Songs of the Civil War - March 6th, 2021 at 2:oo PM
This recital is being offered to shine a light on the mothers, wives, and children; the soldiers pining for their love back home, abolitionists and peacemakers, songs of faith and haunting spirituals.
Marci Jackson, soprano
Dianne Sprunger, piano
Carrie Jankowski, violin
Connor Buhl, soldier
Michael Jackson, speaker
Programme
Journey 1
Army Hymn (old Hundreth) Oliver Wendell Holmes/Ralph Vaughn Williams 1861
Oh, my old man has gone to war “A War Widow” 1864
*Children of the Battlefield* J.G. Clark 1864
Follow the drinking gourd Lee Hayes adapted around 1910’s
Home, Sweet Home J.H. Payne & Henry R. Bishop 1856
Spoken word
Journey 2
Do they miss me at home?/The Vacant Chair Caroline Mason & S.M. Grannis/H.S.W. & George Root 1852/1861
Brother, tell me of the battle Thomas Manahan & George Root 1865
When Johnny comes marching home Patrick S. Gilmore 1863
A Hymn to Peace A Lady of New Orleans & Eugéne Bischoff 1863
Steal Away to Jesus Traditional Negro Spiritual prior to 1862
Brief Pause
Spoken word
Journey 3
Lorena/Aura Lee W.W. Fosdick & George R. Poulton/Webster and Webster 1861/1856
Mother, is the battle over? Benedicts Roefs 1862
What will they tell our children? Jennie Séguin Frodsham & J.W. Hobbs 1864
Weeping, Sad and Lonely Charles C. Sawyer & Henry Tucker 1863
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child Henry “Harry” Thacker Burleigh 1918
Spoken word
Journey 4
Two Brothers Irving Gordon 1951
Wait for the Wagon R. Bishop Buckley 1851
Let us have Peace W.S. Hays 1861
They are coming from the wars E.H. Munday & J.H Ross 1865
Give me Jesus Traditional Negro Spiritual/Moses Hogan c. 1867/2000
The Songs
Journey 1
“Union War Song”
O Lord of Hosts! Almighty King!
Behold the sacrifice we bring!
To every arm thy strength impart,
Thy spirit shed through every heart!
God of all Nations! Sovereign Lord!
In thy dread name, we draw our sword
We lift the starry flag on high
That fills with light our stormy sky.
From treason’s rent, from murderer’s stain
Guard thou its folds till peace shall reign
Till fort and field, till shore and sea.
Join our loud anthem, Praise to thee. Amen.
“Oh my old man has gone to war.”
Oh my old man has gone to war, He’s gone and left me here
Oh my old man has gone to war, For to be a Brigadier.
With fife and drum and a sergeant bold I saw him march away
He’s gone to fight for a substitute Way down in Georgia.
His trainin’ jacket was sky blue, so splendid to behold His
jacket was a deep sky blue with buttons all of gold
But now he’s gone to fight for Grant, like a gallant mutineer
Oh my old man has gone to war for to be a Brigadier
With a painted feather in his hat and a broadsword on his thigh
And a new canteen around his neck to keep his powder dry!
He waved his handkerchief to me, like a dashing privateer
Oh my old man has gone to war for to be a Brigadier!
“Children of the Battlefield”
Upon the field of Gettysburg, the summer sun was high
When Freedom met her haughty foe, beneath a northern sky;
Among the heroes of the North, who swelled her grand array
And rushed like mountain eagles forth from happy homes away,
There stood a man of humble fame, a sire of children three
And gazed within a little frame, their pictur’d form to see
And blame him not if in the strife he breathed a soldier’s prayer:
Oh Father, shield a soldier’s wife and for his children care.
Upon the field of Gettysburg, when morning shone again
The crimson cloud of battle burst in streams of fiery rain
Our legions quelled the awful flood of shot and steel and shell
While banners marked with ball and blood
Around them rose and fell
And none more nobly won the name of Champion of the Free
Than he who pressed the little frame that held his children three
And none were braver in the strife than he who breathed a prayer
O! Father, shield a soldier’s wife and for his children care.
Upon the field of Gettysburg, the full moon slowly rose,
She looked, and saw ten thousand brows all pale in death’s repose
And down beside a silver stream from other forms away
Calm as a warrior in a dream our fallen comrade lay
His limbs were cold, his sightless eyes were fixed upon the three
Sweet stars that rose in memry’s skies to light him o’er death’s sea.
Then honored be the soldier’s life and hallowed be his prayer
O! Father shield the soldier’s wife and for his children care.
“Follow the drinkin’ gourd”
Follow, follow follow.
Follow the drinkin’ gourd, follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is awaitin’ for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinkin’ gourd!
When the sun comes up and the last quail calls,
Follow the drinkin’ gourd!
For the old man is awaitin’ for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinkin’ gourd.
The riverbank will make a mighty good road
Dead trees will show you the way
Left foot, peg foot, travelin’ on
If you follow the drinkin’ gourd
The river ends between two hills
Follow the drinkin’ gourd
There’s another river on the other side
Follow the drinkin’ gourd.
Follow the drinkin’ gourd, follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is awaitin’ for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinkin’ gourd!
“Home, Sweet Home”
Mid pleasures and palaces though I may roam
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home
A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there
Which seek thro’ the world is ne’er met with elsewhere.
Home! Home! Sweet, sweet home!
There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.
To thee I’ll return over burdened with care
The heart’s dearest solace will smile on me there
No more from that cottage again will I roam
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home
Home! Home! Sweet, sweet home.
There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home
Journey 2
“Do they miss me at home? / The Vacant Chair”
Do they miss me at home, do they miss me?
‘Twould be an assurance most dear,
To know that this moment some loved one
Were saying “I wish he were here”;
To feel that the group at the fireside
Were thinking of me as I roam,
Oh, yes, ‘twould be joy beyond measure
To know that they missed me at home,
To know that they missed me at home.
We shall meet but we shall miss him
There will be one vacant chair,
We shall linger to remember
While we breathe our evening prayer.
When a year ago we gathered
Joy was in his mild blue eye
But a golden cord is severed
And our hopes in ruin lie.
Do they set me a chair near the table
When evenings home pleasures are nigh
When the candles are lit in the parlor
And the stars in the calm azure sky?
And when the “good nights” are repeated
And all lay them down to their sleep
Do they think of the absent and waft me
A whispered “good night” while they weep?
A whispered “good night while they weep?
At the fireside, sad and lonely
Often will the bosom swell
At remembrance of the story
How our noble Willie fell;
How he strove to bear our banner
Thro’ the thickest of the fight
And uphold our country’s honor
In the strength of manhood’s might.
We shall meet, but we shall miss him
There will be one vacant chair
We shall linger to caress him
When we breathe our evening prayer.
“When Johnny comes marching home”
When Johnny comes marching home again, Hurrah, hurrah!
We’ll give him a hearty welcome then, hurrah, hurrah!
The men will cheer, the boys will shout
The ladies they will all turn out,
And we’ll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.
The old church bell will peal with joy, hurrah, hurrah!
To welcome home our dearest boy, hurrah, hurrah!
The village lads and lassies say with roses they will strew the way
And we’ll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.
Get ready for the Jubilee, hurrah, hurrah!
We’ll give the hero three times three, hurrah, hurrah!
The laurel wreath is ready now to place upon his loyal brow
And we’ll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home!
Let love and friendship on that day, Hurrah hurrah!
Their choicest treasures then display, Hurrah hurrah!
And let each one perform some part
To fill with joy the warrior’s heart,
And we’ll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.
“Brother tell me of the battle”
Brother tell me of the battle, how the soldiers fought and fell
Tell me of the weary marches, she who loves will listen well.
Brother draw thee close beside me, lay your head upon my breast
While you’re telling of the battle, let your fevered forehead rest.
Brother, tell me of the battle, How the soldiers fought and fell,
Tell me of the weary marches, she who loves will listen well.
Brother, tell me of the battle, for they said your life was o’er.
They all told me you had fallen, that I’d never see you more;
Oh, I’ve been so sad and lonely, filled my breast has been with pain,
Since they said my dearest brother, I should never see again.
Brother, tell me of the battle, I can bear to hear it now,
Lay your head upon my bosom, let me soothe your fevered brow.
Tell me, are you badly wounded? Did we win the deadly fight?
Did the victory crown our banner? Did you put the foe to flight?
Brother, tell me of the battle, How the soldiers fought and fell,
Tell me of the weary marches, she who loves will listen well.
“A Hymn to Peace”
O gentle Peace, before thee stand,
The children of this bleeding land,
A weary, worn, but hopeful band,
Thy blessings, thy blessings to implore;
O let thy dulcet whispers come,
To every heart, to every home,
As erst they came of yore, as erst they came of yore.
Dim eyes that watch, would seek repose,
Sad hearts that weep, their wounds would close,
While prayers which for our country’s woes,
Are daily, are daily born above,
All turn to thee and fondly crave,
From these protracted ills to save,
The land we dearly love, the land we dearly love.
“Steal away to Jesus”
Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus,
Steal away, steal away home.
I ain’t got long to stay here.
My Lord calls me, He calls me by the thunder
The trumpet sounds with-in-a my soul,
I ain’t got long to stay here.
Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus,
Steal away, steal away home.
Green trees are bendin’
Poor sinner stands a-tremblin’
The trumpet sounds with-in-a my soul,
I ain’t got long to stay here.
Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus,
Steal away, steal away home.
I ain’t got long to stay here.
Journey 3
“Lorena / Aura Lee”
The years creep slowly by, Lorena,
The snow is on the grass again;
The sun’s low down the sky, Lorena,
The frost gleams where the flow’rs have been.
But the heart throbs on as warmly now,
As when the summer days were nigh;
Oh! the sun has never dipped so low,
A-down affection’s cloudless sky.
As the blackbird in the spring
Neath the willow tree
Sat and piped I hear him sing
Praising Aura Lee.
Aura Lee! Aura Lee!
Maid of golden hair.
Sunshine came along with thee
And swallows in the air.
Take my heart and take my ring
I give my all to thee.
Take me for eternity
Dearest Aura Lee!
Aura Lee! Aura Lee!
Maid of golden hair.
Sunshine came along with thee
And swallows in the air.
We loved each other then, Lorena,
More than we ever dared to tell
And what we might have been, Lorena,
Had but our lovings prospered well.
But then tis past, the years are gone
I’ll not call on thy shadowy forms
Oh! I’ll say to them, lost years, sleep on.
Sleep on! Nor heed life’s pelting storms.
Aura Lee! Aura Lee!
Maid of golden hair.
Sunshine came along with thee
And swallows in the air.
“Mother is the battle over?”
Mother is the battle over? Mother is the battle over?
Thousands, thousands have been killed, they say;
Is my Father coming? Tell me.
Have our soldiers gained the day?
Is he well or is he wounded?
Mother do you think he’s slain?
If you know, I pray you tell me,
Will my Father come again, will my father come again?
Mother dear, you’re always sighing, since you last the paper read,
Tell me why you know are crying.
Why that cap is on your head?
Why that cap is on you head!
Ah! I see you cannot tell me.
Father’s one among the slain;
Altho’ he loved us very dearly, He will never come again!
“What will they tell our children”
What will they tell our children?
When this sad war is o’er
When might and right have won the fight
And peace shall reign once more?
They’ll speak of deeds, of valor done
With heartfelt, honest pride,
By Father! Son! Aye everyone
Who there for freedom died!
What will they tell the orphans when for their sires they ask
And fain would prove a Father’s love?
God aid them in their task!
They’ll bid each child heed well the tale,
With sorrow, yet with pride,
And say to all, “Your sire did fall” on battlefield and died.
What will they tell the mourners?
Throughout the land now found,
The mothers, wives, whose hearts and lives
In husbands, sons, were bound?
They’ll urge them place in God their trust,
Bid orphans tears be dried,
And mourn no more those gone before,
And who for Freedom died!
“Weeping sad and lonely” (When this cruel war is over)
Dearest love, do you remember, when we did last meet,
How you told me that you loved me, kneeling at my feet?
Oh! how proud you stood before me in your suit of blue,
When you vowed to me and country, ever to be true.
Weeping sad and lonely, hope and fears how vain!
When this cruel war is over, praying that we meet again!
When the summer breeze is sighing, mournfully along;
Or when autumn leaves are falling, sadly breathes a song.
Oft in dreams I see thee lying on the battle plain,
Lonely, wounded, even dying, calling but in vain.
But our country called you, darling,
Angels cheer your way;
While our nation’s sons are fighting
We can only pray.
Nobly strike for God and liberty, let all nations see,
How we love our starry banner, Emblem of the free.
Weeping sad and lonely, hope and fears how vain!
When this cruel war is over, praying that we meet again!
“Sometimes I feel like a motherless chile”
Sometimes I feel like a motherless chile,
Sometimes I feel like a motherless chile,
Sometimes I feel like a motherless chile,
A long ways from home,
A long ways from home.
Sometimes I feel like I’m almost gone,
Sometimes I feel like I’m almost gone,
Sometimes I feel like I’m almost gone,
A long ways from home,
A long ways from home.
Journey 4
“Two Brothers”
Two brothers on their way, two brothers on their way
Two brothers on their way, one wore blue and one wore gray.
One wore blue and one wore gray;
As they marched along their way; A fife and drum began to play,
There on a beautiful morning.
One was gentle one was kind, one was gentle one was kind
One came home, one stayed behind,
A cannonball don’t pay no mind.
Tho’ you’re gentle or your kind.
It don’t think of the folks behind.
There on a beautiful morning.
Two girls waitin’ by the railroad track,
Two girls waitin’ by the railroad track,
For their darlin’s to come back;
One wore blue and one wore black,
One wore blue and one wore black
Waitin’ by the railroad track, for their darlin’s to come back,
There on a beautiful morning.
“Wait for the Wagon”
Will you come with me, my Phyllis dear,
To yon blue mountain free?
Where the blossoms smell the sweetest,
Come rove along with me.
It’s every Sunday morning, when I am by your side,
We’ll jump into the wagon and all take a ride.
Wait for the wagon, wait for the wagon,
Wait for the wagon and we’ll all take a ride.
Where the river runs like silver, and the birds they sing so sweet
I have a cabin, Phyllis, and something good to eat.
Come listen to my story, it will relieve my heart
So jump into the wagon and off we will start.
Wait for the wagon, wait for the wagon
Wait for the wagon and we’ll all take a ride.
Your lips are red as poppies, your hair so slick and neat,
All braided up with dahlias and hollyhocks so sweet.
It’s every Sunday morning, when I am by your side,
We’ll jump into the wagon and all take a ride.
Wait for the wagon, wait for the wagon,
Wait for the wagon and we’ll all take a ride.
Together on life’s journey we’ll travel til we stop,
And if we have no trouble, we’ll reach the happy top.
Then come with me, sweet Phyllis, my dear, my lovely bride,
We’ll jump into the wagon and all take a ride.
Wait for the wagon, wait for the wagon,
Wait for the wagon and we’ll all take a ride.
***(Audience please join for chorus!)***
Wait for the wagon, wait for the wagon,
Wait for the wagon and we’ll all take a ride!
“Let us have peace”
America! Beloved land! Once beautiful and bright,
Oh! Why should friendship turn to hate,
Oh, why should brothers fight?
Oh! Hold the mighty arm of war and let this hatred cease
And let our voices shout with joy
That all we want is peace.
Let the cannon’s roar be heard no more
And let the war cry cease
Oh! May our country live again in happiness and peace!
“They are coming from the wars”
They are coming from the wars,
They are bringing home their scars
They are bringing back the old flag, too in glory
They have battled long and well and let after ages tell
How they won the proudest name in song or story!
They have broken up their camps,
They are laughing o’er their tramps;
They are joking with the girls who flock around them.
They have left the scanty fair, they have left the fetid air
They have dash’d to earth the prison walls that bound them.
They are coming from the wars.
They are bringing back the old flag too in glory,
They are bringing home their scars,
The have won the proudest name in song or story
We are eager with our thanks, we are pressing on their ranks.
We are grasping hands that held the stars unbroken.
Yet we sadly think of those who are sleeping with their foes,
And our trembling tongues give welcome sadly spoken.
But the long delay is past, the have brought us peace at last.
And how proudly through our veins the blood is bounding.
As we bless our honored dead, while the steady martial tread
Of returning veterans in our ears is sounding.
They are coming from the wars.
They are bringing back the old flag too in glory,
They are bringing home their scars,
They have won the proudest name in song or story.
“Give me Jesus”
In the morning when I rise,
In the morning when I rise,
In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus, give me Jesus,
You may have all this world, give me Jesus.
Dark midnight was my cry,
Dark midnight was my cry,
Dark midnight was my cry, give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus, give me Jesus,
You may have all this world, give me Jesus.
Oh, when I come to die,
Oh, when I come to die,
Oh when I come to die, give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus, give me Jesus,
You may have all this world, give me Jesus.
Programme Notes
1) Scholarly author Stephen Cornelius wrote the following words in his paper entitled- Civil War Music “The Civil War affected American musical life at every level. At home, parlor room music-making was infused with conflicting emotions of fear and pride, loss and relief. On the fronts, music supported marching soldiers as they sang away fear and exhaustion. Classical music entertainers continued to offer concerts and operas with many musical events linked to the war. Northerners and Southerners sang the same songs and marched to the same march melodies. In the evenings songs of faith floated across homes and encampments. As for African-American music, the Civil War emancipated it, too. Through escaped slaves reaching the North or through northern soldiers operating in the South, white northerners were exposed to African-American music, especially the spirituals. Away from the front, bands entertained in city streets and parks, orchestras and choirs filled concert halls and sentimental songs enlivened parlors. Music’s resonance gave voice to an era. Always, music bound people together, helped them move forward, and helped them to remember.
We encourage you, as you listen to these songs, to walk with the men and women who walked on our soil and struggled through the battles, as it is brought to life for you today.
In the first Journey, we hear the Old Hundredth, feel free to sing along. Shortly after, you’ll hear the slave song “Follow the drinkin’ gourd” which was used as a song to sing hidden messages for slaves to follow and escape on the Underground Railroad. The gourd mentioned is actually referencing the Big Dipper.
2) The inescapabilty of loneliness, suffered by thousands of soldiers is well documented by letters home throughout the Civil War … In one of his first letters home, William McKnight of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry confesses “I had to get up and leave the table to hide my tears warm tears of love for you and the little ones at home…my mind is constantly turning homeward.”
In this next Journey, you will hear that for the initial time in this performance, two melodies have been intertwined just as the thoughts of home and the thoughts from home entwined in the hearts of missing loved ones. It ends with the haunting, yet hopeful spiritual that secretly hid the location of where slaves would meet to run away on their own or through the underground railroad.
3) As in the previous group of songs, there were two songs that were linked, here again we encounter this in the first settings of love songs. Lorena, the forlorn, what might have been air and the hopeful and smitten love song, Aura Lee. Most recently famous by none other than Elvis Presley in his hit “Love Me Tender.” We then encounter a perspective less thought about, that of the children: whose fathers, brothers, and other men they knew who are no longer near them and how the children worry about their mothers. In the piece, “Weeping Sad and Lonely”, you’ll hear Marci sing an all too common and overwhelming emotion of many of the women during this time, that of waiting. “While our country called you, darling, we (wives and mothers) can only pray.” To emphasize from the opening words, “Music’s resonance gave voice to an era. Always, music bound people together, helped them move forward, and helped them to remember.”
4) More often than not, for every song that was wildly popular in the North or in the South, there existed and version with altered lyrics to please the other side. “The mood and idiom of both North and South were cast from the same mold, so that, almost without exceptions, these songs of sentiment were sung on both sides.”-Irwin Silber
“Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.”-Abraham Lincoln
Thank you.