George Hespe

George William Hespe, born in London 1900, served in the Army as bandboy and bandmaster between 1914 and 1933, in which latter year he retired. He then turned his hand to conducting brass bands, including the Sheffield Police Band and Ferodo Works Band and briefly Grimethorpe, and for a time played tuba in the BBC Northern and Hallé orchestras. Hespe's compositions include the marches King O'the Clouds, Lone Pilot, Kinderscout, Atlantic Patrol and Men of Steel, the trombone solo Melodie et Caprice (sometimes anglicised to Melody and Caprice), a Welsh Fantasy, no fewer than eight suites for military band and bagpipes and, most notably, the suite The Three Musketeers, adopted as the test piece for the British Open Championships in 1953. Hespe's music is unfortunately rarely heard played by the brass bands of the 1990s and this may be a pity.