Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Mentor/Supervising Professor Name
Diller, Lisa
Presentation Location
On Campus
Description
The topics of the history of music and the history of music intersect in the Civil War in fascinating ways. Both religious music and “secular” music were seen to have great power over their listeners, potentially with the power to alter the directions of lives or their salvation status. Music was used both as a mode of rebellion against the antagonizing army and ideal and a rebellion against unnecessarily violent acts. Each side used it against the other, but a select few also used it against the war itself. Soldiers marched to music, set camp to music, and fought to music; civilians likewise used it to express their grief and patriotism, their emotional ties to the fighting and opposition. The Civil War, in a very real sense, had a soundtrack.
Included in
Cultural History Commons, Modern Art and Architecture Commons, Other Music Commons, Political History Commons, Public History Commons
The Sound of the Civil War: Examining the Intersection between Music and Emotion in America, 1861-1865
On Campus
The topics of the history of music and the history of music intersect in the Civil War in fascinating ways. Both religious music and “secular” music were seen to have great power over their listeners, potentially with the power to alter the directions of lives or their salvation status. Music was used both as a mode of rebellion against the antagonizing army and ideal and a rebellion against unnecessarily violent acts. Each side used it against the other, but a select few also used it against the war itself. Soldiers marched to music, set camp to music, and fought to music; civilians likewise used it to express their grief and patriotism, their emotional ties to the fighting and opposition. The Civil War, in a very real sense, had a soundtrack.