Music – Grave Matters

“Sleep today, O early fallen”: Grief and the Good Death in the Music of the American Civil War

Of the more than ten thousand songs published between 1861 and 1865, hundreds dwelt on the topic of death and mourning. Many more songs remained unpublished but circulated in popular repertories nonetheless, and a countless number of these pieces dealt with similar matters. Across five Aprils, the American Civil War claimed upwards of 650,000 lives,Continue reading ““Sleep today, O early fallen”: Grief and the Good Death in the Music of the American Civil War”