"Where words fail, music speaks," (Hans Christian Andersen)
Looking over the course of American history, it is easy to read written accounts and textbooks about the Civil War and obtain an understanding of what happened between the North and the South and how the outcome of the war came to be. What cannot be read with ease, however, are the emotions and feelings of the people experiencing the “war between brothers.” Music is a form of expression that has been used throughout time by artists to immortalize the emotional state of the time period in which it was written. By listening to battle songs and other works of music written during the Civil War, we are able to broaden our understanding of the true effects of the war on the people of our country. The examples posted on the various pages of this blog emphasize the works of different artists who used their talents to express the spirit of their time period. They used their compositions to tell stories of the war and gave different perspectives from the various groups of people affected by the war. When we focus on the messages behind the music, we are able to time travel, so to speak, and feel the various reactions of people towards the Civil War.
Looking over the course of American history, it is easy to read written accounts and textbooks about the Civil War and obtain an understanding of what happened between the North and the South and how the outcome of the war came to be. What cannot be read with ease, however, are the emotions and feelings of the people experiencing the “war between brothers.” Music is a form of expression that has been used throughout time by artists to immortalize the emotional state of the time period in which it was written. By listening to battle songs and other works of music written during the Civil War, we are able to broaden our understanding of the true effects of the war on the people of our country. The examples posted on the various pages of this blog emphasize the works of different artists who used their talents to express the spirit of their time period. They used their compositions to tell stories of the war and gave different perspectives from the various groups of people affected by the war. When we focus on the messages behind the music, we are able to time travel, so to speak, and feel the various reactions of people towards the Civil War.