Publications

"Maryland, My Maryland": Music and Patriotism during the American Civil War

University of Nebraska Press

390 Pages

10 photographs, 22 illustrations

January 2019

978-1-4962-1072-2

https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/university-of-nebraska-press/9781496210722/

Historians have long treated the patriotic anthems of the American Civil War as colorful, if largely insignificant, side notes. Beneath the surface of these songs, however, is a complex story. “Maryland, My Maryland” was one of the most popular Confederate songs during the American Civil War, yet its story is full of ironies that draw attention to the often painful and contradictory actions and beliefs that were both cause and effect of the war. Most telling of all, it was adopted as one of a handful of Southern anthems, even though it celebrated a state that never joined the Confederacy.

In Maryland, My Maryland: Music and Patriotism during the American Civil War James A. Davis illuminates the incongruities underlying this Civil War anthem and what they reveal about patriotism during the war. The geographic specificity of the song’s lyrics allowed the contest between regional and national loyalties to be fought on bandstands as well as battlefields and enabled “Maryland, My Maryland” to contribute to the shift in patriotic allegiance from a specific, localized, and material place to an ambiguous, inclusive, and imagined space. Musical patriotism, it turns out, was easy to perform but hard to define for Civil War–era Americans.

The Arts and Culture of the American Civil War

Routledge, 2017

234 pages

ISBN-10: 1472454510

ISBN-13: 978-1472454515

https://www.routledge.com/The-Arts-and-Culture-of-the-American-Civil-War/Davis/p/book/9781472454515

In 1864, Union soldier Charles George described a charge into battle by General Phil Sheridan: "Such a picture of earnestness and determination I never saw as he showed as he came in sight of the battle field . . . What a scene for a painter!" These words proved prophetic, as Sheridan’s desperate ride provided the subject for numerous paintings and etchings as well as songs and poetry. George was not alone in thinking of art in the midst of combat; the significance of the issues under contention, the brutal intensity of the fighting, and the staggering number of casualties combined to form a tragedy so profound that some could not help but view it through an aesthetic lens, to see the war as a concert of death. It is hardly surprising that art influenced the perception and interpretation of the war given the intrinsic role that the arts played in the lives of antebellum Americans. Nor is it surprising that literature, music, and the visual arts were permanently altered by such an emotional and material catastrophe. In The Arts and Culture of the American Civil War, an interdisciplinary team of scholars explores the way the arts – theatre, music, fiction, poetry, painting, architecture, and dance – were influenced by the war as well as the unique ways that art functioned during and immediately following the war. Included are discussions of familiar topics (such as Ambrose Bierce, Peter Rothermel, and minstrelsy) with less-studied subjects (soldiers and dance, epistolary songs). The collection as a whole sheds light on the role of race, class, and gender in the production and consumption of the arts for soldiers and civilians at this time; it also draws attention to the ways that art shaped – and was shaped by – veterans long after the war.

Music Along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music, and Community during Winter Quarters, Virginia

University of Nebraska Press, 2014

360 pp.

978-0-8032-4509-9

http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Music-Along-the-Rapidan,675891.aspx

In December 1863, Civil War soldiers took refuge from the dismal conditions of war and weather. They made their winter quarters in the Piedmont region of central Virginia: the Union’s Army of the Potomac in Culpeper County and the Confederacy’s Army of Northern Virginia in neighboring Orange County. For the next six months the opposing soldiers eyed each other warily across the Rapidan River.

In Music Along the Rapidan James A. Davis examines the role of music in defining the social communities that emerged during this winter encampment. Music was an essential part of each soldier’s personal identity, and Davis considers how music became a means of controlling the acoustic and social cacophony of war that surrounded every soldier nearby.

Music also became a touchstone for colliding communities during the encampment—the communities of enlisted men and officers or Northerners and Southerners on the one hand and the shared communities occupied by both soldier and civilian on the other. The music enabled them to define their relationships and their environment, emotionally, socially, and audibly.

“Bully for the Band!”

The Civil War Letters and Diary of Four Brothers in the 10th Vermont Infantry Band

Charles George, Herbert George, Jere George and Osman George

McFarland, 2012

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-6686-3

Ebook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8910-7

39 photos, notes, bibliography, index

300pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2012

http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-6686-3

From the commanding call of the bugle at reveille to combat instructions (such as “fix bayonets”) to reassuring songs around the campfire at night, music was an integral part of the Civil War soldier’s experience. This volume presents the Civil War writings of Charles, Herbert, Jeremiah and Osman George, four brothers from the town of Newbury, Vermont, who played in the 10th Vermont Infantry regimental band. Their letters and a diary describe the life of an enlisted musician, including forming a band, rehearsals and repertory, performances for officers, troops, and civilians—and battlefield stretcher-bearer duties. Despite the hardships they suffered, including the loss of one brother, their writings (supported by detailed scene-setting narratives by editor Davis) reveal the Georges’ fraternal bond that sustained them emotionally and ensured they would continue to serve their comrades in battle.

The Music History Classroom

Edited by James A. Davis

Ashgate, 2012

Illustrations: Includes 3 b&w illustrations

222 pages

Binding: Hardback, Paperback, eBook

ISBN: 978-1-4094-3658-4

Short ISBN:9781409436584

BL Reference: 780.7'11

LoC Number: 2012007272

https://www.routledge.com/The-Music-History-Classroom/Davis/p/book/9781409436591

The Music History Classroom brings together essays written by recognized and experienced teachers to assist in the design, implementation, and revision of college-level music history courses. This includes the traditional music history survey for music majors, but the materials presented here are applicable to other music history courses for music majors and general education students alike, including period classes, composer or repertory courses, and special topics classes and seminars.

The authors bring current thought on the scholarship of teaching and learning together with practical experience into the unique environment of the music history classroom. While many of the issues confronting teachers in other disciplines are pertinent to music history classes, this collection addresses the unique nature of musical materials and the challenges involved in negotiating between historical information, complex technical musical issues, and the aesthetics of performing and listening.

This single volume provides a systematic outline of practical teaching advice on all facets of music history pedagogy, including course design, classroom technology, listening and writing assignments, and more. The Music History Classroom presents the 'nuts-and-bolts' of teaching music history suitable for graduate students, junior faculty, and seasoned teachers alike.