Our guide to our resources, the information you'll find in them and when to try elsewhere
New Zealand’s Brass and Pipe Bands
New Zealand music isn’t all about rock’n’roll or guitars or hit singles. The nation, including Christchurch, has a thriving pipe and brass band scene and has done since the nineteenth century.
Brass and pipe bands have a long history in New Zealand, a legacy of our British colonial past. Early settlers from England and Scotland brought with them both brass and pipe traditions, and early New Zealand bands were often the military bands of the colonial regiments. Settlers also formed bands, sometimes associated with the militia, and garrison bands sprang up around the country.
The goldrushes also saw miners forming bands. In Christchurch, the Addington Workshops Brass Band was formed in 1883 and continues today as Addington Brass. The band was funded by a levy of all employees of the Addington Railway Workshops and played initially a picnics and other social events. Addington Brass are current national titleholders (2006) and will defend their title in Auckland in July.
NZ Community Trust Woolston Brass (formerly the Skellerup Wooolston Brass Band) are another well-known Christchurch band. Listen to this 1950s recording (mp3) of the band accompanying the All Blacks Football Song. More recently, this 1998 recording (mp3) of Larry Pruden’s Haast Highway shows off the band’s sheer talent. You can borrow several Woolston Brass CDs from our libraries.
Pipe bands also have a long tradition and the City of Invercargill Caledonian Pipe Band Inc. which was founded in 1896, is believed to be the oldest civilian pipe band in the southern hemisphere. Hear the Milton Pipe Band playing March 79th in this heritage recording (mp3) from the 1940s. The Canterbury Caledonian Society Pipe Band celebrated its’ centennial in 2002.
Bands played at all kinds of public events civic, sporting and patriotic. Another strong tradition was the outdoor concert in the park in summer and like most places Christchurch had a number of bandstands to accommodate this. Christchurch City Libraries collection of heritage photographs of rotundas records a number of examples at Sumner, New Brighton, Sydenham Park and Victoria Square as well as the most famous Thomas Edmonds Band Rotunda and the Band Rotunda in the Botanic Gardens.
We recommend: Brass and Pipe resources
Our online resources:
- Early NZ Music our feature on NZ music before 1900.
- Radio rules the airwaves NZ music from 1900 to today.
- Māori Music - our page on traditional māori music.
Our Internet Gateway recommends:
- New Zealand Brass Bands - brief history of the origins of brass banding in New Zealand by Lt.-Col. Maurice Osborne. From the UK’s Harrowgate Band web site.
- The Brass Bands’ Association of New Zealand has information on brass bands throughout the country, the national band events, education and CDs.
- Brass Bands Reference, History and Contesting - gateway site to brass bands website links. Again from the Harrogate Band in United Kingdom.
- 4barsrest.com Downunder - gateway to Brass Band music and activities in Australia and New Zealand.
- Addington Brass the band’s own web site.
- Woolston Brass from the Christchurch Symphony web site.
- Canterbury Caledonian Society Pipe Band their web site.
Browse the resources in our libraries:
Sound recordings
- CDs of brass band music from both New Zealand and overseas.
- CDs recorded by Woolston Brass.
General searches in the library catalogue:
Sources
All audio clips are located on the Discover site http://discover.natlib.govt.nz of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa. Other clips are available on the site.
