Royal Military School of Music
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The Royal Military School of Music in Twickenham, West London trains musicians for the British Army's twenty nine bands. It is part of the Corps of Army Music.
The school is based at Kneller Hall, which was the country house of the court painter Sir Godfrey Kneller, and was rebuilt after a fire in 1848. The school was established in 1857 at the instigation of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge who was Queen Victoria's cousin and the commander-in-chief of the army after he attended a parade in Africa and was greeted by a number of army bands who preceded to play the national anthem in a number of different key signiatures. It was after this he decided that there should be some standardisation in army music and so formed the RMSM, Kneller Hall.
The school is open to men and women, and the commitment to the army is for a minimum of four years. The Corps of Army Music is the largest employer of musicians in the United Kingdom, and it promotes itself to potential recruits as an opportunity to earn a salary as a musician, something which can be hard to do. The music taught and performed is not restricted to marching music, but also includes jazz, swing, middle-of-the-road, popular, baroque, mainstream symphonic and operatic music.
The Royal Military School of Music Museum at Kneller Hall has a collection of musical instruments, music, documents, prints, manuscripts, paintings and uniforms showing the history of military music which may be viewed by appointment.
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