Department of Music

Strike Up the Bands!
A Brief History of Wind Bands at ISU

II.  The “G” Years: Gremelspacher and Graesch
(1939-1984)

From I.  The Beginnings:

A major turning point in the Indiana State band program occurred in 1939, when Joseph A. Gremelspacher arrived.  Over a period of ten years, he had developed the Crawfordsville, IN, school band and orchestra into national award winning ensembles.  His impact at ISTC was immediate.  For instance, the Homecoming rally of October 20, 1939, heard the first performance of the Indiana State fight song, “authored and arranged by Joseph A Gremelspacher, Professor of Music.”  (This information comes from the current web site of Indiana State University.)

Although Joe Gremelspacher reached the rank of Professor in 1956, at the time he wrote the fight song he was only a part-time Assistant Professor.  He also was working toward a master’s degree.  Records indicate that in 1940 he became a full-time faculty member.

Marching Band in Memorial Stadium, c. 1941
At this time Memorial Stadium was a baseball stadium, and horses grazed in the outfield.
[personal memory of Graesch]

Just as Gremelspacher was leading the ISTC marching and concert bands to new heights, World War II intervened.  Joe served three years in the Naval Reserves, from August 1942 to October 1945.  When he left for active duty, a recent graduate, Robert Hawkins, took over until he, too, joined the war effort.  At that point, V. E. Dillard, band director at Washington, IN, High School, assumed responsibility for the band until Gremelspacher’s return.  The absence of so many male students due to the war affected the band program.  The 1942-43 Sycamore (ISTC’s yearbook) states:

The Marching Band, formerly an all men’s organization admitted twenty girls to its ranks this fall…..Of special significance is the fact that the [Concert] band, due to the shortage of men students, is admitting high school children to its ranks.  In these unusual times it is benefiting both the College and the high school students.          

From the 1943-44 Sycamore:

Due to the fact that so many of our boys are in the service, the band made few appearances as a marching unit.

The 1945-46 Sycamore shows Gremelspacher as part of a photo collage, with the following information:

Joseph Gremelspacher, band director . . hails from Crawfordsville . . back from service in time for winter term. [punctuation sic]

Gremelspacher’s talent for promotion and publicity and his ability to produce excellent ensembles gained the ISTC bands national prominence.  He remained the driving force in the band department for many years.  From 1948 until 1953 Justin D. Bradbury served as his Associate Director of Bands.

In 1953, George M. Graesch, a graduate of ISTC, joined the faculty as Associate Director of Bands, conductor of the Varsity Band,  and teacher of all the brass students plus the instrumental technic and material classes. Graesch and Gremelspacher exchanged conducting assignments in 1958, with Graesch heading the Symphonic Band and Gremelspacher the Varsity Band. In 1959, Graesch assumed the title of Director of Bands which he held until his retirement in 1984.  When the Department of Music organized into divisions, he served as Coordinator of the Wind Division, official acknowledgement of work he had been doing since 1965.

Gremelspacher and Graesch developed a music education curriculum that attracted many students who wanted to become public school band directors.  These students in turn helped to improve the ISTC bands. Regular broadcasts from the college radio station featured the full band and also small brass and woodwind ensembles.  The Symphonic Band toured each year, giving concerts in Indiana high schools. Summer camps in both concert work and marching included visiting clinicians who were well known in their fields.  The Symphonic Band also played for such occasions as  Commencement, the inauguration of a new college president, and a concert for the Indiana Music Educators Association.

Two special events deserve mention. The first was in honor of retiring ISTC President Ralph N. Tirey, who had been a strong supporter of the band program.  For that concert 100 band alumni performed with the Symphonic Band.  The second occurred on May 13, 1962.  Joe Gremelspacher was retiring from conducting, and to honor him 90 alumni of his bands joined with the Symphonic Band for a concert.

Now that he did not have a band to conduct, Gremelspacher taught a number of courses, including Brass Technics, Woodwind Technics, Instrument Repair, and Instrumental Organization.  Persons who took these courses probably remember the ticking metronome during scale tests on all those instruments, practicing the drum major whistle and mace commands in the fourth floor hallway, and the gigantic notebook assembled in the Instrumental Organization class (no typographical errors permitted).

Changes occurred over the years.  In 1974 the Symphonic Band was renamed “Wind Ensemble,” and the Varsity Band took over the “Symphonic Band” designation.  For some time the fall semester had been divided; only the Marching Band met during the first half, and the concert bands took over for the second half.  Beginning in 1976, the concert bands met during the entire semester, with the Marching Band meeting only during football season, succeeded by the Basketball Band.  Because the Wind Ensemble was a selective group, the repertoire became more challenging, often featuring the latest works of significant composers of wind music.  Performances were given for the Indiana Music Educators Association convention and for college and civic special events.  Gremelspacher retired in 1967, receiving one of the new Caleb Mills Distinguished Teaching Awards.   After a successful and lengthy career Graesch retired in 1984.

1949-1950 Symphonic Band. Gremelspacher, conductor

The Athletic Bands

Over the years a number of directors were responsible for the Marching Band and Basketball Band.  Each also had other teaching duties, whether in a studio or a classroom.

1933-1939            Harold Bright

1939-1957            Joseph Gremelspacher (except during his military active duty)

1957-1961            Sanford Watts

1961-1967            George Graesch

1967-1972            James E. Church

1972-1976            Gary E. Smith

1976-1978            Herman Knoll

1978-1980            William F. Swor

1980-1984            William K. Wakefield

[Later directors will be dealt with in the third installment of this history.]

From 1957 until 1961 Sanford Watts was in charge of the Marching and the Basketball Bands.  A scholar in music theory and history, he also was the low brass teacher.  For many years only men played in the Marching Band, supported by female twirlers and “flag swingers.”  In 1959 a women’s dance group, the Sparkettes, was started and developed by Marthann Bush Markle.  The Sparkettes remain an integral part of today’s marching shows.  In line with changing social conditions, women became players in the Marching Band in 1963 and today form a significant part of the enrollment.  From 1969 until 1989, the fictional Indian Chief Quabachi was ISU’s mascot, paired with the Indian Princess.  The Chief danced, Sparkettes wore war bonnets, and the band played pseudo-Indian drum beats until public objections about the stereotypical representation of Native Americans led the university to change mascots.

Sometime after 1969
Chief Quabachi doing his war dance, Sparkettes in Indian headgear

Marching bands tend to have more anecdotes, legends, and memorable events than do concert bands.  Here are a few from the Marching Sycamores.

Almost….

During the Presidential campaign of 1964, President Lyndon Johnson came to Terre Haute and was serenaded by the Indiana State band.  He was so impressed that he later invited the band to participate in his Inaugural Parade.  With support from the community, funds were raised to send the group to Washington, and early morning marching practices began.  Unfortunately, supporters of Ball State University exerted enough political pressure to get the Ball State band an invitation, also.  Then the organizers of the parade decreed that each state was allowed to send only one band.  A proposal was made to create a band which would contain selected members from both schools.  Graesch refused this suggestion, as he felt it would be unfair to eliminate some band members who had been raising money and enduring the rehearsals.  According to a newspaper account of December 29, 1964, Democrat State Chairman J. Manfred Core flipped a coin with Ball State the winner.  According to Graesch (whose memory is quite clear on this matter!), the coin toss took place over the telephone.  Ball State Director of Bands Earl Dunn in his office actually flipped the coin and relayed the result to Graesch in Terre Haute.   What a disappointment for the Indiana State students, the staff, and the Terre Haute community!

Over the years the Marching Sycamores performed a half-time show at a number of professional football games.  Two in particular from Jim Church’s time stand out in memories. 

“Bears  Serve Up a Cold  One”

The 100th meeting between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers took place on December 15, 1968, at Wrigley Field in Chicago.  Outdoor Chicago in mid-December is not a great place to perform, particularly when the wind is whipping around and the temperature is below freezing.  Cellist and journalist Nancy Troxel went on the trip, and her evocative account in The Statesman on December 18 allowed the reader to feel the chill:

After overcoming the initial shock of the extremely brisk wind, the band began an enormous game of “musical chairs.”  With the seat-finding process finally completed, the ISU Marching Sycamores, some clad in combat boots, ear muffs, coats[,] scarves, red-baron-type flight caps and various styles of gloves, charged enthusiastically onto the field for a practice session.

Although the temperature was approximately 20 degrees, the practice session proved that the Sycamores can brave freezing weather . . .

An Unforgettable Show

An even colder event again tested the Marching Sycamores on November 30, 1969, when they performed at halftime of the Green Bay Packers/New York Giants game in Milwaukee Stadium.  Graesch estimates that the temperature was in single digits, and there was a brisk wind.  In expectation of these conditions, Graesch and Church had prepared valve oil bottles of alcohol to keep the valves working on the brass instruments.  (Unknown to them, one brass player had filled a number of the bottles with a different kind of alcohol—Jack Daniels.  HIS valve oil was very popular!)  Nothing could be done to help the woodwinds, and the saxophones in particular had problems.  Moisture from the warm breath condensed in the tone holes, froze, and kept those essential tone holes open when they should have been closed.  The excellent music arrangements by Glen Daum relied on the brass sections, so the band still sounded good.

As the first half ended, the national TV announcer said “Don’t go away, folks.  You’re not going to believe what this band is going to do!”  The professional-level public address announcing of Neal Fluegel, ISU percussion teacher, enhanced the effect of the band.  The theme of the show was “Hair,” using the music of the popular Broadway show.  Thirty-seven years later, trumpet player Jim Chesterson remembers:

I believe we did a circle drill to “The Age of Aquarius” and we [the entire band] danced to “Hair.”  The Sparkettes did not wear wigs which were all cheap black nylon.  We marched to the far sideline to put the wigs on, which we carried in our tunics, and then at a given count we ran screaming back to a concert formation to play “Hair.”  The front rank of bandsmen each danced with a Sparkette.

 
At a time in which marching drills typically dealt only with straight lines, a circular drill was innovative.  The wigs, dancing, marching maneuvers, announcing, and up-to-date music produced a strong crowd reaction, including a standing ovation.  In a formal report, Graesch wrote:

. . . 60,000 people saw the band from the stands in Milwaukee Stadium with an estimated 60 million viewing it from national TV.  We received many letters of congratulations from all over the U.S.

Cardinals vs. New York Giants, October 3, 1971

A Rainy Night in Florida

At the beginning of football season, many major universities guarantee a successful start by scheduling a team from a lesser conference.  As the outcome is seldom in doubt, the smaller school sacrifices its team for the money which the game brings into the athletic budget.  One such game occurred on September 17, 1983, when the Sycamores, accompanied by the Marching Band, traveled to Gainesville to take on the powerhouse Florida Gators.  The weather was not fun. The first three quarters took place in a deluge.  Marching Band Director Bill Wakefield remembers:

. . . the Florida downpour essentially spelled the last chapter for the uniform that was designed and purchased during Gary Smith's era. . . The damage to the  uniform . . . was some bleeding of red [the block “I”] onto the cream, making a pink hue that did not come out with dry cleaning.  There might have been some shrinking, but more than likely, the storing of uniforms in garment bags after the rain turned out to be a huge problem that led [to] the bleeding of the crimson thread onto the poly/wool fabric. . .

...the Florida fans were absolutely ungrateful that  rainy night--the Sycamore football team played over their heads--making it a real game until the 4th quarter--and some fans' aggressive behavior included throwing oranges from behind us.  After the game, the hostile atmosphere--I am sure enhanced by the open alcohol policy at the stadium--made it prudent to put the "Sparkettes" in the center of the band on the way out of the stadium to the buses in the parking lot. . . I remember getting a copy of a letter to Landini from the President of the University of Florida that extolled the competitiveness of our football team and spirited performance of the band.  No doubt a proud moment for us all to embark on an ambitious trip like that in September--the beginning of the year.

The President and the Red “I”

Quoting again from recent e-mail exchanges with Bill Wakefield:

President Landini was unhappy with [the uniforms] anyway since they had little connection with ISU in color--navy, burgundy, and cream..  Also, the block "I" on the back in red [seemed to imply] "INDIANA" since it was in red/crimson. . . At the end of either spring ‘83 or spring of '82, I believe--President Landini called me to his office with instructions to bring a band uniform.  The meeting started with discussion of how to take out the block "I" from the  back of the uniform.  It concluded with the general feel that the whole uniform needed to be replaced. The cost of taking out the logo versus the fitting of a new logo that would cover the same space as the "I" --to avoid different colors of cream underneath the "I"--would prove to be too expensive AND make the uniform look "cheesy" with the mix of styles.  

            Little did we know at the time that Landini was thinking band  uniforms like Stanford would be "great!"  Grey slacks, blue blazer, tie and "golf hats".  He thought the "military" look of traditional band uniforms was [a] throwback to an unpopular era--student protests against government/war/military...  The only reason we did not get what Landini wanted was that I had some students voice their opinion about the "Stanford" concept.  And of course they were respectful, but definite about their desire to stay with a more "traditional" marching band look.

Brett Davis was the person that spoke to Landini in the meeting . . . , wearing a sample uniform that reflected the Uniform Committee's recommendation.  Brett was a graduate assistant at that time. . . I do remember that Bruce Lauffer was there for the first season of the new uniform.

The Personalities

Joseph A. Gremelspacher
June 8, 1904—May 27, 1985

Education
B.A.  Butler University, 1929:  Social Studies and Journalism
B.M.  Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music:  Public School Music
M.A.  Indiana State Teachers College, 1947
Indiana State College, 1961: Three-year Graduate

Before coming to Indiana State Teachers College:
Warren Central High School, 1927
Rockville High School, 1928
Crawfordsville High School, 1929-1939

At Indiana State Teachers College (Indiana State College, Indiana State University):
Part-time Assistant, Music 1939
Assistant Professor, 1940
Associate Professor, 1950
Professor, 1956
Emeritus Professor, 1970

Some professional achievements:
First secretary-treasurer of the National College Band Directors Association
Held offices in many professional music education associations
Mentor to hundreds of Indiana State students

George M. Graesch
Born October 19, 1923

Education
1941  Graduated from Mt. Carmel, Illinois, High School;
         National Champion Cornet Soloist
1941-43 Indiana State Teachers College
1943-46  U.S. Marine Corp bandsman (Guam, Iwo Jima)
1946-47  Completed Bachelor’s degree, ISTC
1947-48  Graduate Assistant, completed Master’s degree; ISTC
Several summers of graduate study at the University of Illinois and at Indiana University

High School teaching
1948-50  Beloit, Wisconsin
1950-53  Hartford City, Indiana

At Indiana State Teachers College
1953  Assistant Director of Bands; Varsity Band; taught all brass students and the instrumental technic classes
1958  Conducted the Symphonic Band; taught all brass students and the instrumental technic classes
1959-1984  Director of Bands; conducted the Wind Ensemble; taught Instrumental Organization, Coordinator of the Wind Division

Academic Rank
1953  Instructor
1956  Assistant Professor
1962  Associate Professor
1984 Emeritus Professor

Became an acknowledged leader in band circles; served as an authority that public school superintendents and principals called for recommendations when there was an opening for a band director

Do you remember….

Ken Strieby holding a ballerina.  1975 or '76?