Instruments played by field musicians included: The drum corps thus became an avenue for teenage (and even younger) boys, hungry for adventure, to join the war. The music also helped organize the movement of the troops (think marching) and even conveyed combat orders to soldiers, who were trained to recognize these commands.Īlthough the minimum age for enlisting soldiers was 18, boys as young as age 12 were allowed to enlist as musicians. Playing in the Fieldįield musicians included the fife-and-drum corps with the marching units and the buglers that accompanied both the cavalry and the infantry. These musicians marked the activities of daily wartime life, including wake up, lights-out, roll call, and drills. Musicians who played official roles in the military can be divided into two categories: field musicians and members of military bands. Soldiers also sang their own music, often at their evening encampments, for comfort and camaraderie. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army, reportedly said, “I don’t believe we can have an army without music.” From marching music to camp songs, from concerts to “Taps,” music moved the armies through daily activities, rallied morale, incited conflict, and defused tensions. Meanwhile, appreciation for performed music was also growing, and with wealthy citizens’ support, concert halls and music societies expanded.Īs more than three million men and boys from the North and the South marched to war in the 1860s, so did America’s music. Education of the growing middle class invariably included music lessons, and the printing of easy sheet music proliferated to meet the demand of parlor musicians. You could often hear fiddles, flutes, banjos, and other easily made instruments in households across the economic spectrum wealthier households might have had a piano both as a musical instrument and as a status symbol. That’s because well before the invention of iPods or even radio, people relied on themselves, their families, and their communities for the music of daily life. There was a great deal of music making everywhere. Laying the groundwork for music’s integral role in the war was America’s rich and expanding musical life in the preceding years. Exploring the conflict’s varied soundtrack, from patriotic marches to haunting ballads, offers a window to the spirit, story, and emotion of a traumatic time in American history. Even so, wars have historically inspired and even required music, and the Civil War (1861–65) was no different. You might not think of a battlefield as a great place to hear music-it has probably never been anyone’s first choice of a concert venue. Tickets are available at, and people 17 and younger can attend for free.Band of the 114th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, in front of Petersburg, Va., August, 1864. Saturday at Midway Town Hall, 75 North 100 West. The jazz ensemble will wrap up the evening with combined performances with the orchestra and vocalist and Stone as the featured saxophone soloist on “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head.” The ensemble and Stone will also play a few without the orchestra. The orchestra will play Morgan Gould’s “American Salute” and Henry Mancini’s “Moon River” among others. This Saturday, the choir will perform numbers like “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies” and “Deep River,” an American spiritual in a combined performance with the orchestra. The orchestra also plays with Cowboy Poetry performers in the fall. The first show of this year was March 10, when the community orchestra played in the Wasatch County schools production. In addition to Wasatch County, some of the roughly 100 musicians also come from Park City and Utah County. Since last fall, it’s been performing again after canceling shows for over a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Heber Valley Choir and Orchestra formed four years ago from what was the Paradise Ensemble. And it's going to reflect the character and the vitality of our community, with a phenomenal musician, Doug Stone, to kind of top it all off.” “It's just not an orchestra concert or a choir concert or a jazz ensemble concert it's combined. “This is a small, relatively rural Utah community that has a robust community of musicians that yearn to play together,” says co-Conductor Chris Bala. This Saturday, the Heber Valley Choir, Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble and special guest Doug Stone will perform an Americana-themed concert in Midway.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |