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Field Music Notes

Notes on the songs, instruments and bands of the American Civil War era

SG 2 pieces · Latest piece

The songs

The songbooks, the words people sang and the sheet music they were printed in.

SG-002SG-001

A wooden parish resource shelf in a small church office, three hymnals standing upright beside a shape note book and a spiral notebook, late afternoon light from a side window falling across the spines.
Plate SG-002 A wooden parish resource shelf in a small church office, three hymnals standing upright beside a shape note book and a spiral notebook, late afternoon light from a side window falling across the spines.

Every piece in this part

2Latest pieces
  1. A wooden parish resource shelf in a small church office, three hymnals standing upright beside a shape note book and a spiral notebook, late afternoon light from a side window falling across the spines.
    SG-002

    Hymn Tunes Before 1865, Still Sung

    How hymn tunes printed before 1865 are chosen, shelved and sung today, from camp meeting to hymnal, and what a period ensemble declares when it borrows one.

    Particulars
    The songs · 1448 words · 1 source
    Caveat
    this piece cites only loc.gov

  2. A single 1840s songsheet lying flat on a reading room table, its engraved cover showing a harbour scene, beside an open atlas of the same decade, lit by a low angled lamp from the left.
    SG-001

    Reading a Songsheet, 1816-1865

    How engraved covers, publisher addresses, verse place names and maps printed in the same years settle where a song was sold and how far it travelled.

    Particulars
    The songs · 1219 words · 1 source
    Caveat
    this piece cites only loc.gov