilian Bandmasters for their bands, each of whom had fairly free reign in both the instrumentation of the band and the arrangements it played. With each band having a different instrumentation, pitch and arrangement, the result was an embarrassing and humiliating cacophony!
Among those present was George, Duke of Cambridge (a cousin of Queen Victoria), who was commanding the 1st Division in the Crimea. He determined that the lack of central coordination in the training of military musicians should be rectified. When he was subsequently appointed Commander in Cheif of the Army, in 1856, he set about exploring options to improve the standard of military music. the most popular suggestion at that time was to emulate the French Army, which had established the Gymnase de Musique Militaire twenty years earlier as a central college for military music. this was the option tht the Duke of Cambridge decided upon and the first 'Military Music Class@ commenced at Kneller Hall in 1857, with 85 pupils from 48 different regiments. The first Director of Music was Henry Schallen, who had been the Bandmaster of the 17th Lancers when the Duke of Cambridge was the Commanding Ofiicer
The school was established at Kneller Hall, which had been acquired by the War Office a year earlier. Originally known as Whitton Hall, after the nearby Village, the building is thought to have been designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It was built in 1709 for his friend, Sir Godfrey Kneller, a prolific Court portrait painter to King Charles II and subsequent monarchs, including George I. By the time of Kneller's death, in 1723, Whitton Hall had become known as kneller Hall. It remained in provate hands, undergoing several rebuilds, until it was bought by the government in 1850 to provide premises for 'the training of schoolmasters who were to teach the children of paupers and criminals'. It was one of the first Pestelozzi schools in England, but was conceptually ahead of its timeand closed five years later, in 1855.
The Military School of Music quickly acheived the results desired by its founder and, thirty years after its foundation, during the Queen's Jubilee, was granted the title Royal, becoming The Royal Military School of Music. During its 150 years of existence the school has earned an internation reputation as a centre of excellence and Kneller Hall has become the spiritual home of many generations of Army musicians.
The Duke of Cambridge, the professional head of the Army was tasked to put matters right, he pushed through a proposal that all Army musicians should in future be trained to uniform high standards and that they should be frequently inspected by one central musical organisation. The authorities bought Kneller Hall, the large country house and grounds of the distinguished court painter Sir Godfrey Kneller sited in Twickenham, about fifteen miles south west of Central London and founded the Royal Military School of Music (RMSM) there in 1857.
In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the various regiments of the British Army, which then as now were fiercely individual in their ways, recruited and trained their own bands more or less as they pleased and each went its own sweet musical way. In 1854 Queen Victoria held a review of over 16.000 troops, including bands, at Scutari. It was the first time ever that so many bands had massed, the result was a disaster, they could not even play the National Anthem at the same tempo, in the same key or at the same pitch. The result was a cacophony of sound, it was deeply shaming to those concerned and, worse, carried the implication that regiments which could not even play together would be hard put to fight together, thus diminishing their important deterrent effect on many of our erstwhile enemies.
The RMSM provides musical training for all army musicians, from the phase 2 training, all future Sergeants, all future Band Sergeant Majors and Student Bandmasters.
The RMSM is also the home of the Headquarters Directorate of the Corps of Army Music , which is the focus for policy on Army Music. It is responsible for the professional efficiency of the musicians, the recruiting and manning and the career management of all the CAMUS personnel. Musicians are recruited into the Corps of Army Music by audition alone, (a good musician without qualifications is more use than a poor musician with a lot of paper qualifications) and since they will be soldiers they need to be of good character and must be able to pass an Army entrance and medical tests.
Musicians can join from seventeen years old, and start by completing their basic military training, or phase one training as it is known by the Army, at an Army Training Regiment. Every entrant has to complete phase one before going onto continue with their individual skill to arms training. The musicians undergo musical training on the Foundation Course (phase two training) at the Royal Military School of Music Kneller Hall from 2 - 12 months.
On completion of the Trade Employment Qualification level 3, a Foundation Course member will be posted to one of the twenty two bands in the Army. Generally, musicians will be sent to any band that has a requirement for their particular instrument, although some recruits will can be committed to a band of their choice at the audition stage. Providing a vacancy exists in that unit by the end of their training their preference can be granted, but due to extenuating circumstances on occasions it will not always be possible.
On posting musicians can gain promotion, dependent on ability and vacancies, up to Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1). Outstanding musicians may be selected to undergo further training to qualify them to be a Bandmaster. The successful Student Bandmasters gain a BMus (Hons) degree from Kingston University and a Bandmaster’s Certificate after three years.
After appointment as a WO1 Bandmaster with suitable recommendations, there is opportunity to earn promotion to the commissioned rank of Captain as a Director of Music. The career structure for officers in army music peaks at Lieutenant Colonel. The army is an equal opportunities employer and all of the career structures indicated are open to female musician. At present there are 2 female bandmasters and numerous other females at other ranks on most bands.
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