The musical genre known as musica militar refers to military music performed by professional soldiers called field musicians. This style of music has been used throughout history to announce military events with fanfares and marches, accompany marching formations with drum cadences and mark special occasions such as parades and ceremonies. It has also been employed in battle, to scare or motivate combatants and to assist with the organization and timing of attacks on the battlefield. Musica militar also includes ceremonial marches, anthems and other musical pieces that celebrate the military and the values it stands for.
Historically, military bands have been composed of brass and woodwind instruments with a number of percussion instruments. Some modern military bands also include the piano or organ and have a large repertoire that can encompass many styles of music, from classical to popular songs. Most military bands perform the standard ceremonial and marching music as well as original wind compositions and arrangements of orchestral compositions, light music and concert marches.
Musica militar can be heard at parades, as part of a ceremony marking the opening of a base, to welcome a visiting foreign military official or politician, to mark the end of a campaign or war or to commemorate an event such as the death of a soldier. A military band can also provide entertainment in the barracks and in a wide variety of other venues.
In the 21st century, most military Música militar bands have begun to de-emphasize their role in ceremonial activities and concentrate more on performing a support function to the army’s operations. Military music is no longer required on the battlefield and the role of the band in general has changed significantly from that of 100 years ago when it was primarily used to impress the public and the enemy with the military’s superior marching skills.
The modern military band is often modeled on the German model, with a corps of drummers and a bugle section. In Chile, the bands of the Captain Manuel Avalos Prado Air Force Academy and the Air Forces Specialities School both follow this format. The Argentine Army has three mounted bands, including the Regiment of Patricians’s regimental band which follows a more traditional Spanish style with a brass and percussion ensemble (plus fifes and bugles) while the Tambor de Tacuari band is based on German tradition with only drums out front.
The armed forces of Sierra Leone have a military-styled band that is made up of brass, woodwind and percussion instruments. The Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Steel Orchestra also uses a similar format. The Peruvian Armed Forces maintain a military-styled band with the mounted fanfare band company of the President’s Life Guard Dragoons Regiment Escort as their honor band, while the Band of the Military Academy and the Chorrillos Military School of the Peruvian Army use a similar format to the Argentine model. Police forces in many countries have their own bands that have a similar format to the military bands.
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