| Orchestra or Band | Massed Bands of HM Royal Marines:
The Band of the Commander in Chief Fleet,
The Band of the Commander in Chief Naval Home Command,
The Band of the Flag Officer Plymouth,
The Band of the Royal Marines School of Music,
The Junior Band Royal Marines |
| Royal Presence | HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh |
| Performance Notes | Thanks to the lobbying of Edwina Mountbatten, in 1949 Sir Malcolm Sargent was appointed Honorary Music Advisor to Her Majesty's Royal Marines Band Service, a post created especially for him, and which he held until his death in 1967, when it disappeared, until 2007 when Robin Dewhurst was given the title. Sargent would conduct the Bands of the Marines in various different concerts over the next two decades and in various parts of the world. After Sargent's death, from 1973 onwards, the Marines began staging annual Massed Band Spectaculars at the Hall, at which money was raised for the Sir Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children (now CLIC Sargent) and for military charities. It was in 1980 that these concerts were renamed the Mountbatten Festival of Music, as a tribute to the Admiral of the Fleet Lord Mountbatten - an uncle of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and a favourite great-uncle and advisor to HRH Prince Charles - who had been killed by an IRA bomb in August 1979. The concerts have been an annual mixture at the Hall since then and always raise money for CLIC Sargent and military charities. Members of the Royal Family have attended frequently including Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Princess Alexandra, The Queen (1990), Princess Diana (1991), The Duke of Gloucester, Princess Anne, and most recently Prince Harry.
Captain Christopher Menhencott RM was in attendance. |