Russian military bands

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A Russian naval band
A Russian band during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Military Tattoo in 2018
The massed bands of the Moscow Garrison in 2010

Russian

rubles ($169.65) for their service in the Armed Forces and other uniformed organizations.[3]

Purpose

The massed bands at a parade rehearsal

The military band service is designed to provide encouragement and to increase patriotism for the military servicemen and women of the Ground Forces, the Navy and the Aerospace Forces. Former director of bands in the Russian Armed Forces Valery Khalilov described the effect these bands have in the following 2005 interview:[1]

"Military music is incredibly important for Russians, because military music is a component of the Russian army, and the army has always played a crucially important role in protecting Russia’s great statehood and in making it a powerful nation."

Historically, in Russia and around the world, military bands have been used to facilitate commands to troops and lead armies into battle.

History

For a country that has not just one of the largest armed forces in the world but also has produced some of the greatest composers and musicians, the modern day military band tradition of Russia traces its origins to decree No. 2319 of

Urals and in Orenburg
.

"Peter the Great made the military bands official, he understood the importance of the rituals of military units."[1]

Valery Khalilov, Los Angeles Times

The

Vienna Offensive.[9]

The reform of the bands began in 1948–1949 under the assistant director of the band service, Major General Ivan Petrov, and continued on until the 1970s.

military tattoos in the West, with the Band of the Moscow Military District and the Band of the Odessa Military District[11] both participating in tattoos in the Netherlands
in 1990.

Repertoire

See also: March (music)
Captain Ilya Sergeev of the Military Band of the Pacific Fleet conducting
The Fanfare of
President of the Russian Federation

The repertoire of the military band service spans across hundreds of pieces, which included ceremonial and marching music, as well as patriotic songs. Some of these musical pieces (particularly the formal ones) are used elsewhere in the militaries of the

Podmoskovnye vechera have been converted into marches by military composers.[12]

Ceremonial music

Title Composer
Presidential Fanfare Pavel Borisovich Ovsjannikov
Moscow Fanfare Andrey Golovin
Ceremonial Fanfare[13] Nikolai Samokhvalov
Signal "Gathering!" V. Pavlov
Signal "Changing of the Guard" V. Pavlov
Petersburg Parade Fanfare

Patriotic songs

Title Composer
National anthem of Russia Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov
Slavsya Mikhail Glinka
The Sacred War Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov
Farewell of Slavianka Vasily Agapkin
Den Pobedy David Tukhmanov
Song of the Soviet Army Alexander Aleksandrov
Long Live our State
Boris Alexandrovich Alexandrov
Katyusha Matvey Blanter
Siny Platochek
 Jerzy Petersburski
Moscow Nights Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi

Retired Soviet marches/songs

Title Composer
Voroshilov's March Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Song of October
Warszawianka 1905 Józef Pławiński
The Red Flag

Military marches in active use

Service marches

Title Composer Branch
Forward, infantry! Igor Matvienko Russian Ground Forces
Air March Yuli Kant Russian Aerospace Forces
14 Minutes Until Launch Oscar Feltsman Russian Space Forces
The Crew—One Family[14] Russian Navy
March of the Marines Russian Naval Infantry
March of the Artillerymen Tikhon Khrennikov
Strategic Missile Forces
Our 10th Parachute Battalion Bulat Okudzhava Russian Airborne Forces
Song of the Alarming Youth[15] Alexandera Pakhmutova
EMERCOM

[16]

Others

Title Composer
March of the Preobrazhensky Regiment
 unknown
Triumph of Winners
To Serve Russia[17]
March of the 108th Saratov Regiment
Hero's March
March of the Defenders of Moscow Boris Mokrousov
First of All, Planes Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi
March of Nakhimovtsev[18] Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi
Slow March of the Guards of the Navy Nikolai Pavlocich Ivanov-Radkevich
Jubilee Slow March "25 Years of the Red Army"
Semyon Tchernetsky
March of the Tankists
Semyon Tchernetsky
Salute to Moscow
Semyon Tchernetsky
The Red Army's Entry into Bucharest
Semyon Tchernetsky
Slow March of the Artillery
Semyon Tchernetsky
Slow March of the Tankists
Semyon Tchernetsky
Slow March of the Red Army
Semyon Tchernetsky
March "Parade"
Semyon Tchernetsky
Jaeger March
Semyon Tchernetsky
March of the 92nd Pechersk Infantry Regiment
Semyon Tchernetsky[19]
March "Joy of Victory"
Semyon Tchernetsky
In Defence of the Motherland Viktor Runov
Capital March Viktor Runov
On Guard For Peace Boris Diev
Combat March Dmitry Pertsev
Cossacks in Berlin
 Dmitry Pokrass and Daniil Pokrass
Moscow in May Daniil Pokrass
Sports March Valentin Volkov
Adagio Valery Khalilov
Kant Valery Khalilov
Afghan Valery Khalilov
Elegy Valery Khalilov
Cadet Valery Khalilov
Youth Valery Khalilov
Rynda Valery Khalilov
Ulan Valery Khalilov
March "The Ship's bell Valery Khalilov
Lefortsky March Valery Khalilov
March "Pobeda"[20] Albert Arutyunov

List

Bands of military academies and educational institutions

Main article: Military academies in Russia
Band of the University of the Ministry of Defense

Bands of military districts

The Band of the Eastern Military District

Bands of the Armed Forces

Russian Ground Forces

Russian Navy

A navy band during a parade in Moscow

Russian Aerospace Forces

The Blue Berets
The Band of the Airborne Forces on Paratroopers' Day
  • Concert Band of the Band of the 1st Aerospace and Missile Defence Forces Army
  • Concert Band of the Band of the 6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army
  • Concert Band of the Band of the 11th Air and Air Defence Forces Army
  • Concert Band of the 14th Air and Air Defence Forces Army
  • Concert Band of the 15th Aerospace Forces Army
  • Central Band of the Russian Space Forces
  • Brass Band of the Baikonur Cosmodrome of the Space Forces
  • Band of the Main Testing Space Center

Other branches

Overseas military bands

Bands of Russian Ministries and affiliate agencies

The EMERCOM Band
Red Army Band

Not under the Armed Forces but under other agencies:

Former bands

Under the Soviet Armed Forces and disbanded bands under the current Russian Armed Forces:

Under the Imperial Russian Army and the Imperial Russian Navy:

  • Band of the Mozhansky Infantry Regiment
  • HQ Band of the
    Imperial Life Guards and Petersburg Military District
  • Band of the
    Preobrazhensky Life-Guard Regiment
  • Band of the
    Semyonovsky Life Guard Regiment
  • Band of the
    Pavlovsky Life-Guard Regiment
  • Fanfare Band of His Imperial Majesty's Lifeguards Cossack Regiment
  • Fanfare Section and Brass Band of His Imperial Majesty's Life Guard Horse Artillery Brigade
  • Mounted Brass Band of the Life Guard Horse Regiment
  • Band of the Alexander Military Institute
  • Band of the Naval Cadet Corps Saint Petersburg

Musical training

Musicians from the bands of the Moscow area garrison either receive their training from the Moscow Military Music College or the Moscow Conservatory.

After the 1917

Petrograd and Moscow
, as well as at the Warsaw Music Institute, were closed. In connection with the changing socio-political conditions and new ideological guidelines, a new system of musical education in the military was created.

One of the first steps of the new Soviet government was the 1921 opening of classes at the Tashkent and Petrograd Military Music Schools. A year later, the

Military Academy with a three-year term of study was established. By the mid-thirties, with the increase in the number of the Red Army, a large number of new military educational institutions, including military faculties at civilian educational institutions, had been created for the training and preparation of senior musical personnel. Among these faculties, the Military Department of the Moscow Conservatory on the basis of order No. 183 on 28 November 1935 was created. More institutions would be established in the 40s and 50s and advanced through the 60s and 70s.[37]

In October 1964, the first group of foreign students from the

German Democratic Republic, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Yemen, Ethiopia and Vietnam. Since 1994, a special department had been operating at the Military Conducting Department, students of which come from countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, with many graduates organizing military bands in their newly created home countries.[37]

Characteristics

Garrison conductors

The military conductor of the massed city garrison bands is responsible for providing general garrison events with military bands of military units and for the preparation, training, administration and formation of massed garrison bands in their area of responsibility.

In addition, they are, according to Article 36 of a decree by the

Director of music
as known in some Western countries. The Moscow area garrison massed bands are the country's seniormost massed bands formation, and its conductor holds the billet of Senior Director of Music of the Military Band Service.

The position of garrison conductor of massed military bands is present in many other Russian major cities.

Drum majors

In the Russian military,

Second World War, however the appointment of drum major was revived in the early-60s as style that could be differentiated with the Western version. All Russian drum majors are trained in military music schools and institutes like the Moscow Military Music College and the Institute of Military Band Conductors of the Military University of the Ministry of Defense. During parades, they carry maces with either their service or full dress uniform
. The ceremonial maces they carry are held by their right hand and are thrusted up and down consistently to keep the band in step and on beat.

Fanfare trumpets

A fanfare trumpeter of the military band of the 3rd Battalion, 154th Preobrazhensky Independent Commandant's Regiment in May 2015. The regimental band's fanfare trumpeters are positioned in front of the massed bands in every major parade held in Moscow's Red Square.

fanfares such as the Moscow Fanfare or the Fanfare of the President of the Russian Federation. They were first seen in modern military parades in the 1920s, equipped with an elongated bell allowing for a flag or tabard to be hung. Most soldiers who were in the position of fanfare trumpeter were dressed in slightly different uniforms than the rest of the band, usually a different color of the full dress uniform. The natural chromatic fanfare trumpet model is used in many military bands in Russia, with similar ones also being used in military styled marching bands in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. During the Imperial period and up to the early decades of the Soviet Armed Forces these fanfare trumpets were kept as an important regalia for the unit, having the same status as a regimental colour, the first such instruments were granted as battle honours in 1737 and Guards Fanfare Trumpets with the Ribbon of St. George debuted for the Imperial Guard in 1805. When a unit band was disbanded, the fanfare trumpets were transferred to the Museum of the Red Army (now the Central Armed Forces Museum). In 1944, an order to revive the practice, this time for distinguished service in the Red Army, failed to pass in the Presidum of the Supreme Soviet, but nevertheless the fanfare trumpets were given to outstanding bands of units for service to the homeland in times of war. In the ground forces and air force bands the fanfare trumpets, then as is now, have scarlet tabbards with the symbol of the Band Service on them in gold at the center and is surrounded with gold fringe, the symbol is that of two crossed natural chromatic fanfare trumpets with a lyre, symbol of military music, at the center.[44]
In the naval bands, the tabard, gold fringed, is in the form of a small version of the state naval ensign.

Field snare drummers of massed bands

The late decades of Soviet rule also saw the reintroduction of another aspect of military bands in Russia: the field snare drummers, which are a modern form of the days wherein snare drummers lead out their bands or their respective units on parade (the latter when with buglers, fifers and/or fanfare trumpeters) or when in massed bands formation. They first appeared during the October Revolution Day parade of 1981, and the Special Exemplary Military Band of the Guard of Honor Battalion of Russia pioneered the use of the drums when they first adopted them for state arrival and wreath laying ceremonies in 1978–1979.[45] These drummers typically carry large or small sized side marching snare drums fitted with rubber or cotton slings, during the 1980s the drums were painted red and white with the red star cap badge of the Soviet Armed Forces in the center and gold borders. Today, of all select cities that have had massed bands formation for major parades during the 1980s, only five now maintain the practice for major national holidays (Moscow, Krasnodar, Sevastopol (introduced 2018), Yekaterinburg (reinstated 2020) and Khabarovsk (introduced 2017)), formerly it was standard use in the massed bands in St. Petersburg, Kazan and Rostov-on-Don, among other cities. In Moscow, the field snare drummers of the massed bands today wear the same uniforms as the fanfare trumpeters to honor their Imperial predecessors.

Corps of drums

Most military academies and cadet schools, as well as a number of HQ and support units of military formations and commands, maintain a

Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 and has since been regular participant in the October Revolution Day (1938 to 1990), May Day (1938 to 1968) and Victory Day (1965, 1985, 1990, 1995–2008, 2012-)[46] parades on Red Square. A Turkish crescent for the college was used as its unit symbol during the Soviet era until it was replaced in 1995 by a colour guard
squad. Most of these corps have an instrumentation that includes snare drums, fifes, trumpets, glockenspiels and on occasion, chromatic fanfare trumpets and trombones, and its musicians wear the service or full dress uniform of their respective unit or educational institution. Until 1969 the corps of drums, following its march past in front of the parade grandstand, would be positioned near the massed bands to provide additional support in parades. It has been resumed only in Moscow beginning in 2010, but only on Victory Day during the mobile column segment.

Uniform

See also: Uniforms of the Russian Armed Forces
The bands of the Western Military District in their various uniforms

The uniforms of Russian military bands vary depending on the unit. Most unit bands utilize the standard dress uniform with the closed collar of the

epaulettes
on the sides. The Central Navy Band and all Navy bands wear standard naval uniforms, including those of the Naval Infantry, which wear their signature black berets.

Size and composition

There are 4 variant sizes of military bands. The size depends on the status of the unit/institution of which it is attached. For example, a band of a regiment/brigade formation may only have 18 people (they are usually referred to as полковом оркестре, meaning regimental bands), whereas a band of a

service branches and specialized units called Exemplary Bands, numbering around 63 people each. Most military bands are filled with a variety of different types of soldier, whether it be conscripts, cadets or recently civilian musician graduates of civilian conservatories who serve in the bands.[2]

Formation of city massed bands for military parades

The Red Square military parade films from the 1920s and 1930s[48] and photographs from these decades would often feature the massed military bands of the Moscow Military District formed up in a form that had been used many times during the Imperial era during major military parades: the percussion, glockenspiels and Turkish crescents being at the front ranks behind the senior director, lead bandmasters and the drum major/s together with the chromatic fanfare trumpeters and the trombonists, with the trumpeters and clarinet players behind in front of the conductors and bandmasters followed by the remainder of the bandsmen, with the tubas, euphoniums, wagner tubas and helicons in the rear ranks. This was an adapted form of the German parade formation of individual military bands to suit the Russian tradition since the late 19th century of having massed bands. This had been the arrangement seen during the 1945 Victory Parade in a modified form that had begun in the 1930s under Major General Tchernetsky, the founding Senior Director of Music of the Armed Forces. Similar formations were present in a number of cities in the Soviet Union and is the basis of the modern day massed bands formation in Kyiv under the Military Music Department of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The modern arrangement of massed bands in many parts of Russia today began in the 1951 May Day Parade under the senior director of music, Major General Ivan Petrov, which has been modified many times with the current arrangement having been used within Moscow since 2021, which is a mix of the old and new traditions. In Moscow and several other cities (like Khabarovsk, Rostov-on-Don and Yekaterinburg), the form is that the chromatic fanfare trumpeters and field drummers, as well as glockenspiel players, are at the front ranks of the massed bands (manned within the Moscow area of around 1,600 musicians), followed by the trumpeters, trombonists, the percussion battery, French horns, woodwinds and the bass section (tubas, euphoniums, tenor horns, sousaphones and wagner tubas). Similar formations are present in other major cities with massed bands formations available even without the drummers and fanfare trumpeters, having an estimated 200 to 450 in minor cities up to more than 800 in cities like St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don. In the 2019 Victory Day parade in Ufa, Bashkortostan, a modified form of the Imperial and early Soviet massed bands formation was used.

Performances

Spasskaya Tower

Notable current and former musicians in the Russian/Soviet Armed Forces

Dainis Vuskans

Gallery

Photo

  • The combined Navy Band of Russia
    The combined Navy Band of Russia
  • The Military Band of the Black Sea Fleet
    The Military Band of the Black Sea Fleet
  • The HQ Band of the Northwestern District Command of the National Guard
    The HQ Band of the Northwestern District Command of the National Guard
  • The Military Band of the Pacific Fleet
    The Military Band of the Pacific Fleet
  • The Military Band of the Baltic Fleet
    The Military Band of the Baltic Fleet
  • Konstantin Petrovich
    Konstantin Petrovich
  • The central band under the direction of Colonel Sergey Durygin during its 90th anniversary concert in 2017
    The central band under the direction of Colonel Sergey Durygin during its 90th anniversary concert in 2017
  • The military band of the 79th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment
    The military band of the 79th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment
  • The Massed Bands of the Nizhny Novgorod Garrison
    The Massed Bands of the Nizhny Novgorod Garrison
  • The Band of the Volgograd Garrison
    The Band of the Volgograd Garrison
  • The corps of drums of the Moscow Military Conservatoire during the Victory Parade on Red Square in May 2010
    The corps of drums of the Moscow Military Conservatoire during the Victory Parade on Red Square in May 2010
  • A band of an airborne cossack regiment
    A band of an airborne cossack regiment
  • Members of an air force band on Air Force Day in 2020
    Members of an air force band on Air Force Day in 2020

Videos

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Military bands of Russia.

References

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Video sources

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