PORTRAITS
THE BRASS BANDS OF HAUTS DE FRANCE
When visiting a region and taking a close interest in its culture and history, it is also interesting to encounter and listen to its brass bands ,composed of amateurs and professional musicians and enriched by ancestral traditions that are an integral part of our culture heritage and our territories as I have observed in HAUTS DE FRANCE region
A brass band, more commonly called a fanfare, consists of a group of musicians, whether amateur or professional accompanied by musical instruments commonly called " brass instruments " also supplemented other so-called
"woodwind" instruments often play alongside saxophones, bugles, horns, and drums, as in a marching band, while specifying that these ensembles are mostly classified between concert band and brass band,and have been assisting for
some time . For many years, the group has been open to other musical styles such as rock, waltz , and tango complementing songs and classical works that are well-suited to local events featuring brass bands including
neighborhood festivals , dances, fireworks displays, as well as sporting , cultural, historical or other events very
gastronomic.
"Brass bands or brass bands, by their very origins, have a connotation of military music, and this from their
development in the 19th and 20th centuries, where,for example,there were 1911 177 military music corps for a strenght
of 15,000 men, knowing that some units have always brass bands made up of amateur or professionnal musicians, with
traditions also maintained with time, as is particularly the case with the orchestra of the Republican Guard, founded in
1848 and composed of 120 professional musicians with the transformation of its brass band into a concert band under
the name of "Music of the Paris Guard" in 1856" Philippe LEGENDRE, originally from Berck and an amateur saxophonist and member of brass band Batacuda,who organizes shows for Demonstrations in the Hauts-de-France region. Another distinctive feature of this region, rich and proud of its culture, which is an integral part of its history linked in
particular to Mining Basin of Nord and Pas-de-Calais this stems from the fact that mining companies also concerned
with the cultural development of their staff, they developed this as early as the 19th century active musical practices
with the creation of musical societies divided into 3 groups called harmony, drums-brass band and brass band that still
endure today and that we are happy to meet every year and
especially December 4th which is the feast of Saint Barbara, patron saint ofMinors or during this convivial and historic day,one also encounters harmonies and brass bands with their enthusiastic musicians and their gleaming chrome instruments also fittingly celebrate this important festival
of the Hauts-de-France region with strong values and symbols linked to the history and lives of miners.
A Unifying Role of Musical Passions
Primarily constituted under association statutes or by individual musicians or groups during their performances Brass bands are also supported and encouraged in their development within the framework of the
Plan to support brass bands implemented in the Hauts-de-France region in 2021 in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, particularly to develop amateur musical groups , rural areas and strengthening partnerships with the local authorities as can be seen
in the municipality of Ablain Saint Nazaire located in Pas-de-Calais " Founded in 1872, at the time under the name 'Municipal Brass Band'"
the Municipal Harmony of the town has about sixty musicians led since 1987 by Jean l'Herbier
and our participation in town events is varied and numerous, including both public concerts and commemorations such
as those on May 1st and 8th, as well as
November 11th, in parallel with the day of a reminder in April of the anniversary of the Appeal of June 18, 1940, and it is in this sense that a brass band or Harmonie this time, the municipal authority is also fully playing its role in uniting musical passions alongside events festive or historical' tell me Jean Solliez a member
of the Municipal Band and amateur musician who plays bugles and drums, tells me with a smile as he greets me in the town's main square. The presence of brass bands which it also represents for the public as wall as tourists a notion of
celebration that it also found in demonstrations per yar and usual events in many municipalities and communities, such
as in Wazemmes on June 21st during the music festival and of course during the Lille flea market which takes place every year during the weekend of the first Sunday of September
“Participating in this happy event is a source of pride
and pleasure for us as playing in front of guests enjoying memorable dishes of mussels and fries accompanied by
deliciuos local beers is pleasant and delights the participants, as well as accompanying exhibitors and their clients with
music, create a festive atmosphere that is even more that the flea market, whose origins date back to the 12th century
attracks between 2 and 3 millions of visitors every year parallel to being the largest flea market in Europe"Nicolas Le Clainche and Patrick Swinka explained to me who are musicians playing saxophone,guitar and banjo and also members
of the federation of 23 musicians brass bands from Lille and this radiant region of Hauts-de-France, rich in its diversity
and including sumptuous territories where history, culture and art of living are constantly intertwined also have this
particularity of maintaining traditions often of ancient times which are the very living and real expression of its cultural historical and gastronomic richness which one never tires of discovering.
Report by : Gabriel PAGE
Photos credit: Gabriel PAGE / Getty Images
