I've recently published an article on British military music and society during the French Wars. Free to read here: https://doi.org/10.1093/hisres/htad027
Abstract
The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars were experienced by the ears as much as the eyes, yet the auditory dimensions of these conflicts have received limited attention from historians. This article interrogates the reach and reception of military music in wartime Britain and Ireland by drawing on a wealth of evidence from memoirs, diaries, press reports and regimental archives. It demonstrates that military bands provided sought-after entertainment at myriad public events and staged open-air concerts for socially diverse audiences. The article interprets martial music-making as an important civil-military interface and a potent form of cultural propaganda: a means of inculcating patriotism and asserting the sonic supremacy of the established order in a revolutionary age. But it also reveals that military music provoked irritation, controversy and distress, not least by generating noise complaints and exacerbating sectarianism in Ireland. The article concludes by considering the role of British regimental music-making in overseas colonies and foreign theatres of operations, arguing that it functioned as a form of soft power that underpinned imperial authority, aided diplomacy and eased relations with local inhabitants. An intrusive symptom of large-scale military mobilization, martial music shaped civilian attitudes and soundscapes while profoundly influencing broader musical culture.
Eamonn,
So that's all Napoleonic period fans have to say on the subject:
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=575006
Don't take it too hard (I take it hard enough). It doesn't help because they don't know what we're talking about, they don't know what music we're talking about. And if they did, they probably wouldn't like it anyway (yuck! "classical" music!...)
😅
Another interesting work on the subject (I couldn't find a reference in your notes/bibliography) is John Gleeson's A HISTORY ON THE BAND OF H.M. COLDSTREAM GUARDS 1685 - 2015:
Especially:
Part III
ROYAL REFORMATION: C. F. ELEY: THE DUKE OF YORK'S BAND: AND THE TURKISH MUSIC 1785 - 1805
and
Part IV
THE REGENCY BAND: UNDER WEYRAUCH DENMAN AND WILLMAN 1805 - 1825
pdf link:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2598/7216/files/Pomp_Circumstance.pdf?6466356825418466598
Nice article. What is said here about military music and its functions also applies, in principle, to all military bands of the Napoleonic Wars, regardless of whether they are of friend or foe.
Still, I recommend that anyone interested in the subject of British bands buy this work (mentioned in the article). It's worth it (look at AbeBooks and the like to get it at a better price):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-British-Military-Nineteenth-Century/dp/0199898316/ref=sr_1_1?
crid=SNC4Q83DKUJ0&keywords=Music+%26+the+British+Military+in+the+Long+Nineteenth+Century&qid=1701372318&sprefix=music+%26+the+british+military+in+the+long+nineteenth+century%2Caps%2C63&sr=8-1
A note about just one image mentioned in the article:
https://academic.oup.com/view-large/figure/427431043/htad027_fig5.jpg
I've seen comments in the web which purport that what we see here is the complete band of the 3rd Foot Guards (Scots Guards) in 1811, which is just quite mistaken. Actually, with such a line-up it would have been impossible to perform according to what the scores required.
As a matter of fact, these two plates do NOT show the full complement of the band but represent each instrument in use just once, the only exception being the clarinet which is represented twice for the simple reason that the separately listed 'Master of the Band' was playing a clarinet as well (note that bandmasters did not use conductor's staffs at the time but played an instrument as well, mostly the clarinet; conductor staffs were a post-Napoleonic development and were used first by civilian bandmasters). Several of the instruments shown would have been represented at least twice.
In c. 1805, the complement of the band of the Scots Guards was as follows: 1 Small [or 'Octave'] Flute [also known as a 'Piccolo'], 3 Hautboys [oboes], 1 Small Clarinett, 6 'Grand Clarinetts' ['Small' and 'Grand' were differently pitched], 2 Bassoons, 3 Trombones, 2 Trumpets, 2 French Horns, 1 Serpent, 1 Bass Horn, Drums, Tambourine and Cymbals (see Trevor Herbert/Helen Barlow, Music & The British Military, Oxford 2013, p.304). I.e., 25+ bandsmen.
The 1811 pictures also show a 'Triangle', and the drums used were of three kinds: a single 'Kettle Drum', a 'Small Drum' (which most probably would have been a 'Tenor Drum' without a snare, contrary to the ordinary military drum), and a 'Great Drum' (also known as 'Big Drum' ['Grosse Caisse', as the French called it] or 'Long Drum' at the time, today's bass drum; note the elongated shape of the 'Great Drum', others were shaped like ordinary military drums but bigger. So these drums looked different from modern bass drums).
The band may also have had a jingling johnny (known as 'Turkish Crescent' or, as the French said, 'Chapeau Chinois', or 'Bonnet Chinois') but jingling johnnies apparently were considered sort of band standards rather than true instruments. So, despite being very much en vogue with both military and civilian bands at the time, they were never mentioned in musical scores (contrary to great drums, cymbals, and even triangles). They were shaken up and down or pinwheeled to give (or support) the beat and produce kind of a jingling drone.