Band Music from the Civil War Era is one of more than 100 collections from the Library of Congress' American Memory databases. This multi‐media web site is non‐subscription based and available to the public. The databases in the American Memory project include collections in a variety of American history subject areas and are of great value to scholars, students, teachers, and researchers.
Band Music from the Civil War Era is built from several different sources as an online collection. It offers several document formats including scores, photographs, audio recordings, and an introductory essay, The American Brass Movement: An Historical Overview. This overview, written by Jon Newsom, curator of the music division, Library of Congress, describes the period (primarily the 1850s), the influences on the music of the times (pre, during and post Civil War), instruments, and the music itself. This essay is a comprehensive synopsis of the contents and history of the collection and of the period represented. He describes the instruments played during the Civil War, the evolution to today's instruments and the mastery and competence of the musicians. This is an interesting essay and introduction to an erudite collection.
Vast, yet well organized, Band Music of the Civil War Era probably serves primarily researchers and scholars but is easy enough to manoeuvre for students and curious history buffs. Deeper layers expose more dense resources, such as sheet music and instrumental part books. In addition, there are many musical recordings. On 7 September 1974, the Music Division of the Library of Congress hosted an event; a re‐creation of a concert by a brass band from the Civil War period of American history. This occasion became the beginning of the development of this intriguing collection of artifacts. The audio recordings are from that concert. They can be accessed as MP3, wavfiles, or real audio stream. Included with each recording are lyrics and bibliographic information. There is also one page linking from the home page that describe the instruments used in the recording and also lists the names of the musicians. There are approximately forty photographs. These digitized primary documents are organized in three areas: Portraits, In Formation, and Drum Corps. The pages include titles and the location of where the photograph was taken and cataloguing information, (Dublin Core). Once enlarged, the photographs are quite clear and captivating. This is not a large collection.
In general, this is a very appealing collection and the subject matter has a significant place in American history; therefore, important to researchers. Trusting that the documents are accurate, which I do, and that the essayist is scholarly, which I believe, I recommend Band Music from the Civil War Era as an interesting, authoritative spot for exploration or inquisitiveness.
