The Band of the Coldstream Guards is one of the oldest and best known bands in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, having been officially formed on 16 May 1785 under the command of Major C F Eley.

History

The band of the Coldstream Guards was officially formed under the direction of Music Major C.F. Eley on 16 May 1785. The band received its first British bandmaster in 1835, Charles Godfrey. On 18 June 1944 over one hundred twenty people were killed at Wellington Barracks when a German flying bomb hit the

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

. The director of the band was amongst the dead, prompting the appointment of Captain Douglas Alexander Pope. In 1985, during the band's two hundredth anniversary year, the Coldstream Guards kicked off the

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

concert at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, performing "a fanfare composed by the Director of Music Lt Col Richard Ridings". Two especially unusual performances took place in the immediate aftermath of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

in the United States. On September 12, 2001, Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

broke with tradition and allowed the Coldstream Guards Band to perform

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

at Buckingham Palace, London, during the daily ceremonial Changing of the Guard. The following day at a St. Paul's Cathedral memorial service, the Queen herself joined in the singing of the American national anthem, an unprecedented occurrence. The Coldstream Guards played The Star-Spangled Banner again at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

on the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

Ensembles

There are several ensembles within the Band of the Coldstream Guards: * Concert Band Coldstream Guards band Warrant Officer

* Marching Band * Brass Quintet * Jazz Trio * Fanfares Coldstream Guards fanfare team2018

Woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and Ree ...

Quintet * 18th Century Band

Functions

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting MOD 45164084

The Coldstream Guards Band plays regularly for many events as part of the Massed Bands of the Household Division. Selected occasions that are most famous include: *

Beating Retreat Beating Retreat is a military ceremony dating to 17th-century England and was first used to recall nearby patrolling units to their castle. History Originally it was known as watch setting and was initiated at sunset by the firing of a single ...

* Changing of the Guard * The Festival of Remembrance *

Trooping the Colour Trooping the Colour is a ceremonial event performed every year on Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of Household Division, to celebrate the King's Official Birthday, official birthday of the British sovereign, though t ...

Investiture Investiture (from the Latin preposition ''in'' and verb ''vestire'', "dress" from ''vestis'' "robe") is a formal installation or ceremony that a person undergoes, often related to membership in Christian religious institutes as well as Christian kn ...

s * State visits

Album and Record Deal

In June 2009 the band signed a record deal with Universal Music imprint Decca, reportedly worth £1 million. Their debut album 'Heroes' was released on 30 November 2009 and was nominated for Best Album of the Year for

Classical Brits The Classic BRIT Awards (previously Classical BRIT Awards) are an annual awards ceremony held in the United Kingdom covering aspects of classical and crossover music, and are the equivalent of popular music's Brit Awards. The awards are organ ...

. The Band of the Coldstream Guards performed at the Classical Brits Awards gala at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

In media

In the closing credits of ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

'', the band played a instrumental

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

version of the theme tune, Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr Hitler?, conducted by Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel) Trevor L. Sharpe.

References

External links

Home of Coldstream Guards Band

* * {{Authority control British military bands Royal Corps of Army Music 1785 establishments in Great Britain Coldstream Guards