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Cheer, Boys, Cheer! Music Of The 26th N.C. Regimental Band, CSA Volume 2

“Cheer, Boys, Cheer!”

Music from the Band Books of the 26th Infantry Regiment, NC Troops, C.S.A.

Dr. Nola Reed Knouse, Director, Moravian Music Foundation

Among the rarities in the Moravian Music Foundation’s collections are the only known complete sets of band books from a Confederate band in the American Civil War.[1] These were brought to Salem (now Winston-Salem, North Carolina) because the 26th North Carolina Regimental Band C.S.A. was comprised wholly of Moravian musicians from Salem. This recording, based on new scholarly editions of the works, reveals new insights into the rich musical heritage of the South, and indeed of the whole nation, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Recent research has revealed that several partbooks formerly listed as “unidentified band books” are indeed surviving copies of the books of the 21st North Carolina, previously thought lost.[2]

One of the more fascinating aspects of the musical life of nineteenth-century America was the rise and flourishing of brass bands (and later, mixed wind ensembles). Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, brass instruments were valveless; thus, with the exception of the trombone, their use by amateur players was limited to a few chord tones in the lower part of the harmonic series. Melodic playing was restricted to the higher harmonics, and was therefore the purview of only the more accomplished players. With the development by Adolphe Sax of valved brass instruments (known as “saxhorns”), it became easier to learn to play brass instruments in all ranges, melody and harmony alike. Over the next fifty years, the brass band became an integral part of the American music scene, with community bands thriving and the consequent need for instruments, instructors, and music. Most communities had a band; many of these were quite accomplished and served as the source of intense hometown pride.

By the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, “[a] brass band was such an integral part of American culture that soldiers on each side felt their regiments and brigades were inferior if they did not have one. A brass band greatly enhanced the prestige of a military unit. Oftentimes officers paid for bands out of their own pockets. Band music lightened a march; it surged a soldier’s adrenaline before a battle; it rallied flagging spirits.”[3]

This explosion of bands (and concomitant demand for music) converged with the strong musical education and inclination of the Salem Moravians.

These Moravians were members of a well-established church—officially called Unitas Fratrum or Unity of Brethren—that [by the middle of the 18th century] . . . had already seen almost three centuries of rich experience of religious life. They were spiritual descendants of the Czech priest Jan Hus, who for his attempts at reform was martyred in 1415. Forty-two years later, in 1457, some of his followers founded a church body consecrated to following Christ in simplicity and dedicated living.

This newly constituted church developed a rich and orderly ecclesiastical life in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but in the Thirty Years War of 1618–48 it was virtually wiped out. In the 1720s a few exiles of this religious heritage, along with various other seekers after truth, found refuge on an estate of a Saxon nobleman named Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf. There in their village of Herrnhut the ancient church experienced a rebirth culminating in a spiritual blessing on 13 August 1727, in which their former diversity of purpose was welded into one.

In a brief five years, by 1732, that first little village of the Renewed Moravian Church began sending missionaries to all corners of the world. After establishing work in England, the Moravians sent colonists to America in 1735, but this initial settlement in Georgia proved unsuccessful, partly because of war between Protestant England and Catholic Spain to the south in Florida. More permanent work was established in Pennsylvania in 1741, with the town of Bethlehem as their chief center.[4]

Other settlements in Pennsylvania followed, and the Moravians purchased 100,000 acres in North Carolina and settled at Bethabara in 1753, with the central town of Salem being founded in 1766. Along with their rich devotional life and their missionary fervor, the Moravians brought with them their regard for education and their love of music as an essential part of life. Moravian composers—also serving as teachers, pastors, and church administrators—were well versed in the European Classical tradition, and wrote thousands of anthems, solo arias, duets, and the like for their worship services, for voices accompanied not only by organ but also by string orchestras supplemented by woodwinds and brasses. In addition, these musicians copied thousands of works by the best-known and loved European composers of their day—the Stamitzes, Haydn, Abel, Gyrowetz, Mozart, the Bach family, and many whose names have descended into relative obscurity.

Out of this rich musical and religious heritage came the musicians of three bands from the Moravian settlements in North Carolina, serving with the 21st Regiment, N.C. Infantry (1st Battalion, N.C. Sharpshooters)[5]; the 26th Regiment, N.C. Infantry, and the 33rd Regiment, N.C. Infantry. Each of these bands served a variety of functions, including performing military and entertainment music for the Army (and on occasion for the Navy), serving in military hospitals during battles, and presenting public concerts and benefit performances. All three bands were Moravian in origin and character, having been formed to accompany church services and functions, to entertain their communities, and to provide military music for local militia companies.

The bands also entered military service with a common repertory of handwritten compositions, arrangements, and hymns prepared or composed by local musicians, including Alexander Meinung, Samuel T. Mickey, William Francis Carmichael, Oliver J. Lehman, Amelia Adelaide Van Vleck, Lisetta Van Vleck, and above all, Edward W. Leinbach. The repertories of the three bands were vastly expanded by contacts with musicians from bands of other regiments from North Carolina and other states. They purchased or bartered for new compositions and arrangements by some of the most outstanding band leaders from the Southern armies, including W. H. Neave, W. H. Hartwell, and Charles Siegel, and they paid these leaders for musical instruction. In addition, their repertory included music and arrangements by at least two famous Northern bandmasters, David Downing and Claudio Grafulla. Members of the bands hand-copied all the music in their books. Chorales, an ever-present part of their life as Moravians back at home, are copied throughout their books, at the bottom of pages; these are often incomplete, indicating that the players knew these chorales well enough to need only some reminders rather than the complete chorale.

Bands were frequently called upon to give joint performances with other bands (including an improvised concert between the 26th N. C. and the 11th in the midst of the action on the battlefield at Gettysburg). These joint performances were only possible because of this shared repertory. In the course of the American Civil War, the three Moravian bands from Wachovia were represented in almost every major campaign in North Carolina, the Shenandoah Valley, and Northern Virginia. All three bands were captured in the final battles leading up to the Confederate surrender at Appomattox.

The Band of the 33rd Regiment, N.C. Troops

Eugene Christian Lehman was the leading musician of Bethania, North Carolina, in the mid-nineteenth century. He led the church band, the militia band, and the orchestra, and was organist of the Bethania congregation until his death in 1857. His son Oliver J. Lehman succeeded him as band and orchestra leader, and is also credited with founding (at the age of eighteen) and training the Bethania Brass Band.

The 33rd Regiment, N.C. Troops, began organizing in the fall of 1861. The band members enlisted at Pfafftown, North Carolina, as members of Company I, recruited from Forsyth County in July and August 1861. The regiment entered state service on October 30, 1861, and Confederate Army service January 9, 1862. Oliver Lehman did not enlist with the band, having expressed emphatic public opposition to secession and war.

The band’s first muster roll, taken on February 1, 1862, lists the following, all enlisting at Pfafftown: Edwin C. Dull (chief musician), William N. Butner, James H. Conrad, Charles H. Fulk, Lewis A. Hartman, Peyton T. Lehman, Julius F. Stauber, and Levin J. Stroupe. Over the course of the war the band had a higher rate of casualties than the other Moravian bands; nevertheless, it continued to grow, reaching a maximum membership of 15 pieces.

At the battle of New Bern, North Carolina (March 14, 1862), the 33rd N. C. Regiment was shoulder-to-shoulder with the 26th. The 26th Band was not involved in this action, but the members of the 33rd Band were put into the line, suffering casualties and the loss of their instruments in the defeat and retreat. Oliver J. Lehman, still a civilian, arranged for the purchase of new instruments, and arrived to train the 33rd Band. Lehman’s memoir reports that he “organized the band of the 33rd N.C. Regiment, taught them 3 or 5 weeks, got them to playing some light music until the Regiment was ordered to Gordonsville, Va., for active service.”[6]

When called up by the draft, Lehman traveled as a fugitive to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he joined the 33rd Regimental Band as a cornetist in February of 1863, and he served with the band for the duration of the war. Through the middle of 1863 the roster of the 33rd Band included Edwin C. Dull (chief musician), William N. Butner, Reuben J. Crator, Allison B. Harris, Lewis A. Hartman, Robert M. Jones, John Anderson Kimbrough, Oliver J. Lehman, Gideon Leander Miller, Virgil P. Miller, Wiley E. Parker, Jesse Reynolds, Levin J. Stroupe, John A. Williard, and William F. Williford.[7]

An evaluation of the service of the 33rd Band is found in Major Weston’s memoir: “A most useful body of men. They were accomplished musicians, and in addition to their regular duties, which they performed faithfully, they rendered from time to time, as circumstances required, very efficient aid in the Hospital Department.”[8]

The “21st” Band: The Band of the 1st Battalion, N.C. Sharpshooters

The history of the band referred to as the 21st N.C. is convoluted and has led to confusion for many over the years. The “Forsyth Grays” enlisted on May 24, 1861, in Forsyth County, under Captain Rufus Watson Wharton. The 11th N. C. Regiment (a 12-month regiment) was organized at Danville, Virginia, on June 18, 1861. Field officers were elected on July 8, 1861, including Colonel William Wheedbee Kirkland.

On November 14, 1861, by special order of the Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office, the regimental designation was changed to the 21st Regiment, N.C. Troops (11th Regiment, N.C. Volunteers). On April 26–28, 1862, Companies B and E (the “Forsyth Grays”) transferred from the regiment, organizing the 1st Battalion (companies A and B), N.C. Sharpshooters (also known as the 9th Battalion, N.C. Sharpshooters). Rufus W. Wharton was promoted to Major, in command of this 1st Battalion. The Forsyth Grays were re-designated as Company B of the 1st Battalion. Although a separate organization, the 1st Battalion temporarily served with the 21st Regiment. The band members were all members of the Forsyth Grays, with the one exception of drummer Calvin T. Wren of Company D, who remained with the 21st Regiment. The band served with Company B (the Forsyth Grays) throughout the entire war.

The band roster included: William F. Carmichael (chief musician), John P. Brendle, Daniel B. Crouse (who transferred after August of 1861 to the 26th Band), L. D. Eberhart, Samuel G. Hall, David B. Murchison, and James E. Reich. A later roster of the 1st Battalion Band included: William F. Carmichael (chief musician), John P. Brendle, Samuel Brietz, Lewis E. Butner, L. F. Carmichael, L. D. Eberhardt, Samuel G. Hall, William C. Hill, Samuel G. Keesler, David B. Murchison, Robert D. Parkes, James A. Reich, Nathaniel S. Siewers, and Crist Winkler.[9]

The Band of the 26th Regiment, N.C. Troops

During the first year of the conflict (1861) the musicians who formed the band of the 26th North Carolina Regiment had served honorably at home in Salem, playing concerts, greeting visiting companies of soldiers, and playing to see newly formed companies off to the war. The band was originally recruited for another North Carolina unit, Wheeler’s Battalion, but that battalion had been captured by Union troops on Roanoke Island. The band’s leader (“Captain”), Samuel T. Mickey, traveled to New Bern, North Carolina, to determine whether the band could join the 26th N.C. Regiment. Upon meeting Mickey in a hotel lobby, Colonel Zebulon Vance, commander of the 26th North Carolina, accepted his offer, and the band joined the regiment at New Bern in March of 1862.

I was sitting in the lobby of the Gaston House, New Bern, when a man wearing a Colonel’s uniform came in with a loaf of bread under each arm. This was Zeb Vance. I spoke to him and told him my errand. Colonel Vance replied: “you are the very man I am looking for. You represent the Salem band. Come to my regiment at Wood’s brick yards, four miles below New Bern.” Next morning (March, 1862) I went down to the camp, was met by Captain [Alexander H.] Horton, of Company C, and as a result of my visit, the band was engaged and at first it was paid by the officers.[10]

When chosen as the colonel and commander of the newly-organized 26th North Carolina Regiment in August of 1861, Zebulon Baird Vance was “an affable, ambitious thirty-one-year-old mountaineer with dark hair, a thick dark mustache and a youthful, puffy-looking face” and “one of North Carolina’s most prominent political leaders.”[11] Gifted with the ability to inspire his men, Vance earned not only their respect but their love, by making provision for their well-being in every way open to him, thus making them feel that he loved them. Vance left the 26th North Carolina in 1862 after winning a decisive victory in the election for governor of North Carolina; Edward Leinbach composed Governor Vance’s Inauguration March, SB2.37,[12] for his inauguration in August of 1862, and the band played for the festivities.[13]

The 26th North Carolina Regiment was organized from companies raised from the Piedmont and western North Carolina. The regiment first saw action at New Bern in March of 1862; it was just after this battle that Samuel Mickey met with Colonel Vance and the band joined the regiment. The 26th North Carolina was engaged in battles at Malvern Hill, Gettysburg (where the decimation of the regiment led to its reputation as “the bloody 26th”), the Wilderness, and the defense of Petersburg, Virginia (for nearly one and a half years). The regiment continued its service with the Army of Northern Virginia and surrendered with General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. The band, having become separated from the body of the regiment, were captured near Amelia Courthouse after the evacuation of Petersburg in the closing week of the war in Virginia. They were imprisoned at Point Lookout, Maryland, for nearly three months; after their release, they returned to Salem, arriving on the afternoon of July 2, 1865. Only two days later, they were again playing for the townspeople of Salem and its neighboring Winston, celebrating the return of peace and quiet and the re-establishment of the Union.

Upon joining the 26th North Carolina Regiment the band received specific assignments, including “a morning performance to announce the changing of the guard, a nightly concert to entertain the troops, performance at Sunday inspection and . . . during brigade reviews.”[14] In addition to their musical responsibilities, they were assigned to assist as hospital attendants, helping to dress wounds, carrying wood and water, and even assisting with amputations.

The band members had some difficulty adjusting to military life; learning to march was a challenge, and, in at least one instance, two band members exchanged horns, and were pleased with the results. The original group consisted of the following men, with their most likely instruments: Samuel T. Mickey, leader, E-flat cornet; A. P. Gibson, 1st B-flat cornet; Joe O. Hall, 2nd B-flat cornet (later, bass); Augustus Hauser, 1st E-flat alto; William H. Hall, 2nd E-flat alto; Daniel T. Crouse, 1st B-flat tenor; Alexander C. Meinung, 2nd B-flat tenor; Julius A. Leinbach, E-flat bass (later, 2nd B-flat cornet).[15]The band had a number of personnel changes over the years, adding some players, and losing others to illness and injury.[16] At its largest, the band had 2 E-flat cornets, 2 B-flat cornets, 2 E-flat altos, 2 B-flat tenors, a B-flat baritone, an E-flat bass, snare drum, and bass drum—a total of 12 players.  

In addition to their music, a great deal of documentation about the band has survived. There are letters home from trombone player Edward Peterson;[17] the partial diary of band leader Sam Mickey;[18] the more extensive diary of band member Julius Leinbach;[19] some sketches of the war and camp life by band member (and manager) Alexander Meinung;[20] and the official records of the Moravian Church during this bleak period of American history. [21] The letters of Nathaniel S. Siewers[22] provide details about the relationships between the bands, repertoire, and valuable context for the 21st Regiment Band. These supporting materials identify specific pieces of music that were played by the band on special occasions (including the actual program from a concert given in July of 1864, written by Peterson on the back of a Bank of Wilmington note; two works listed on that note, Scotch Medley and Brightest Eyes, are included on this recording).

Their band books, in the collection of the Moravian Music Foundation, comprise the only known surviving complete set of band books from a band of the Confederacy. These books (six complete sets and a seventh partial set) contain several hundred titles, representing a true cross-section of music played indeed by both Union and Confederate bands. An overview of the six sets of books shows the musical development of the band and its repertoire over the years. Book 1 has parts for at most seven players (E-flat cornet, B-flat cornets 1 and 2, E-flat alto, B-flat tenor 1 and 2, bass; some pieces do not have all these parts). Arrangements in Book 1 are the simplest, with the melody residing in the E-flat cornet part, and the other parts largely simple accompaniments. The repertoire of Book 1, while containing a variety of tunes, can be seen as the “essential” tunes for the North Carolina regimental band—Old North State, 26th Regiment Quickstep, Dixie and Bonnie Blue Flag, marches named for various leaders (Hoke, Kirkland, Vance), a Dead March, several tunes written or arranged by Edward Leinbach, and, of course, the Moravian chorales. Books 2 and 3 show the expansion of the band, with Baritone parts, and an expansion of the repertoire to include more ballads, tunes from operas, tunes bearing the names of regimental leaders, Governor Vance’s Inauguration March, and arrangements by W. H. Neave. Books 4, 5, and 6 finally show the band at its full size, and the inclusion of more ballads, operatic numbers, dance tunes, and arrangements by W. H. Hartwell. Edward Peterson’s letters, in their frequent references to copying and rehearsing new tunes, confirm that the band progressed in proficiency and in breadth of repertoire throughout the war years.

About the Music on This Recording

In the following discussion, catalog numbers are given to identify the works: SB1.1 indicates that the work is the first in “Set 1” of the 26th Band Books; UBB1.1 indicates that the work is the first in the first book previously known as “unidentified band books,” now considered to be remnants of the books of the 21st Regimental Band. Numbers in [bold] refer to track numbers on the recording. 

[1] Our recording opens with one of the “Band Calls” included in the 26th N.C. Band books. This one [SB3.56] is loosely adapted from the “French army call” quoted in the overture to Auber’s Fra Diavalo.

[1] The title song of this recording, Cheer, Boys, Cheer [SB1.8] was composed by the English composer, pianist, and singer Henry Russell (1812–1900). Russell studied composition in Italy with Rossini and Bellini, and traveled to Canada in 1834/5 to begin a concert career as a singer and pianist. He settled in Rochester, New York, teaching at the Rochester Academy of Music. He toured the United States, performing his own compositions and enjoying enormous popularity. He was very influential on such American composers as Stephen Foster and John Hill Hewitt, and composed simple ballads a well as complex operatic scenes; many of his songs concern social issues. Moravian collections in North Carolina contain many of his songs.

Cheer, Boys, Cheer was composed in 1850, with words by Charles MacKay. It was published in the United States by almost every major publisher, including several in the Confederacy. The band arrangement is for the earliest (smallest) instrumentation of the bands. The E-flat cornet carries the melody throughout, while the other instruments provide supporting harmony. Since the arranger is not indicated on the manuscript, it is possible that it was either Edward Leinbach or Samuel T. Mickey, the only musicians known to have been arranging for the band at this time. Our recording includes one chorus sung by the players themselves:[23] “Cheer, boys, cheer, we’ll march our way to battle; cheer, boys, cheer, for our sweethearts and our wives; cheer, boys, cheer, we’ll nobly do our duty, and give to the South our hearts, our arms, our lives.”[24]

[2] A drum cadence links Cheer, Boys, Cheer to the second track on the recording, the Grand Confederate Quickstep [SB4.21; E-flat Alto 1 part from SB3.2]. No composer has been identified for this rousing and brilliant march, which requires great skill and virtuosity from all the players. A number of “Confederate Grand Marches” (and other versions of this title) were published in the Confederacy during the war years, but no match has been found for this particular march. The extended form and the bravura instrumental writing suggest the work of either Hartwell or Neave (see below). The full band instrumentation indicates that this march was acquired after the band reached its full complement, and there are extended solos for the 1st E-flat Alto and Baritone players. This work was edited by Matthew Frederick and Nola Reed Knouse. The 26th N.C. Band repertoire contains yet another “Confederate March” [SB2.7] as well.        

The pivotal figure in the musical strength of all three bands was Salem Moravian composer and teacher Edward W. Leinbach (1823–1901). Born November 4, 1823, in Salem, he exhibited unusual musical talent from four years old. He studied organ with Ephraim Brietz in Salem, and later with Henry Kemble Oliver in Boston. Becoming active in the Salem musical community by his early twenties, he became its most influential musician for the next fifty years. He was organist for the Home Moravian Church in Salem; with his colleague, the composer and minister F. F. Hagen, he organized Salem’s Classical Music Society in 1850. Also in 1850, he was charged by the community’s elders with the creation of a brass band which would utilize the newly developed chromatic valved instruments. He did so, using as its foundation the earlier Salem Band founded by his father Johann Heinrich Leinbach (John Henry Lineback), which was composed of both brass and woodwind instruments.           

Edward Leinbach was director of the music department of Salem Female Academy (now Salem Academy and College) from 1865 to 1877. He is credited by the twentieth-century band leader B. J. Pfohl with effecting the transition from eighteenth-century classicism to the more “modern” trends of the nineteenth century.[25] His compositions include anthems and chorales for the worship of the church, several published solo piano pieces, and a number of pieces for the regimental bands. The 26th N.C. band has seven titles attributed to him, three as composer and four as arranger. The 21st band books have six titles attributed to him, three as arranger and three as composer; all but one of these six appear in the 26th N.C. band books without attribution; thus the two collections identify him as responsible for six compositions and eight arrangements. He is without doubt the composer or arranger of many more of the tunes in these books, as many remain without attribution.       

Leinbach’s influence on the three Moravian bands of the Confederacy (26th N.C., 21st N.C., and 33rd N.C.) thus cannot be overestimated. While printed music for brass band was available before the war from Northern publishers, and during the war from Confederate publishers in New Orleans, Richmond, Macon, and other locations, all the known music of these three bands was in manuscript form; no printed music for brass band is found in North Carolina Moravian collections until well after the war. We are only now beginning to see the scope of Leinbach’s influence, and much more study and analysis remains to be done, to determine which of the works now without composer attributions are likely to be his.           

Compositions attributed on the manuscripts to Edward Leinbach on this recording are the Dead March and Easter Gallop; probable Leinbach compositions are the 21st Regiment Quickstep, Capt. Horton’s Waltz, and Capt. Jones’s Waltz. Leinbach’s arrangements on this recording are the Carolina March, Serenade Waltz, and Parting. 

[15] Among the duties of Civil War bands, including the 26th Band, was the sad one of playing at funerals and at the execution of deserters. No band could go off to war without suitable funeral music, and the 26th Band had several “dead marches” in its repertory, including ones by Johann Heinrich Walch,[26] J. A. Rosenberger, and W. H. Neave. The most frequently mentioned funeral march used by Civil War Bands was that from G. F. Handel’s Saul. Leinbach’s Dead March [SB1.31] is dated March 2, 1862, suggesting that this march was composed in anticipation of the band’s departure for service. Leinbach’s dead march is in an extended form unusual for the bands of the time. Its profound solemnity, emotional expression, and harmonic subtlety surpass the normal expectations of common band music. The work was edited by Bob Lukomski in 2000, and parts for E-flat Alto 2 and Baritone were added by Nola Reed Knouse for this recording. 

[9] The Easter Gallop[27] [SB1.46] is a simple, charming, and lively galop, with melody alternating between solo E-flat cornet and the bass instruments; the trio is of contrasting character. The work was edited in its original form by Bob Lukomski; parts for 2nd E-flat Alto, 2nd B-flat Tenor, and Baritone were added by Nola Reed Knouse.

[7]The 21st Regiment Quickstep [SB 1.10] comes to us without composer attribution, but its character, form, and indeed its very existence lead to the surmise that Leinbach was the composer. It was written for the earliest instrumentation of both the 21st and 26th Bands—1 E-flat Cornet, 2 B-flat Cornets, 1 E-flat Alto, 2 B-flat Tenors, and Bass. The E-flat Cornet carries the melody throughout, harmonized with the 1st B-flat Cornet; the lower instruments accompany in simple repetitive rhythms. The facts that this march is scored for the earliest instrumentation of the band, that the band transferred to a separate command in April of 1862, and that the 21st Regiment was the first to be mustered into service, indicate that this quickstep was written before April of 1862.[28] The work was edited by Matthew Frederick, and parts for 2nd E-flat Alto and Baritone were added by Nola Reed Knouse.

[11, 18] Two waltzes, Capt. Horton’s Waltz [SB2.27; SB SCO 1.26; UBB1.18]and Capt. Jones’s Waltz [SB2.28; UBB1.19], were written to honor two favorite officers of the 26th Regimental Band. That they were composed early in the band’s service is indicated by their being performed at the band’s earliest concerts; in addition they too are scored for the smaller ensemble. Both works were edited by David Diggs; the 1st E-flat Cornet part for both is contained in a partbook which contains primarily alto parts. The 1st B-flat Cornet part was added by Nola Reed Knouse, and the bass part to Capt. Jones’s Waltz was added by Nola Reed Knouse based on Capt. Horton’s Waltz. These works are presumably Leinbach’s as well. Captain Augustus H. Horton commanded Company C, The Wilkes Volunteers, of the 26th Regiment through the New Bern campaign, after which he was invalided home. For the rest of the war he served the Confederacy as a civil official in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Horton was the officer who negotiated the remarkable terms of service granted to the 26th Regimental Band.           

Lt. Col. John Thomas Jones was, in 1862, the captain of Company I, the Caldwell Guards, of the 26th Regiment. He was elected major in July of 1862. At Gettysburg as the only officer not dead or incapacitated, he led the regiment in the Pickett-Pettigrew charge. He commanded the regiment in the fighting retreat to Falling Waters where, after the death of General Pettigrew, he temporarily assumed command of Pettigrew’s brigade. With the reorganization of the 26th Regiment he was promoted to Lt. Colonel and served gallantly in that capacity through the ensuing campaigns of the regiment until being fatally wounded at the battle of the Wilderness, May 7, 1864. Chief musician Mickey was at his bedside when he died, and the band members arranged for his burial. Julius Leinbach reported that they were greatly saddened, as they “considered him the best friend we had in the regiment.”[29]

[6] Leinbach’s remaining arrangement on this recording, Parting [SB5.33], was composed by the German composer and conductor Karl August Krebs (born 1804 in Nuremberg—died 1880 in Dresden). Born Miedcke, he was adopted in 1805 by Johann Baptist Krebs (1774–1851). A strong advocate of Wagner, Spontini, and Meyerbeer, he was a prolific composer of piano works, sacred music, and opera, and was best known for his songs. Parting (Aus der Ferne) is a German romantic art song, very atypical of the songs usually arranged for brass band. The Moravian Music Foundation holds a copy of an 1848 publication by G. P. Reed of Boston, with the original German text translated by T. S. Dwight. Leinbach’s arrangement is for the full instrumentation of the band and presents considerable challenge to the performers, with its harmonic chromaticism and the need to distinguish the melodic material of the song from the accompaniment. Moreover, the melodic demands upon the players are greater than in most popular songs, requiring a great deal of endurance and fortitude.      

The varied repertoire of the three Moravian bands was obtained from a variety of sources over the course of the war years. Well represented are works arranged by William H. Hartwell of the 16th Mississippi Volunteer Infantry Regimental Band, perhaps the best known of all the Confederate bandmasters. Hartwell, a music teacher in Sharon, Mississippi, was well known “for his fine singing voice and ability to perform on any instrument. Trained in the European style of performance and teaching, Hartwell regularly made trips to the New England Conservatory of Music to study.”[30] Hartwell’s band, the 16th Mississippi, was described by members of the 26th North Carolina band as the best band in the Confederate army. They also asked Professor Hartwell for lessons, and were known to have received some training from him in 1864. His masterly arrangements for band were extremely popular among Confederate bands. After the war, he settled down to a quiet life of raising a family and teaching music, and composed more than a hundred pieces and many musical arrangements. He was considered a pioneer music educator in Mississippi.[31] Hartwell’s contributions featured on this recording are his compositions Screech Owl Gallop and Double Quickstep and his arrangement of Dearest, I Think of Thee—Grand March. 

[10] Screech Owl Gallop [SB 5.44] is a remarkable composition/arrangement which displays the brilliance of the composer and the virtuosity of his 16th Mississippi Regiment band. The interpretive and technical demands made upon the performers far surpass what would ordinarily be expected from a Civil War band. The Gallop is preceded by an introduction of 44 bars (Larghetto in triple meter) featuring extended solos for the baritone and first B-flat Cornet. This expressive melody is interrupted by a very convincing imitation of the cry of a screech owl, played by the cornets. The Gallop itself takes off with a burst of speed and excitement, with dotted figuration, chromatic scales, and screech owl cries. Through the center section of the piece, the solo E-flat Alto plays, at half speed, the aria Then You’ll Remember Me from M. W. Balfe’s opera The Bohemian Girl in its entirety. The effect is both startling and hilarious, almost farcical. The band continues on to a blazing finale with more chromatic runs and screech owl calls. This work would certainly have challenged and expanded the capabilities of any Civil War band! This piece was edited by Matthew Frederick and Nola Reed Knouse. 

[3] The Double Quickstep [SB 5.40] is scored for the largest instrumentation. The melody in the opening strain is in the 1st B-flat Cornet, doubled in places by the 1st E-flat Alto, as its range is a bit low for the E-flat Cornets. When the tessitura rises in the second strain, the E-flat Cornets assume their more typical lead role.

[16] Dearest, I Think of Thee—Grand March is Hartwell’s adaptation and reworking of K. A. Krebs’ German art song, Liebend gedenk ich dein. As was often the practice in nineteenth-century band music, the work begins as a grand march with fanfares and flourishes, serving as an introduction to the song. The song itself serves as a “trio” within the march. This is a particularly brilliant and stirring example of this genre, juxtaposing militant bravura with a sentimental ballad.           

The original song Dearest, I Think of Thee was published by almost every American major publishing house. Hartwell’s arrangement became known to the band of the 26th North Carolina in the following way: On September 11, 1863, General Lee reviewed the troops of A. P. Hill’s corps, of which the 26th Regiment was a member. The 26th Band was one of seventeen bands participating. Julius Leinbach reports: “Here we heard the 16th Miss. Band [Hartwell’s]. It was a pretty full one and they played well. Their review piece was ‘Dearest, I Think of Thee’ and we thought it the finest thing we had ever heard.”[32] From this encounter began the 26th Band’s effort to seek out Hartwell for lessons and to acquire his arrangements.           

Two noted musicians of the time were half-brothers, William H. and Edward B. Neave, who settled in Salisbury, North Carolina. William was the organizer and leader of the renowned Salisbury Brass Band, and there is some documentation of his involvement with the Fourth North Carolina regimental band. All official records, however, indicate that Edward served as the chief musician and lead cornet player of that group. William was known in some circles (whether rightly or not remains to be proved) as bandmaster for Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia; army records, however, do not support this contention. William was a composer, arranger, and teacher for several North Carolina bands, including the 4th, the 21st (Sharpshooters), the 26th, the 49th, and the 11th (formerly the 1st). In addition, several other Confederate military bands regularly played his works, including those of the 33rd North Carolina and 14th South Carolina.[33] W. H. Neave’s arrangements included here are Cast That Shadow From Thy Brow/Ella Leane [sic] and Ever of Thee. 

[21] The song O Cast That Shadow From Thy Brow was issued by almost every American publisher by the mid-nineteenth century, indicating that it was enormously popular and was unprotected by copyright. There is no credit for author or composer in these editions. A song, Cast That Shadow, was published by A. S. Nordheimer Toronto, a publisher active from 1845 on, with John Hill Hewitt named as composer. The Moravian Music Foundation holds a copy of Oh! Cast That Shadow From Thy Brow. A favorite Ballad, issued in Baltimore by F. D. Benteen, a publisher active in Baltimore from 1839–1850. Song composer John Hill Hewitt began his long residence in Baltimore in 1827, and at least one of his big hit songs, The Minstrels Return from the War, was unprotected by copyright. The style of poetry and music of Oh, Cast That Shadow . . . is Hewitt’s, leading to the reasonable speculation that this is the same song as that published by Nordheimer, and that Hewitt was indeed the composer, working in Baltimore.

The song Ella Leene is known to have been published by only one publisher, suggesting that it was under copyright protection. The composer, listed as “Buckley,” was probably a member of a minstrel company founded by a family of English musicians in the nineteenth century. This family company performed under several names, including “Congo Melodists,” “Buckley’s Minstrels,” “New Orleans Serenaders,” “Southern Nightingales,” and “Buckley’s Serenaders.”           

Cast That Shadow From Thy Brow/Ella Leane [SB3.21a and 3.21b] is a typical Neave arrangement of popular ballads in march form. The first section begins with an introduction, and the song melody is interrupted by trumpet flourishes composed by Neave. An interlude of trumpet fanfares precedes the second song, which is played straight through, and concludes with brilliant flourishes.

[12] The song Ever of Thee was written in 1859 by the British songwriters George Linley (words) and Foley Hall (music). It was an immediate and enormous success in both England and America, and is perhaps one of the most successful popular songs in American history. It was issued by virtually every American publisher, including piano versions with brilliant variations and quickstep versions “as performed by the brass bands, arranged for the pianoforte.” The song was sung by all ranks throughout the Confederate army, and Major General J. E. B. Stuart is said to have hummed this song in the midst of battle. The march version [SB1.41] was composed by W. H. Neave, beginning as a quickstep with a brilliant extended introduction featuring bravura playing by the cornets. The song melody, introduced as a middle section of the march, is played almost note-for-note as in the printed vocal edition (published by John C. Schreiner & Son). The solo for the E-flat Cornets is divided between the first and second players, while the second E-flat Alto plays a solo harmony part. The work was edited by Nola Reed Knouse, who reconstructed the E-flat Alto 1 and Baritone parts. 

[13] The Mocking Bird Quickstep [SB2.35, 5.53] is based on one of the most popular songs of the nineteenth century. Listen to the Mocking Bird was composed by Septimus Winner, based on a melody by the Philadelphia street musician Richard Milburn (known as “Whistling Dick”). The song was issued as part of Winner’s series of Alice Hawthorne Ballads, and the original publication gives Milburn credit for the melody. Our version is an almost note-for-note transcription of The Mocking Bird Quickstep arranged for the pianoforte by J. A. Rosenberger, published in Richmond by George Dunn & Company in 1864. Rosenberger also composed a “trio” for his arrangement, following a tradition common to quickstep versions of popular melodies. The edition, made by Nola Reed Knouse, was taken from parts in SB2.35 and SB5.53. The E-flat Cornet parts are from SB5.53. B-flat Cornet 1 and Bass parts were reconstructed by the editor. Portions of the E-flat Alto 1 and B-flat Cornet 1 parts are taken from what has been considered an E-flat Cornet part to Set 2, but which appears to be an additional E-flat Alto part instead. The “alternate” E-flat Cornet 1 part, and parts of the B-flat Cornet part, were arranged by the editor from the pianoforte arrangement, to restore some “bird calls” from the piano version which do not appear in the band arrangement.

[5] Irish Emigrant’s Lament [SB4.38] is based on the popular Lament of the Irish Emigrant by the Scottish singer and composer William Richardson Dempster (1808–1871). Dempster came to the United States in 1835 to pursue a singing career performing his own sentimental parlor ballads. He was very popular in America, and is said to have had great influence on the work of Stephen Foster, who heard him perform in Pittsburgh. The song was composed in 1840, with a text by the Hon. Mrs. Price Blackwood, and the publication (in Moravian collections as SBV24.20) has the subtext “The Lament of an Irish Peasant previous to his leaving home, calling up the scenes of his youth under the painful reflection of having buried his wife and child, and what his feelings will be in America.” It was published in Boston by Geo. P. Reed, before 1849.

The band’s version is an excellent example of the sentimental ballad arranged as a march. It is a medley of two different songs, of which the first is at present unidentified. The march opens with an eleven-bar fanfare, proceeding immediately to the first song. There follows a brilliant march leading into the title song “Irish Emigrant’s Lament.” The song is played in its entirety twice, interrupted between verses by a brilliant interlude. This arrangement has the characteristics of Neave’s work, both in formal structure and in instrumental writing. The edition is by Nola Reed Knouse.

[19] Lula Is Gone [SB1.29 spells it “Lulu”] was composed in 1858 by Stephen Foster (1826–1864), and published by Firth, Pond & Co. in New York; there is one known Confederate imprint, by John C. Schreiner & Son, Macon, Georgia. Our version is written for the smaller ensemble of 7 players; E-flat Alto 1 and Baritone parts were reconstructed by Nola Reed Knouse. No arranger is credited on the manuscript, but its location in the first set of books indicates that the arranger is likely either Edward Leinbach or Samuel Mickey. After an eight-bar introduction the song is played in its entirety, as a duet for E-flat and B-flat Cornets. A second as-yet-unidentified melody follows, and then Lulu is reprised.

[23] Brightest Eyes [SB4.32] is based on the song of the same name (German title “Die schönste Augen”), the most popular song written by the celebrated German tenor Giorgio Stigelli (born Georg Stiegele, 1815–1868). Stigelli made extensive European tours and visited America in 1864–65 and was a prolific composer of successful songs. The text is by Heinrich Heine. The song was published in both English and German by most American publishers in the mid-nineteenth century, including several Confederate imprints. The arranger is not cited on the manuscript, but this has all the hallmarks of a Neave arrangement, with its cornet fanfares and flourishes and the structure, with the song melody itself as the trio of a march. The edition is by Matthew Frederick, and the E-flat Alto 2, Bass, and end of the B-flat Cornet 2 parts were reconstructed by Nola Reed Knouse. 

[17] Scotch Medley [SB4.6] was composed by Charles Siegel, July 1863. During the retreat following the virtual annihilation of the 26th Regiment at Gettysburg, much of the army rested at Bunker Hill, West Virginia. Here the band rehearsed together with other bands, including the 14th South Carolina and the 33rd North Carolina. Charles Siegel, Chief Musician, bass player, and arranger for the 14th South Carolina, composed the Scotch Medley at this time. The members of the 26th Band purchased a number of Siegel’s arrangements for thirty dollars a dozen. Band manager Alexander Meinung and band leader Samuel Mickey spent several days copying from Siegel’s books until the band’s departure from Bunker Hill. Other arrangements so far identified and attributed to Siegel are: in the 26th Band books, Rock Me to Sleep, Mother (J. H. Hewitt); Serenade (Schubert); Home, Sweet Home (H. Bishop); and Bonnie Eloise (J. R. Thomas). The previously unidentified band books, now identified as belonging to the 21st Band, include the following Siegel arrangements: The Watcher; Jennette and Jannette [sic; probably “Jeannette and Jeannot” by Glover]; Bonnie Eloise, and the Scotch Medley.           

The Scotch Medley begins in simple duple (2/4) time, presenting a series of lively unidentified tunes, featuring characteristic Scottish “snaps.” A middle section in 6/8 has the character of a jig; while the cornets play the melody, the supporting instruments imitate a bagpipe’s drone.           

This brass band repertoire is unusual in that it contains several works by Moravian women. Included on this recording are the Serenade Waltz and Carolina March by Amelia Adelaide Van Vleck (born October 18, 1835, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania—died August 20, 1929, in Salem, North Carolina). “Miss Amy” was one of three sisters with one brother, all of them musicians. The family moved to Salem in 1846, after the death of their father Carl Anton (a minister and also a composer, as was her grandfather). Educated at the Salem Female Academy, “Miss Amy” joined its faculty at age eighteen, teaching piano, guitar, and mandolin for more than sixty years. Her memoir, in the Archives of the Moravian Church, Southern Province, identifies her as “a rarely talented musician, a brilliant pianist, a composer of real merit. . . .” Several of her piano works were published during her lifetime. A shipment of several boxes received by the 26th Band on December 13, 1863, at Orange Court House, Virginia, included “eatables, clothing, etc. [and] a good deal of music, amongst the latter being a march and waltz composed for us by our good friend, Miss A. A. Van Vleck.”[34]  

[4] The Serenade Waltz [SB4.40] was arranged by Edward Leinbach from “Miss Amy’s” original piano work, simply titled Waltz in her music manuscript book (SMB34.92). Leinbach’s arrangement is for the full instrumentation, with a missing first 1st E-flat Alto part reconstructed by Nola Reed Knouse. As with his earliest arrangements, the melodic line is primarily in the E-flat Cornets, but the 2nd Tenor and 1st Alto also share in the melody.  

[24] The band version of the Carolina March [SB4.41], probably arranged by Leinbach, is more expansive than the version in Miss Amy’s music manuscript book [SMB34.93]; this piano copy may well have been her “working copy” rather than the finished march she provided to Leinbach. The tessitura is rather low for the E-flat Cornets, and much of the melodic line is carried by the B-flat Cornets, the two Tenors, Baritone, and E-flat Alto 1 (the latter reconstructed by Nola Reed Knouse). This march was published after the war by S. Brainard in Cleveland; several of Miss Amy’s other piano works were also published by different publishers.           

Opera was a highly popular form of entertainment in both the North and the South, with its combination of spectacle, story, stagecraft, acting, singing, special effects, and instrumental music. Most operas were sung in English; selections from popular operas were published in sheet music arrangements and sung in schools and parlors around the country. European entertainers toured the country, often mobbed by the audiences just as rock stars or professional athletes are in our day. Opera drew people from all strata of society, so it is not surprising that operatic tunes found their way into the band’s repertoire.

[20] Balade aus der Oper Zampa (die Marmorbraut) [SB3.44] is the aria “Aux pieds de la Madonne” from the 1831 opera Zampa, ou la fiancée de marbre, by Louis F. Hérold (1791–1833). It was published in America by various publishers in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, under the titles Hymn in Zampa and Hymn to the Madonna, Zampa. Moravian music collections in Bethlehem include a manuscript cello part which duplicates this arrangement, entitled “Thema aus Zampa,” and Moravian music holdings in Salem include a printed copy of “Hymn in Zampa arranged for the piano-forte” published in Philadelphia [SBV29.17]; this arrangement is nearly identical to the band version, with the following notable exceptions: The band version adds a one-chord introduction and a three-chord final cadence, and the band version is missing the principal melody, which has been added to the E-flat Cornet part by Nola Reed Knouse. 

[8, 14, 22] Three chorales beloved by Moravians have been chosen for inclusion on this recording. These tunes are an integral part of Moravian worship services throughout the year, as well as the Easter celebration, which includes bands playing chorales overnight, throughout the community, to awaken the congregation members for the Easter Sunrise Service. Band member Ed Peterson records that on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1863, camped near Greenville, NC, “we got up about 5 this morning and played church tunes, 185, 132, 230, and 151, such as we had. I guess you are eating breakfast just now. I wish I could take it with you. . . .”[35] The rest of the NC 26th Regiment, awakened at that early hour, probably wished the band was back in Salem at 5 a.m. as well!  

The tunes are identified by number and by letter. Tunes of the same meter (number of lines, number of syllables per line) have the same number but different letters (14A, 14B, and so on). Each tune has a tune name as well; in some cases the tune name is related to the German chorale name, but in others it is not. Tune 146 A, Nun danket alle Gott, is used at festival occasions throughout the year, and notably at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, to announce the arrival of the new year. Tune 132 A, Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, is used with various texts, but is also used to announce the death of a widowed brother in a Moravian congregation. Tune 151 A, O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden(the “passion chorale”) is used to announce all deaths, and is also sung with a variety of texts. The three tunes are played as set by Moravian composer and hymnist Christian Gregor (1723–1801) in his 1784 Choralbuch.

Scores and parts were prepared in accordance with the Music Editing Policy of the Moravian Music Foundation, which places heavy emphasis on the authority of the surviving parts over and above editorial decisions. The preparation of parts used in this recording was a three-step process. First, the editors identified with each piece prepared Urtext scores and parts from the surviving manuscript partbooks. Nola Reed Knouse then reconstructed parts to fill out the ensemble (noted in the details about the works above). These scores and parts, without performance indications other than those on the manuscripts themselves, were then sent to Raymond Mase some nine months prior to the recording date.

Raymond Mase played through all of the works with his colleagues and students at the Aspen Music Festival, beginning to make performance decisions. Mase worked to regularize articulations and dynamics, and the e-mails flew back and forth between Mase and Knouse regarding repeats, tempos, and stylistic questions.

Meanwhile, a set of the scores had been given to the percussionist John Beck, who reconstructed percussion parts for all of the works. (Some already had “drum” parts noted in the score or in a partbook; these, however, were obviously bass drum parts; no snare drum parts are extant). Beck’s parts, which provide a great deal of interest and “character” to the performance, will be included in any future publication of these works.

The midpoint of the nineteenth century offered a new and rapidly developing high-tech approach to brass band instrument thinking and design. The principal American instrument factories and music publishers began pushing a community brass band movement centered on a nearly all-saxhorn band concept, saxhorn being one of various names for a more or less complete family of mellotoned, conical bore valved bugles, that is, the flügelhorn-tuba choir, including all of the practical sizes from high treble to contrabass.          

The name comes from the large and enterprising Paris factory of Adolphe Sax (1814–1894), who can perhaps be credited with first producing better, more reliable and uniform, player-friendly, and (thanks to mass production) affordable sets of such instruments. First aimed at sales to the French Government to update the “harmonies” and “fanfares” (military and brass bands), his concepts and instruments quickly swept westward across the English Channel and on to the Americas.

The American mid-nineteenth-century valved brass band concept was originally even more saxhorn-centered than any plan Adolphe Sax likely ever envisioned for such instruments. Originally they were merely to be a part of an ensemble, but some of the early American saxhorn bands, so-called, were made up of only those instruments, plus the usual percussion, “small” and “large” drum. In drum language that meant a fairly deep shell, rope-tension, field drum and a rope-tension bass (sometimes spelled “base”) drum varying greatly in size from band to band. At this point we should mention that great variability also applied to the brasswind equipment. It was designed either to point upright and forward for all-purpose use or to point backward over the left shoulder, mostly for marching in front of a column of troops. The practitioners and promoters, such as Allen Dodworth (author of the Brass Band School, 1853) of course recommended having a set of each type. Realistically, few town band or militia band budgets ever afforded such luxury. In fact, concept never overruled practical thought, and any instrumentalist and resulting instrumentation was considered welcome if it got the job done or added in some positive way. Clarinetists and flutists (piccolo in particular) were frequently part of the brass band, and that was also true of the more formally organized British brass bands in their early stages.           

It is fortunate that a photograph of the 26th N.C. Regiment Band exists showing it in an eight-man form while it was home on its first furlough in 1862. Looking at their equipment, it is readily apparent that this was one of many such bands making do with anything available. This situation was likely more often encountered in the Confederate states. Nearly all of the band instrument manufacturing and importing was occurring well north of Washington, D.C. Looking at the photo, six of their instruments appear to be what would have been considered state-of-the-art American design for the mid-nineteenth century, but the other two appear to have been headed toward obsolescence.   

The lead soprano brass player Samuel Mickey is holding the standard American E-flat soprano saxhorn of the 1850s and 60s. It may well be the only one of the eight instruments to have survived. Preserved in the Wachovia Museum at Old Salem, it is a nickel silver instrument marked (J. Lothrop) “Allen Manufacturing Co. / Harvard Place Boston,” and equipped with the American-style string linkage rotary valve design that remained the most popular type throughout the third quarter of the nineteenth century. Consistent with an American, casual approach to nomenclature, Sam Mickey probably referred to his little saxhorn as his “cornet.”

The E-flat tuba player, J. A. Leinbach, had their only over-the-shoulder instrument. It is equipped with a then-popular type of short, fat, piston valve now usually called the “Berliner Pumpen” valve. Its popularity was mostly a budget matter. Developed in the mid-1830s, such valves were eventually applied with great efficiency to a major output from factories on both sides of the Atlantic. Late in the nineteenth century they were still readily available in American catalogs under the name “German pistons,” a charming euphemism indicating the cheaper brass instruments in each category.

Bandsmen James Fisher and D. T. Crouse appear to have a B-flat baritone and B-flat tenorhorn, respectively, although the situation could easily be the other way around; either instrument was capable of covering either part. Mr. Fisher’s horn certainly has German pistons like Mr. Leinbach’s tuba. The Crouse instrument is less clear, but first guess also calls for German pistons in the case of that instrument. Bandsmen A. P. Gibson and J. O. Hall also appear to have standard American state-of-the-art rotary valve instruments similar to Sam Mickey’s. The photo certainly reveals a B-flat treble in the case of J. O. Hall, but it is difficult to determine the key of Mr. Gibson’s instrument. Another B-flat treble is most likely, based on what we know of period scoring practices. The second B-flat treble part would be more necessary or desirable than the second E-flat treble for completeness’ sake, although this would leave Sam Mickey with the grueling workhorse job of being the unassisted solo E-flat treble lead player.

Two Unusual Instruments

It is the pair of upright instruments in the hands of W. H. Hall and A. L. Hauser which are the least typically American state-of-the-art. Hauser’s instrument is likely an E-flat tenorhorn, at that time also (and more often) called an alto or altohorn, as it has continued to be known ever after. However, as it is shown not clearly enough in the photo, the instrument could also be a B-flat tenorhorn, the next size down from the E-Flat tenor/alto.

The instrument in the hands of A. L. Hauser is obviously an E-flat tenorhorn (or altohorn), but also not typically American style for the 1850s or 60s. It is also of curiously small bell- and bell-throat dimensions as such instruments go regarding either side of the Atlantic. In fact, its dimensions are about small enough to equate with those of the alto valve trombone. If Mr. Hauser’s instrument has not survived we shall never know its manufacturer, and therefore what it may have been called. The terminology for such instruments varied greatly on both sides of the Atlantic.           

The photo of the 26th N.C. Regiment Band reveals it to seem unusual by the absence of the standard percussion for such ensembles. The band probably played that way whenever necessary, but, in fact, one should not assume that this ensemble was percussionless. Regimental drummers were attached to the band when available.           

On this disc, our personnel and equipment are as follows: Bass drummer Benjamin Herman used a wood shell, 28-inch, single tension instrument with calfskin heads, manufacturer unknown, probably late first quarter or early second quarter twentieth century. He was also the cymbal player by means of one cymbal plate attached to the drum shell and the other operated by the player’s free hand. The cymbals were 16-inch K Zildjian instruments, technically rather large by period standards, but quite splendid-sounding as such. We obtained cymbal luxury by overworking Mr. Herman with a doubling technique that actually postdates the period of our repertoire. One rarely ever finds even one note of actual manuscript or printed cymbal music from that period in brass band history. We merely utilized the period practice of ad libitum playing.  

Ad libitum stylistic playing was also appropriate for our field (or snare) drummer, John Beck, who was imported from the North Carolina School of the Arts. Period drum music indicates that the drums were not meant to play constantly. The ad libitum questions concerned when to play as much as what to play, and we think that a representative norm has been achieved for this recording. John Beck’s field drum is a splendid replica rope-tension instrument with proper heavy gauge sticks made by the Patrick H. Cooperman Co. in Connecticut, this model labeled the “Contract Civil War, 1876 drum.” It has the suitably deep shell of the mid-nineteenth-century field drums. However, for this project, politically speaking, it sports the wrong emblem: the typical eagle-and-banner painting applied to the more pristine Union Army field drums!           

Interestingly enough, the most “period” of our brasswinds are brand-new. The Moravian Music Foundation received a generous grant to commission a set of replica band instruments from Robb Stewart, a one-man-shop instrument maker in Arcadia, California, who specializes in nineteenth- century brass band instrument reproductions, both keyed and valved. The set he produced is a sort of wonderful starter quintet comprising the five basic sizes: E-flat soprano (a saxhorn, not a cornet, in this case), B-flat cornet, E-flat tenor (or alto), B-flat tenorhorn, and E-flat bass (tuba). The last three are in upright form. All are of brass with nickel silver elements and equipped with the string-linkage rotary valves typical of the period, four in the case of the tuba.

Three of the Stewart instruments were used for this recording. The American Brass Quintet (ABQ) bass trombonist, John Rojak, played the E-flat tuba, and their tenor trombonist, Michael Powell, used the B-flat tenor. The Stewart B-flat cornet was played by ABQ trumpeter Kevin Cobb.

Our other B-flat cornetist was Lee Soper, who used from his collection a well-preserved piston cornet by the Henry Distin Factory in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, serial no. 16888. It is silver and gold-plated, elegantly engraved, and likely dates between 1886 and 1909. Our other B-flat tenorhorn player was Michael Hosford, who used an upright piston instrument marked “Elite / Fillmore Bros Co. / Cin.(cinnati) O.,” early twentieth century. It was lent to us for this project by Mr. Robert Wagenknecht, a private collector-performer in Petersburg, Virginia. Kenneth Finn was our B-flat baritone player using an upright piston valve instrument, silver plated, made by the Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory, serial no. 10104, ca. 1890. It was lent to us by Robert Biddlecome, a former bass trombonist of the American Brass Quintet and baritone player for the 1981 Yankee Brass Band recording.

Nearly half of our ten brasswinds are from the Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory. The two E-flat cornets were made by that once highly esteemed shop. Both instruments are string-linkage rotary valve of the type usually called side-action (also true of the Robb Stewart cornet played by Kevin Cobb). The key rod axis is perpendicular to the valve rotor axis, and the instrument is held horizontally like the Germanic trumpets one sees in the Wiener Philharmoniker and other orchestras. The Boston Manufactory E-flat cornet played by Allan Dean was made available from the collection of our B-flat cornetist, Lee Soper. The instrument is nickel silver and bears no serial number, but it is certainly from the late nineteenth century.           

The other Boston E-flat cornet belongs to and was played by our band leader, Raymond Mase, trumpeter and senior member of the American Brass Quintet. It is brass, serial no. 14792, and having been commissioned as a presentation instrument it appears once to have had a light gold plating for that purpose. In addition to the factory’s standard bell engraving (“made by the Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory”) the inscription includes “presented to LEM H. WILEY by the Citizens of PEORIA 1899.” Col. Lemon H. Wiley (1844–1912) was a prominent musician in the Peoria area, E-flat cornet soloist of Spencer’s Light Guard Band (one of three popular community-semi-professional bands in that city) and eventually manager of the Peoria Grand Opera House in the 1880s. We are indebted to Karen Deller, Special Collections Assistant, Bradley University Cullom-Davis Library for biographical information on Lem Wiley. Comparing the two Boston Manufactory E-flat cornets is interesting. They are both essentially the same model and true cornets, as opposed to the larger dimension saxhorns once popular in America at the midpoint of the nineteenth century. That was the trend throughout the second half of the century. Tastes in American brass band instruments then demanded a gradual shrinking of conical tubing and bell flare dimensions in search of more brilliant and player- friendly (less fatiguing) models. By modern standards Ray Mase’s Wiley cornet would be considered full size, and generously proportioned at that. By contrast Lee Soper’s instrument from about the same period (played by Allan Dean) is curiously tiny in its bore dimensions.

Now in its forty-sixth year, the American Brass Quintet has long been regarded the leader in the field of serious brass chamber music. The remarkable history of the ABQ includes performances worldwide, a discography of more than fifty recordings, and the premieres of well over one hundred new works. Its achievements have served as an inspiration to a new generation of brass quintets worldwide. The ABQ’s long-standing commitment to the modern brass repertoire, along with the performance of their own editions of Renaissance, Baroque, and nineteenth-century brass repertoire, have firmly established this ensemble as the leader in the field of serious brass chamber music today. The American Brass Quintet has been in residence at the The Juilliard School since 1987, and at the Aspen Music Festival since 1970. The ABQ members are trumpeters Kevin Cobb and Raymond Mase, hornist David Wakefield, trombonist Michael Powell, and bass trombonist John D. Rojak.

The American Brass Quintet Brass Band was formed in 1980 by the members of the American Brass Quintet to perform and record America’s nineteenth-century brass band music on period instruments. The Band gave its first performance in November 1981 and can be heard on the New World recordings The Yankee Brass Band (New World Records 80312-2) and A Storm in the Land (New World Records 80608-2).

The Moravian Music Foundation (MMF) is one of the largest archives of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century music in America—preserving more than 10,000 music manuscripts, early imprints and primary source documents which are housed in environment-controlled archives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. MMF conducts and fosters scholarly research; produces serial publications, books, monographs, and recordings; edits music, and produces scores and parts. MMF maintains a reference library of secondary sources supporting study of the archival collections and a free music lending library. MMF provides programming consultation and program notes for modern-day performances by symphonies, chamber orchestras, ensembles, choirs, and soloists from across the nation, in Europe, the Caribbean, and the Orient

The Moravian Music Foundation has researched, edited, and arranged for the publication of more than three hundred fifty works from its collections; there are nearly two million copies of this published music in circulation worldwide. In addition, more than one hundred other works have been researched and edited, but remain unpublished. MMF conducts or fosters research and editing for six to ten works each year, producing scores and parts for “first modern” performances.

The Moravian Music Foundation, founded in 1956, is an independent, not-for-profit, 501(c)3 tax-exempt corporation.

457 South Church Street

2nd B-flat Cornet – Lee Soper

The Civil War—Its Music and Its Sounds. Frederick Fennell, Eastman Wind Ensemble. Mercury 432591-2.

Grafulla’s Favorites. Dodworth Saxhorn Band. New World Records 80556-2.

Honor to Our Soldiers: Music of the Civil War. Classical Brass. MusicMasters 01612-67075-2.

Music of the Civil War. The Americus Brass Band. Summit Records DCD 126.

Songs of the Civil War. The Harmoneion Singers. New World Records 80202-2.

A Storm in the Land: Music of the 26th N.C Regimental Band. The American Brass Quintet Brass Band. New World Records 80608-2.

The Yankee Brass Band. The American Brass Quintet Brass Band. New World Records 80312-2.

String Trios / String Quintets. American Moravian Chamber Ensemble. New World Records 80507-2.

By A Spring (Suiten Bey Einer Quelle Zu Blasen). Pacific Classical Winds. New World Records 80531-2.

Parthias 3, 4, & 5. Pacific Classical Winds. New World Records 80531-2.

Parthien 6– 9. Pacific Classical Winds. New World Records 80538-2.

Parthien 10–14. Pacific Classical Winds. New World Records 80580-2.

The Water Journey (Die Wasserfahrt). Pacific Classical Winds. New World Records 80490-2.

Other titles of early American music available on New World Records:

All The Rage: Mandolin Ensemble Music From 1897–1924. New World Records 80544-2.

Angel’s Visits and Other Vocal Gems of Victorian America. New World Records 80220-2.

The Birth of Liberty: Music of the American Revolution. New World Records 80276-2.

Come and Trip It: Instrumental Dance Music 1780s to 1920s. New World Records 80293-2.

The Golden Age of the American March. New World Records 80266-2.

The Hand That Holds the Bread: Songs of Progress and Protest in the Gilded Age 1865–1893. New World Records 80267-2.

Make A Joyful Noise: American Psalmody 1770–1840. New World Records 80255-2.

Music of the Federal Era. New World Records 80299-2.

Where Home Is: Life in Nineteenth-Century Cincinnati. New World Records 80251-2.

Abel, E. Lawrence. Singing the New Nation: How Music Shaped the Confederacy, 1861–1865. Mechanicsburg, PA, Stackpole Books, 2000.

Bufkin, William A. Union Bands of the Civil War (1862–1865): Instrumentation and Score Analysis. Ph.D. dissertation, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, 1973.

Clark, Walter, ed. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861–65. 5 volumes. Goldsboro, N.C., Nash Brothers, 1901.

Crews, C. Daniel, and Lisa D. Bailey, ed. Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, volume XII (1856–1866). Raleigh, NC, Division of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 2000.

Crews, C. Daniel, and Richard W. Starbuck. With Courage for the Future: The Story of the Moravian Church, Southern Province. Winston-Salem, NC, Moravian Church in America, Southern Province, 2002.

Crews, C. Daniel. Storm in the Land: Southern Moravians and the Civil War. Winston-Salem, NC, Moravian Archives, 1997.

——. Villages of the Lord. Winston-Salem, NC, The Moravian Archives, 1995.

Ferguson, Benny Pryor III. The Bands of the Confederacy: An Examination of the Musical and Military Contributions of the Bands and Musicians of the Confederate States of America. Ph.D. dissertation, North Texas State University, 1987.

Garafolo, Robert, and Mark Elrod. A Pictorial History of Civil War Musical Instruments and Military Bands. Charleston, WV, Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1985.

Gragg, Rod. Covered with Glory: The 26th North Carolina Infantry at Gettysburg. New York, Harper Collins, 2000.

Hall, Harry H. A Johnny Reb Band from Salem, The Pride of Tarheelia. Revised Edition. Raleigh, NC, Office of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 2006.

Harwell, Richard B. Confederate Music. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1950.

Hess, Earl J. Lee’s Tar Heels: The Pettigrew-Kirkland-MacRae Brigade. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 2002.

Hoogerwerf, Frank W. Confederate Sheet Music Imprints. I.S.A.M. Monographs No. 21. New York, Conservatory of Music, Brooklyn College, 1984.

Johnson, James Hamilton. The North Carolina State Song: A History. Roanoke, VA, privately printed by James Hamilton Johnson, 2000.

Jordan, Weymouth T., Jr., compiler. North Carolina Troops 1861–1865, A Roster, Vol. IV: Infantry. Raleigh, North Carolina, State Division of Archives and History.

Leinbach, Julius. Regiment Band of the Twenty-Sixth North Carolina, ed. Donald M. McCorkle. Reprinted from Civil War History (September 1958). Winston-Salem, Moravian Music Foundation Publications No. 5, 1958.

McCorkle, Donald M. Moravian Music in Salem: A German-American Heritage. Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1958.

Nigrelli, Christopher Charles. More Musical Contributions of the Salem, North Carolina, Moravian Community in the Civil War: An Investigation of the Musical Activities of the Bands of the 21st, 26th, and 33rd North Carolina Regiments. D.M.A. Thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003.

North Carolina Troops 1861–1865: A Roster. Compiled by Weymouth T. Jordan, Jr., with unit histories by Louis H. Manarin, vol. 12. Raleigh, NC, North Carolina State Division of Archives and History, second printing with addenda, 1990.

Olson, Kenneth Elmer. Yankee Bands of the Civil War. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1971.

Pfohl, Bernard J. The Salem Band. Winston-Salem, NC, [Wachovia Historical Society], 1953.

Powell, William S., ed. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1988.

Silber, Irwin, compiler and editor. Songs of the Civil War. New York, Bonanza Books, 1960.

Producer and Engineer: Judith Sherman

Assistant engineer: Jeanne Velonis

Digital editing: Kevin Cobb

Musical preparation: Nola Reed Knouse (scholarly editions), Raymond Mase (performance parts), John Beck (percussion parts)

Project consultant: Philip Dunigan

Digital mastering: Paul Zinman, SoundByte Productions

Recorded November 1–4, 2005, at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York City

Cover design: Bob Defrin Design, Inc., NYC

This project is supported by the Duke Willard Fund for Recording of the Moravian Music Foundation.

This recording was also made possible by a grant from the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trust.

FOR NEW WORLD RECORDS:

Herman E. Krawitz, President; Lisa Kahlden, Director of Information Technology; Paul M. Tai, Director of Artists and Repertory; Mojisola Oké, Bookkeeper; Anthony DiGregorio, Production Associate.

RECORDED ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN MUSIC, INC., BOARD OF TRUSTEES:

Richard Aspinwall; Milton Babbitt; Jean Bowen; John Lee Carroll; Thomas Teige Carroll; Emanuel Gerard; David Hamilton; Rita Hauser; Lisa Kahlden; Herman E. Krawitz; Fred Lerdahl; Robert Marx; Arthur Moorhead; Elizabeth Ostrow; Cynthia Parker; Larry Polansky; Don Roberts; Marilyn Shapiro; Patrick Smith; Frank Stanton; Paul M. Tai; Blair Weille.

For a complete catalog, including liner notes, visit our Web site: www.newworldrecords.org.

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E-mail: info@newworldrecords.org

P & © 2006 Recorded Anthology of American Music, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

NO PART OF THIS RECORDING MAY BE COPIED OR REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION OF R.A.A.M., INC.