Q&A: Lieutenant Colonel Simon Haw MBE

HF: What is your role within the army?

SH: I direct music within the army, and I have been serving for 34 years. I am Commanding Officer of the Household Division Band, so I oversee all the state ceremonial music in London for Her Majesty the Queen for state visits. I work for a very important chap called the Major General who is Commanding Officer of the Household Division. 

HF: What was your career like prior to being Commanding Officer?

SH: I started out as a trumpet player and composer in the Household Division in one of the guards bands, and then I trained as a conductor and now conduct several of the army ensembles. I have been to staff college, and I have deployed on operations to Iraq and Afghanistan; I have worked in a NATO headquarters as a staff officer; and I have even worked with an American two-star [US equivalent of Major General] headquarters out of Baghdad as a strategic communications director. So, I have had quite a varied career – a mix of music, which is my first love, but also one or two other things that are on the green side of the army and on operations.

HF: How are you celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this year?

SH: It is a busy time! We have the Queen’s birthday parade on 2 June – because of the pandemic, this will be the first time in three years that the large-scale military forces mark Her Majesty the Queen’s birthday on Horse Guards Parade. Then, we have the Platinum Jubilee concert, or ‘party at the palace’, on 4 June, where the orchestra of the Household Division will lead, but there will also be other live bands in the concert. There is also the pageant on 5 June, which will be led by the Mounted Household Cavalry band, featuring some Household Division elements too. There is lots going on! It is a very exciting time to be part of army music.

HF: Why do you think music is such a central part of national celebrations?

SH: I think music is in our blood. From the cradle to the grave, wherever you look, music pervades our life and shapes how we think and feel. If you take the film score out of a film, often it will not be half the film it is; I think the same is true for military parades. If you take the music out of the parade, you just don’t get the same emotional connection to it – it just doesn’t come to life. As an example, the royal funeral of His Royal Highness Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, back in April 2021, had a dignified and poignant parade, but it was the music that brought out the emotion of that event.

HF: Do you feel the military precision instilled in your musicians impacts the sound that the band produces?

SH: We focus on a phrase which sticks in our musicians’ minds: ‘the relentless pursuit of excellence’. I think that embodies the pure musician that is on that eternal quest for perfection, and I do think that is quite universal. However, through the music we play and the uniform we wear, we deliver influence. Music seeks to change attitudes and behaviours of people. The uniform and the music are kind of glued together in delivering an effect to an audience. The military band is symbolic of many things: a regiment, the army, the state, and even our national heritage. So, it’s quite complex, and it must be very precise.

HF: What are your thoughts on the current state of music education in this country?

SH: I think the restrictions on budgets in schools are a shame – when I was growing up, tuition was free in schools, and I was very lucky to benefit from lessons from a peripatetic teacher who used to work in the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra! We should always make a case for supporting arts, because without it our whole existence becomes less colourful. It is always a low hanging fruit to clip off, but we should resist doing that because life just isn’t as rich without it.

HF: Do you have any new compositions that might be of interest to teachers?

SH: We’ve just written a piece called ‘Green Canopy’ for solo violin and orchestra. It is written in 12 movements and tracks the journey of a woodland in the north northern hemisphere through 12 months of the year. So, it starts in November, finishes in October and is quite a journey. Each movement is inspired by a picture, and you can download that music for free at householddivision.org.uk. ‘Green Canopy’ is very closely linked to the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, which is being run by the Royal Highness Prince Wales as part of the Queen’s legacy and the Jubilee – members of the public are invited to plant a tree during the platinum year to support the environment. 

householddivision.org.uk