"Home Sweet Home": Words & Music 1863 (1 Viewer)

[PolarBear]

Whether you are a private or a general at war and away from home, there is nothing quite like a letter from a loved one or a familiar tune played by one of the company musicians.

"Home Sweet Home"

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble there's no place like home!
A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there,
Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with
elsewhere:
Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home!
There's no place like Home!
There's no place like Home.

History of the Song and Its Popularity During the American Civil War

http://www.historynet.com/home-sweet-home-a-civil-war-soldiers-favorite-song.htm

 

[PolarBear]

Winslow Homer's 1863 painting Home Sweet Home and detail of band.

Homer drew upon his experience of the war to create his first oil paintings, many of them scenes of camp life that illuminate the physical and psychological plight of ordinary soldiers. He received national acclaim for these early works, both for the strength of his technique and the candor of his subjects. This picture, exhibited in New York in 1863, was enthusiastically admired and quickly sold. The title refers to the song frequently played by the Union regimental band, a piece that no doubt inspired homesickness and longing in the infantry men who listened to it.

But the title also refers to the soldiers' present "home," shown with all of its domestic details—a small pot on a smoky fire, hard biscuits on a tin plate—that Homer, who did the cooking and washing when he was on the front, knew intimately, and that, with surely intended irony, was far from "sweet."
(Text from National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC)

 

[villagehorse]

Nice to see your diorama's again Randy. As usual your very unique style makes it the best. Robin.

 

[mestell]

Nicely done Randy . . .
:smile2: Mike

 

[jazzeum]

Randy,

Well done as usual.

You might be interested in Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music During the Civil War by Christian McWhirter, issued by the University of North Carolina Press. Haven't read it yet but it received some very good reviews.

Brad

 

[PolarBear]

Thanks everyone for your nice comments on the ACW scene. I think that the sculpt of General Sickles is outstanding in every way. I especially love the pose which is very realistic and great for the kind of non-combat scenes of war that I enjoy doing.

Randy

 

[PolarBear]

Randy,

Well done as usual.

You might be interested in Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music During the Civil War by Christian McWhirter, issued by the University of North Carolina Press. Haven't read it yet but it received some very good reviews.

Brad

Thanks Brad. I will definitely look into it. I have a number of CDs of Civil War music.
Randy

 

[jazzeum]

Randy,

Do you have any recommendations.

I only have one album, the Union, by Richard Bales and the National Gallery Orchestra. This was originally a two LP set, issued back in the late 1950s or early 1960s I believe. There was an LP or the Union and one for the Confederacy and it came in a nice book that had pictures of the Civil War, with commentary on the songs. One of my favorites was the Invalid Corps.

This is what the LP for the Union looked like:



My father purchased the set and I listened to them endlessly. I think I wore out the grooves.

I still have the original LPs.

I also purchased the Union CD, which I still enjoy a lot but never was able to find the Confederacy one, at a decent price that is.





Brad