Robert Browne Hall (30 June 1858

Bowdoinham, Maine Bowdoinham is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. Bowdoinham was included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 3,047 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– ...

– 8 June 1907), usually known as R. B. Hall, was a leading

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a state's "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diffe ...

and other music for

wind band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

s. A principal American composer of marching music, he was born in Bowdoinham, Maine and seldom left his native state during his lifetime, dying in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. His music though has traveled around the world. He is particularly popular in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, so much so that many lovers of brass band music there mistakenly imagine that Hall is an English composer. His celebrated "Tenth Regiment March", written in 1895 and dedicated to the Tenth Regiment Band in Albany,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, is a well-known staple of brass band concerts and competitions all over the UK, under the title "Death or Glory". Hall was famous during his lifetime as a particularly fine player on the

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

and served for a time as conductor of the Bangor Band. As soloist, conductor, composer and teacher, Hall is still remembered in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. The last Saturday in June every year is officially Robert Browne Hall Day in the State of Maine. Hall suffered a stroke in 1902 from which he never recovered. He died in poverty in Portland as a result of

nephritis Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation ...

five years later, and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in

Richmond, Maine Richmond is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,522 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, situated at the head of Merrymeeting Bay. Richmond is located ad ...

. His widow sold the manuscripts of many compositions. Unscrupulous publishers assembled and realized from fragments works they passed off as genuine Hall compositions.

List of compositions

He left over a hundred marches and other compositions, including such classics as: *''Officer of the Day March'' *''Canton Halifax March'' *''Independentia March'' *''New Colonial March'' *''Tenth Regiment March (Death or Glory)'' *''Gardes du Corps March'' *''Albanian March'' *''American Cadet March'' *''Charge of the Battalion'' *''Colonel Fitch March'' *''Colonel Philbrook March'' *''The Commander March'' *''Commonwealth March'' *''Dunlap Commandery March'' *''Fort Popham March'' *''Greeting to Bangor March'' *''Hamlin Rifles March'' *''Marche Funebre'' *''Norembega March'' *''S.I.B.A. March'' *''Second Regiment P.M. March'' *''Veni, Vidi, Vici March'' *''W.M.B. March''

In popular culture

The trio from Hall's ''New Colonial March'' provides the music for

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

's official

fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand, these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...

, '' Come Join the Band''. The trio from Hall's "Officer of the Day March" provides the melody for the Alma Mater of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. His March ''"Death or Glory"'', 1895 is the music in the opening scene of the 1996 comedy-drama film about a Yorkshire coal-miner's band, ''"

Brassed Off ''Brassed Off'' is a 1996 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mark Herman and starring Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald and Ewan McGregor. The film is about the troubles faced by a colliery brass band, following the closure ...

"''.

References

*''R.B. Hall and the Community Bands of Maine'', Gordon W. Bowie, Dissertation,

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

, 1993.

External links

R.B. Hall entry on Mt. Ararat High School, Topsham ME website
* *
R. B. Hall Day
- official annual Maine commemoration
R. B. Hall
on the National Jukebox {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Robert Browne 1858 births 1907 deaths American cornetists American male composers American composers People from Bowdoinham, Maine Musicians from Bangor, Maine 19th-century American male musicians