Maidenhead Citadel Band (MCB) is a

Salvation Army Band A Salvation Army brass band is a brass band affiliated with a Corps, Division or Territory of the Salvation Army. In society, a Salvation Army band playing in public places during Christian events in the calendar such as Christmas has become a ...

and part of the

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

Corps of

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

. For over 120 years the band has consistently contributed to the worship and evangelical outreach promoted by the Maidenhead Corps in the

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a unitary authority area with royal borough status in Berkshire, England. The borough is named after its two largest towns of Maidenhead (where the council is based) and Windsor. The borough also i ...

Brief history

The Band can trace its history back to 1886 when William Thomas, a young farmer from the Salisbury area moved to

and became the first Bandmaster of Maidenhead Citadel Band. On 25 June 1892, 18 members of Maidenhead Band were arrested during an open-air meeting as they "unlawfully obstructed the free passage of the Highway by standing together for the space of twenty minutes." Bandmaster William Thomas took responsibility for the Band's actions and was sentenced to several months manual labour in

Reading Gaol HM Prison Reading, popularly known as Reading Gaol, is a former prison located in Reading, Berkshire, England. The prison was operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service (now His Majesty's Prison Service) until its closure at the start of 2014. It ...

. In more recent times the size of the Band has fluctuated but has experienced a revival under the leadership of the current Bandmaster Stuart Hall, who is also a member of the

International Staff Band The International Staff Band (ISB) is the premier brass band of the Salvation Army. Based in London, UK, the band performs Christian music in concerts, worship services, television and radio broadcasts, and studio recordings. In 2008, the ISB rele ...

. The Band is possibly now the biggest it has ever been with many young players still entering from the junior sections. Over the years Maidenhead Band has contributed many players to the Salvation Army's "Premier" Staff Bands. To date five Maidenhead Bandsmen have been members of Salvation Army Staff Bands; three in the

, one in the Melbourne Staff Band and two in the German Staff Band.

Bandmasters

* 1886 1926 William Thomas * 1926 1930 Hanbury Thomas * 1930 1951 Walter Steventon * 1951 1957 Trevor Steventon * 1957 1964 Walter Steventon (recommenced) * 1964 1973 David Alexander * 1973 1975 George Horrobin * 1975 1977 Bram White * 1977 1978 Fred Betts * 1978 1980 Eric Hallam * 1980 1991 Brian Cooper * 1991 2016 Stuart Hall * 2016 ---- Mark Lazenbury

Mission

As well as assisting in the weekly religious services; both indoor and in the open-air, the Band has travelled throughout the United Kingdom, playing at Christian services and events. The Band has performed in concert halls, worship centres, prisons and hospitals, appeared on film and radio as well as marched through cities, towns and villages proclaiming the good news of God's love for all. In October 2003 the Band completed its first overseas tour to the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

Division of

in South Africa where they travelled in and around

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Visiting

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Plac ...

, Elilandia,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

Paarl Paarl (; ; derived from ''parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a city with 294,457 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the largest city in the Boland, Western Cape, Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni ...

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...

Rondebosch Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with shopping and business districts as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town. History Four years after the first Dutch ...

, Goodwood,

Mitchell's Plain Mitchells Plain is a large census designated sub-place located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multi ...

and

Fish Hoek Fish Hoek (, meaning either Fish Corner or Fish Glen) is a coastal suburb of Cape Town at the eastern end of the Fish Hoek Valley on the False Bay side of the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape, South Africa. Previously a separate municipality, Fi ...

. The Band also completed a UK tour the "Gospel Train" during May and June 2006 where they travelled the North

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Division of The Salvation Army visiting Fort William,

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placenames ...

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

, Aberdeen,

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and Blairgowrie. In May 2009 the Band travelled to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

where they performed several concerts in

Suolahti Suolahti is a former town and municipality of Finland. It is located next to Lake Keitele in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. Suolahti was merged into Äänekoski together with Sumiainen in 2007. Hist ...

Kiuruvesi Kiuruvesi is a town and municipality of Finland located in the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Iisalmi, Pielavesi ...

as well as

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Central Finland. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Jyväskylä is approximately , while the Jyväskylä sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately ...

. Sponsored jointly by the Pentecostal and Adventist Churches as well as the local Salvation Army, the band captivated large audiences in each of their concerts with a programme of classical and sacred music including work from the Finnish composer Sibelius.

Recordings

The Band released its first CD "Gospel Train" for the 2006 tour to North Scotland. The track list is: # Make the world with music ring (Himes) # People need the Lord (Davies) # A London Celebration (Graham) # Gift for His altar (Condon) # How great thou art (Wood) # Gospel Train (Gott) # All to Jesus (Herikstad) # Aria From Magic Flute (Mozart) # Piano Sonata in C Minor (Beethoven) # And they were heroes (Cheyne) # Benediction (Brahms) # To Regions Fair (Bearcroft) In March 2007 the Band produced a short promotion CD featuring the music of Raymond Edmund John Cuell who has had a very long association with the Maidenhead. The CD also features a piece arranged by BM Stuart Hall that was dedicated to Maidenhead Bandsman John Mattingley and his family who emigrated to Canada in May 2006. The CD was recorded live. # Scarborough Citadel (Cuell) # Field Service (Cuell) # Haera Ra (Hall) The most recent CD recording is "Faith Victorious" which was released in time for the Band's Tour to Finland. The track list is: # Dance like David (Mackereth) # What a friend (Leidzen) # Blessing & Honour (Sharman) # Give me Jesus (Burgmayer) # Yarmouth Fair (Warlock) # In perfect peace (Downie) # Faith is the Victory (Curnow) # Piano Sonata in C minor (Beethoven) # Shalom (Silfverberg) # A Rose there bloomed (Redhead) # Amazing Grace (Trad) # Faithfulness (Himes) # On the King's Highway (Leidzen) # Hymn Tune Finlandia

References

External links