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Civil War Songs and Hymns
In commemoration of the
150th anniversary
Make Music!
Music refines the taste, purifies the heart, and elevates our nature. It does more: it soothes in sorrow, tranquillizes in passion, and wears away the irritabilities of life. It intensifies love, it fires the patriotism, and makes the altar of our devotion burn with a purer, holier flame...when wealth and fame and worldly honor are felt to be nothing; when the aims and ambitions and aspirations which were wont to rouse up all the energies of nature toward their accomplishment fail of their accustomed power, music renders the burden of sickness light, and makes us all oblivious of pain and suffering.
-- W.W. Hall, M.D., Hall's Journal of Health for 1862
Contents
"Glory, Hallelujah" - Songs and Hymns of the Civil War Era (DVD/CD)
"Glory, Hallelujah" (music titles)
"Lincoln and Liberty" - Music From Abraham Lincoln's Era (DVD)
Society For Earlier American Music (SEAM)
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A Civil War Music Treasury
with 8 World Premiere Recordings
and
a video program with
rare Civil War era hymns
by Stephen Foster!
"Glory, Hallelujah"
Songs and Hymns of the Civil War Era
The CD and DVD were compiled and edited by Roger Lee Hall, a respected musicologist and an authority on earlier American vocal music.
Unlike other CDs which focus on just the battle songs or instrumental music, both the CD and DVD contain a wide variety of vocal music, reflecting both North and South, in original published editions and modern day arrangements.
Included is what is believed to be the First Modern Day Recording of original published versions of both "John Brown" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic," from a concert in 1980 titled, "Music in Old Boston," celebrating the 350th anniversary of the City of Boston.
Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869)
One of the most popular American composers
in the 1850s and 1860sBoth CD and DVD include music examples from North and South from 1859 to 1869. In addition to songs and hymns of the Civil War Era, there is a commemorative hymn in memory of those lost during the Civil War titled, "They Who Seek The Throne Of Grace," based on a piano theme by Louis Moreau Gottschalk and arranged by Roger Lee Hall.
Stephen Foster (1826-1864)
America's best known 19th century songwriterThe audio files include 7 Premiere Recordings from live performances:
--Four rare Civil War era hymns by Stephen Foster (Nos. 11-14)
--Hymn written for the National Peace Jubilee in 1869 (No. 19)
--Commemorative hymn for those lost during the Civil War (No. 20)
--Original versions of "John Brown" and "Battle Hymn" (No. 21)Also on the multi-media DVD are a Listener's Guide with all the lyrics and background notes, a sheet music gallery, and the story of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
The CD and DVD are both from the American Music Recordings Archive.
Music Titles:
- 1. I WISH I WAS IN DIXIE’S LAND (aka: DIXIE) (1859)
- 2. LINCOLN AND LIBERTY(1860)
- 3. THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG (1861)
- 4. BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC and JOHN BROWN'S BODY
- 5. GO DOWN, MOSES (1862) – Afro-American spiritual
- 6. A PRAYER FOR THE CAPTIVE (1862)– Shaker pacifist hymn
- 7. CUMBERLAND GAP (ca. 1862)
- 8. GOOBER PEAS (ca. 1862)
- 9. LORENA (1857)
- 10. ALL QUIET ALONG THE POTOMAC (1863)
- 11. +THE PURE, THE BRIGHT, THE BEAUTIFUL (1863) - Stephen Foster
- 12. +OVER THE RIVER (1863) - Stephen Foster
- 13. +GIVE US THIS DAY (1863) - Stephen Foster
- 14. +WHAT SHALL THE HARVEST BE? (1863) - Stephen Foster
- 15. WE ARE COMING, FATHER ABRAAM (1862) - Stephen Foster
- 16. WILLIE HAS GONE TO THE WAR (1863) - Stephen Foster
- 17. WEEPING, SAD AND LONELY (WHEN THIS CRUEL WAR IS OVER)
- 18. WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME (1863) - P.S. Gilmore
- 19. +ANGEL OF PEACE (1869) - text: Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes
- 20. +THEY WHO SEEK THE THRONE OF GRACE - based on a piano theme by Louis Moreau Gottschalk, arranged by Roger Lee Hall
- 21. +JOHN BROWN and BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC
original versions
+ = Premiere Recording
ANGEL OF PEACE (aka: HYMN OF PEACE)
Written for and first performed at the National Peace Jubilee in Boston
in 1869 (commemorating the end of the Civil War)Angel of Peace, thou hast wandered too long!
Spread thy white wings to the sunshine of love!
Come while our voices are blended in song—
Fly to our ark like the storm-beaten dove!
Fly to our ark on the wings of the dove,—
Speed o’er the far-sounding billows of song,
Crowned with thine olive-leaf garland of love;—
Angel of Peace, thou hast waited too long!Joyous we meet, on this altar of thine
Mingling the gifts we have gathered for thee,
Sweet with the odors of myrtle and pine,
Breeze of the prairie and breath of the sea,--
Meadow and mountain and forest and sea!
Sweet is the fragrance of myrtle and pine,
Sweeter the incense we offer to thee,
Brothers once more round this altar of thine!
Angels of Bethlehem, answer the strain!
Hark! a new birth-song is filling the sky!--
Loud as the storm-wind that tumbles the main
Bid the full breath of the organ reply,--
Let the loud tempest of voices reply,--
Roll its long surge like the-earth-shaking main!
Swell the vast song till it mounts to the sky!
Angels of Bethlehem, echo the strain!
poem by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes
music: "American Hymn" (1866) by Matthias Keller
Portrait of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes (1808-1894)
poet, essayist, physician
"Drummer Jackson"
79th U.S. Colored Troops
Black men assembled in "rejoicing meetings" all over the land on the last night of December 1862, waiting for the stroke of midnight to bring freedom to those states in the secessionist states. At the contaband camp [for runaway slaves] in Washington., D.C., the assembled blacks sang over and over again: "Go down, Moses...Let my people go."
-- Eileen Southern, The Music of Black Americans: A History, page 236
Among the events at a Civil War re-enactment in Stoughton, Massachusetts in 2012 was a display with music books and CDs prepared by Stoughton musicologist and singer, Roger Lee Hall, who also played a recording of what is believed to be the first modern day concert performance
of the original version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
This original version of the Battle Hymn is included on a new CD...
"Glory, Hallelujah"
Songs and Hymns of the Civil War Era
Compiled by Roger Lee Hall
(AMRC 15)
This title is available on DVD or CD:
-
a multi-media DVD playable on any computer, with complete music texts and background information, an image gallery of Civil War sheet music, and songs
and hymns from the Civil War Era, including the original versions of "John Brown" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Also included is a half hour video program from a concert of rare Civil War era hymns by Stephen Foster. All of these items available on the DVD for $25.00.
- The CD is playable on computer with 21 songs and hymns from the Civil War Era (music titles listed above). This disc does not contain any of the background material or the video program. Available for $18.65.
Both the DVD and CD prices include Free Shipping.
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payable to PineTree Productions
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Glory, Hallelujah - Civil War Songs and Hymns
"Lincoln and Liberty"
Music From Abraham Lincoln's Era (2009)
by Roger Lee HallThis title, produced for Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial in 2009,
is available on a multi-media DVD with background information about Lincoln's love of music, an Abraham Lincoln image gallery, and the music album with 24 titles, compiled by Roger Lee Hall from the American Music Recordings Collection, which contains over one hour of music written and heard during Abraham Lincoln's lifetime. Available for a donation of $20.00.
Combo Special!
Get both "Lincoln and Liberty" and "Glory, Hallelujah"
collections on one DVD.
To receive both collections on one DVD,
make a donation by credit card of $35.00 (a 30% savings!),
payable to PineTree Productions
through safe and secure PayPal,
and it includes Free Worldwide Shipping.
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"Glory, Hallelujah" and "Lincoln and Liberty"
are two of the titles available in theMultimedia Heritage Music Series
Music Lecture
Would you like to schedule an entertaining and enlightening music lecture for your organization by music historian Roger Lee Hall about Civil War hymns? Included are the story behind the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" with music examples and several rare Civil War hymns composed by Stephen Foster and published in 1863, plus a pacifist Shaker hymn sung on the day of Abraham Lincoln's funeral.
Write for more details and fees to:
Are you a musician, composer, songwriter, musicologist, teacher, student, historian, music collector, or a listener interested in music from America's past? Then consider becoming a member of the online group by clicking this link:
Society For Earlier American Music (SEAM)
Related AMP Links
American Music Recordings Archive (AMRA)
"Angel of Peace" - The Boston Peace Jubilees
CD: Early American Song Treasury
Singing StoughtonStore - Books and CDs For Sale
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