History of Kneller Hall
Kneller Hall 1887
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Kneller Hall as it stands today was built in 1849 on the site of the country residence of the Court painter, Sir Godfrey Kneller, in Whitton, near Twickenham. The present building was initially used as a teacher training school, although this was not a success and closed after a few years.
The Military Music Class opened at Kneller Hall on 3rd March 1857 on the initiative of HRH The Duke of Cambridge, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and a cousin of Queen Victoria. |
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The popular story is that this came about as a result of an incident during a review at Scutari, in the Crimea in celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday in 1854, witnessed by the Duke, who was present as Commander of the 1st Division (Brigade of Guards and Highlanders). The massed bands, not accustomed to playing together, rendered the National Anthem in a variety of different keys and arrangements, causing much embarrassment. Whether this was the real reason will forever remain uncertain but two contemporary sources confirm that the performance in question left much to be desired: The Times' war correspondent, W.H. Russell, witnessed the review and wrote "They.. [Lord Raglan and his staff]..were received by the bands of all the regiments striking up God Save the Queen but not with the unanimity which would have been desirable in order to give a perfect effect to the noble strains of our national anthem”. |
HRH The Duke of Cambridge
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In addition, Lt. Col. Somerset Calthorpe published his recollections under the title ‘Letters from Headquarters’ and included: “Lord Raglan and an immense staff came to the ground; then followed three cheers from the troops, but all the bands playing in different keys God Save the Queen spoilt the effect it would otherwise have had”.
As well as training instrumentalists, the school was established to train the more talented bandsmen to become bandmasters to replace the hired (mostly German) civilians hitherto employed. Whatever the Duke may have remembered from Scutari, perhaps the real need for the school can be found in the autobiography of Lt. Col. John Mackenzie-Rogan, who tells us that the vast majority of these Germans were not up to the job and were mostly little more than piano teachers.
As well as training instrumentalists, the school was established to train the more talented bandsmen to become bandmasters to replace the hired (mostly German) civilians hitherto employed. Whatever the Duke may have remembered from Scutari, perhaps the real need for the school can be found in the autobiography of Lt. Col. John Mackenzie-Rogan, who tells us that the vast majority of these Germans were not up to the job and were mostly little more than piano teachers.
Knellar Hall Tuning Fork
Director of Music's office Circa 1933
Knellar Hall drawing room Circa. 1895
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Regiments were wasting good money on these men who were not subject to military discipline and who resigned once a regiment or battalion was posted elsewhere. This resulted in a lack of leadership of the bandsmen during the Crimean campaign, when officers looked on with envy as the French army (our allies at the time) had well trained and properly led musicians to keep them entertained
The school was also responsible for setting a standard pitch to which all instruments in army bands were to tune. Tuning forks were issued with orders that they were to be kept under lock and key so that they could not be tampered with! The school received its present title from Queen Victoria in 1887 when it became The Royal Military School of Music. Other than a few years spent in exile at Aldershot during the Second World War, Kneller Hall has been the home of Army music ever since. Old instruments have been collected at Kneller Hall for many years and were originally displayed in cases in some of the offices; this photograph shows the displays in the Director of Music’s office circa 1933. After the school had settled back after returning from Aldershot in 1946, there was clearly a wish to make the collection more visible, as the Kneller Hall diary records that:
The man who was chiefly responsible for the development of the museum was Lieutenant Colonel Rodney Bashford OBE, Grenadier Guards, an involvement which began with his tenure as the School Bandmaster in the 1950s and continued through his time as the school’s Director of Music and into his retirement shortly before his death in 1997. Following Colonel Bashford, the museum’s care was entrusted to Lieutenant Colonel George Evans OBE and Major Roger Swift, both very distinguished former Directors of Music. |
