[PW] 76 Trombones?

[BETZ-ZALL, JONATHAN]

Having performed at one of those "Band Days" in Southern California in
the late 1960s, I can tell you that there were indeed over a hundred
trombones and probably a thousand or so reeds but only about six tubas
and twenty of us bass drummers. 
Cheerio!  Jonathan 

-----Original Message-----
From: project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org
[mailto:project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] On Behalf Of
Dennis Giszczak
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 2:45 PM
To: list at project-wombat.org
Subject: Re: [PW] 76 Trombones?

>>> tfuller at DELOITTE.com 02/04/08 5:04 PM >>>
A bunch of us music nerds were talking about Meredith Willson's THE
MUSIC MAN (1957), and the question arose whether there has ever been a
band of the size described in the song "76 Trombones".  In addition to
the 'bones, the song mentions 110 cornets, "more than a thousand" reeds,
one Sousaphone, "fifty mounted cannon", and presumably other instruments
like euphoniums and percussion.  

That has always sounded to me like a complete fantasy, an illustration
of Harold Hill's snake-oil exaggeration.  But others in the group were
skeptical, and thought that such a gathering might have been held
somewhere.  Even the American premiere of Mahler's "Symphony of a
Thousand" used "only" 1,068 musicians, and that included a massive
string section, three choirs, and several vocal soloists.  (These days
the work is usually performed with about half that number.)  And it's
true that in the 19th century they tended to do these things in a big
way.  But -- that big?
[snip]
So -- the "76 Trombones Band" -- historical, or fictional?  Any and all
thoughts, speculations, etc. are appreciated.
________________________________________
The Wikipedia article on William Revelli (and also the article on
University of Michigan Marching Band history) mentions the annual Band
Day held at Michigan Stadium, 1949-early 1970s. They invited various
high school marching bands to come see the game, and then to play
together at halftime.  The article says that by the 1960s, the
participants of Band Day were more than 14,000. (I'm assuming that
included majorettes, baton-twirlers, drum majors, and the like, so
probably not all instrumentalists.)  By the 1970s, the football program
was so successful that the administration realized they could sell all
those extra tickets, instead of giving them away, and Band Day ended.  I
didn't find any exact specification of the instruments involved, (but I
didn't search very hard.) However, with somewhere around 12,000-13,000
musicians on the field, there must have been hundreds of trombones!

It seems to me I have read of other very large bands/orchestras being
assembled for special occasions, perhaps in European countries. I don't
know when Music Man was actually written, but the author might have
known of Michigan Band Day or some similar event.




Dennis Giszczak
Cataloger
Thomas M. Cooley Law School--Brennan Library Lansing, Mich.
giszczad at cooley.edu


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