By Patsy Lobo
Apr 14: I hear the sound of distant trumpet...
And I know Harry’s Band is marching to be met…
Three generations of the family have delighted Mangalore
They are sure to be honoured and blessed Grandfather Lorsab, Father Ediyab and now our dear Harryab…
Have made our city proud with their Brass Band!
In the year 1906, a brass band was started in Mangalore by Lawrence D’Souza (Lorsab) who had developed a fascination for playing the cornet and formed his band with a small group of music lovers. Lorsab in turn transferred his skills to his son Edwin (Eddieab) who played both cornet and clarinet. Eddie inculcated a love for music in his children. His son Harry mastered playing the cornet and clarinet (trumpet) and continues to run the band even today. Harry’s band enthuses and delights when they play at a function like the roce and weddings, lends dignity and solemnity when they play at a funeral and an aura of classiness when they play at formal functions. Kudos to the Brass Band encompassing three generations of the D’Souza family, for performing in Mangalore for 107 years!!
Forty one years ago when I came to Mangalore as a new bride, one of the very first things I got to witness was the funeral of a relative. Coming from Bombay, I had never heard a band that played so triumphantly at any funeral, giving it a special dignity. I was dumbstruck and enchanted with the strains of “THE OLD RUGGED CROSS” that kept floating in the air for days after. Never before had I heard. It pulled at one’s heart strings. Never before had I heard the trumpet being played so solemnly and today, 41 years later, I have the privilege to interview this great man Harry D’Souza.
Harry tells me that the trumpet consists of a long brass metal tube looped once and ending in a flare bell. Existing for over 3000 years, it is a dying art specially in Mangalore says Harry. As I sit there in our heritage home under the shade of an old thikay pan (bay leaves) tree in front of Harry and his son Hubert, I can feel the music filling the whole environment of our garden. His trumpet, recently polished is shining brightly. Harry holds it up with a sense of much pride. “The band which I have created and nurtured means everything to me and sustains my life till today” says Harry in a strong voice filled with emotion. The three generations have left a legacy not only to the family but to all Mangaloreans.
Harry’s grandfather, Lorsab, started playing the coronet in 1906 and formed his own band in Mangalore. He in turn transferred these skills to his son Edwin (Harry’s father) who played both coronet and clarinet. Eddie always inculcated love for music and was the soul of their home in Bijai. From the age of 7 years, Harry would watch with awe as the sounds came out of the instruments in their home. The house was always filled with music says Harry by his son and this is echoed by his son Hubert and two daughters. When Harry was 7 years old, he started off by singing “Mama zai , zai… barik, barik vocal maka zai (Uncle I want…I want a thin bride).True to his dream, he did get a barik vocal – Agnes – many years later. He did his early studies in St. Francis Xavier School, Bijai and then St. Aloysius School. A self-made man, Harry worked as a mechanic and then joined Reserve Police of Mangalore from 1970 to 80 where he received much recognition for his extraordinary talents in music. Harry explains how his band acquired the name “Silver Jubilee Band”. The band played every year at a function in the house of the late Francis D’Sa of Derebail. In recognition of his service for 25 years, the band was christened by Mr D’Sa as “Silver Jubilee Band” with a blessing “Let it shine like silver till it reaches golden jubilee. To this I add, contrary to the saying “all that glitters is not gold”. Harry’s Gold shining trumpet glitters as the years pass by – bringing honour and fame to our beloved “Codial”.
In 1980, Harry went to Doha-Qatar to seek greener pastures but returned to Mangalore in 1982 to give back to his beloved Kodial the music talent that was in his blood.
When asked from where he got the instruments, Harry said that much of it he inherited from his father who purchased in auctions conducted by the military. Later Harry went to Meerut to buy more instruments. He was also involved in training young students in over 60 schools in the erstwhile South Kanara district. “Sadly I have not received much support from the government” says Harry.
Harry has composed over 600 songs in Konkani, Tulu and Kannada and over 80 hymns that are timeless and appeal to each generation as it grows up. He has the glorious record of having trained 300 students over the last four decades including several who played in his Brass Band. His great joy is when he plays the trumpet for a roce that is traditionally conducted in pomp and splendor and his greater joy when he is sitting with his dear wife Agnes and children – Hubert, Hazel and Henrita, enjoying “Dukra Mass” and Appams on a Sunday noon with music playing in the background. Harry has received many honours from our community but certainly deserves greater recognition from government and the artist community. (Since this writing by Patsy Lobo, Karnataka Government has conferred the Rajyotsava award on him which was his aspiration when I interviewed him for Vijaya Times. – JBM).
True to tradition, Harry’s Brass Band lends beauty and elegance to the culture of Konkani language through music and art. He has performed at the remotest villages and the grandest halls. The saddest moments are when he sits and ponders over the dying art of Brass Band that his ancestors glorified. There are now only an handful of band groups in DK and Udupi districts. “The art should be revived and sustained”, he says in his message to all of us CASK members and readers of “Mangalore” (monthly): “Be proud of your heritage, support the music, language and traditions of Kodial wherever you may be”.