The 33rd Illinois Volunteer Regiment Band will be the finale to Illinois State University's Concert on the Quad series, on Monday, July 27, as the band celebrates 30 years since its formation in 1996 and the U.S. celebrates 250 years as a country.
The historical reenactment band was formed in 1996 by a group of Central Illinois musicians, recreating the actual Civil War-era band that began at Illinois State Normal University in 1861.
The concert will feature a variety of music from patriotic tunes and polkas to waltzes and hymns, including music from composer Stephen Foster to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the American composer's birth. To authentically recreate the original band, all songs are from the Civil War and prior, all instruments are from the late 1800s — aside from the drums, which are exact reproductions — and all uniforms that members wear are patterned from actual specimens of Union soldier uniforms.
John Bergmann plays E-flat cornet with the 33rd Regiment Band and is the band’s narrator. He introduces each song with a brief history lesson or anecdote.
“I will always say a few words to give the audience an idea of what they're about to hear; maybe I'll point out a particular section in the band that will be featured that the audience can be listening for,” Bergmann said. “We try to make it fun. I try to inject a little bit of humor into the narrative.”
Bergmann said that even today, it’s hard to not enjoy the music due to its catchy and tonal beats, along with some potential familiarity. He reminds listeners that when they were written, this was popular music.
“You don't hear it on the radio, but so many songs from that era, we've heard, and being able to bring some of that stuff out and share it with people [is] a lot of fun. Every concert, afterwards, there are people who come up and they have questions about the instruments and they want to know more information about the uniforms or [an] anecdote that I mentioned before a particular song.”
With over 200 songs in the Regiment’s songbook, no two programs are the same. The group gathers only two to three times in the beginning of the year to learn new songs or go over technically challenging melodies.
A musical legacy
Founded and commanded by Charles Hovey, the first president of Illinois State Normal University, the original 33rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment and its band was made up of many students and faculty members from Illinois State Normal University.
Today, the band has members from all around Illinois, and like the original band, all walks of life. Several players are teachers, including Bergmann, a retired physics and chemistry teacher at Normal Community High School.
Part of the Western Theater, Bergmann said the original 33rd Regiment participated in operations between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. The band promoted the war effort through music, as soldiers fought throughout the area.
“They played peppy songs to fire the men up,” Bergmann said. “They played spiritual songs to bring home the reality of what they were engaged in and what it might result in. They played songs from home so that soldiers would remember what they were fighting for. Typically it's estimated that the regimental band played seven or eight hours a day.”
During battles when there was no need for music, bandsmen would act as couriers, stretcher bearers and surgeon assistants, taking on many roles.
Today, the band continues the legacy by playing events and running educational programs throughout the Midwest.
The concert will begin at 7 p.m. on the east side of Cook Hall ["the Castle"] on the Illinois State University Quad. It is free and open to the public.
