History Happenings: Frank Piersol

Longer ago than he cares to admit, the elder of your two scribes spent one summer playing alto saxophone in the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band under the baton of Frank Piersol.

The main memories carried away from that summer is that it was an honor to be in the band and that Piersol was a joy to play for -- though the music he selected to be performed each week after just one rehearsal was often at the outer edge of the young saxophonist’s ability.

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For those who were more in the know, Frank Piersol was rightfully a legend -- a product of Iowa school bands who earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in Iowa, taught in Iowa public schools, became the director of bands at Iowa State University and then the director of bands at the University of Iowa.

Oh, and he spent 22 years -- from 1971 to 1993 -- on the podium for the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band. (Full disclosure: Both Jessica and Rob work for the Municipal Band.)

Many hats

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That resume, points out Steve Shanley, Pearl M. Taylor professor of music at Coe College and the current conductor of the Muni Band, is almost certainly unique in Iowa -- and it would likely be difficult to find a similar career anywhere else.

“And if those things weren't enough,” Shanley told us, “he was also an accomplished composer. I think it's important for folks to realize that not all musicians can do all things musical -- at least, not at a professional level. Not all conductors also compose. Not all composers also teach. Not all teachers are accomplished performers on their instrument. And so forth.”

Piersol’s musical output largely centered on one popular style well-known to fans of the Municipal Band.

“As a composer, Frank was primarily known for writing marches, and the march is arguably the most important style in the history and development of the concert band medium,” Shanley said. “Marches might sound simple to many listeners, and to some extent this is true.

“They usually follow a predictable and predetermined form, contain easy-to-sing-and-remember melodies, are at an audience-pleasing tempo (call it ”medium fast“), and their 2/4 meter makes it easy to tap your toe or clap along.

“But in many ways, these constraints can make it challenging to write a truly fresh and original march, especially when the great masters like John Philip Sousa (over 100 marches), Karl King (nearly 200 marches), and numerous other composers arguably exhausted many possibilities of the march genre during the 19th and 20th centuries.

“So not many composers since the 1970s have thought, ‘I know, I'll write a piece of music with a whole bunch of predetermined rules which will invite direct comparisons to the masterful works of Sousa and King!’ Yet Frank did exactly this and wrote some very clever marches that follow all of the traditional march rules while still being quite original.”

Piersol recordings

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The Municipal Band recently posted recordings -- made in 2016 and 2017 -- of nine of Piersol’s marches. Eight are performed by the Muni Band, and another is performed by the Cedar Rapids Metro Youth Wind Ensemble. You can listen to the marches at youtube.com/@crmuniband.

“There are two reasons I wanted the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band to record some of Frank's best marches,” Shanley said. “First, when programming for the band each week, I (like many conductors) seek out reference recordings, and there are very few high-quality recordings of most of Frank's marches.

“So we wanted to provide free recordings for other musicians to reference when they are learning one of Frank's marches. Second and more importantly, I have discovered that not enough people know about Frank's marches. So we hope that this new collection of recordings will help spread the word and keep Frank's music alive for generations to come.”

Piersol, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 98, was the second conductor of the Municipal Band -- following Roland Moehlmann and preceding Morgan Jones -- and Shanley is the fourth.

“I'd be lying if I didn't say that I have some imposter syndrome in my role as conductor of the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band. Being only the fourth conductor of the CRMB -- and especially following those three legends -- is one of my greatest professional honors and a job I take very seriously.

“The citizens of Cedar Rapids are fortunate to have such a supportive city government that understands how special our band is and the important role it plays in Eastern Iowa culture.”

Throughout the summer, the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band performs in various locations on Wednesdays and Sundays. The concerts are also livestreamed at facebook.com/crmuniband. You can find more information at crmuniband.org.

Jessica Cline is a Leadership & Character Scholar at Wake Forest University. Her dad, Rob Cline, is not a scholar of any kind. They write this monthly column for The History Center. Comments: HistoricalClines@gmail.com