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Patrick S. Gilmore
and
The Boston Peace Jubilees
Read about the Peace Jubilees by clicking these links:
Patrick S. Gilmore and the Great National Peace Jubilee of 1869
World's Peace Jubilee and International Music Festival of 1872
20th Anniversary Peace Jubilee Concerts of 1889CD-ROM: "Angel of Peace": Music in Old Boston
Great National Peace Jubilee
(1869)
This five day music festival was organized and held in Boston, Massachusetts by the Irish-born composer and bandmaster, Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore [shown at left], to commemorate the end of the Civil War. He was also the one who composed the very popular Civil War song, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."
U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant attended the opening ceremonies of the 1869 Peace Jubilee. Not known for being very musical, when asked which music he liked best, President Grant replied loudly: "I liked
the cannons!"This Peace Jubilee featured a military band and orchestra of 1,011 musicians, plus many soloists and members from 103 choral groups totaling over 10,000 singers. Also several huge cannons used as sound effects for some of the music.
It was one of the first and biggest "monster concerts" in the USA during the 19th century.
In addition to the European classical music and a few patriotic songs like "The Star Spangled Banner" and "My Country 'Tis Of Thee," there was a new piece written especially for the National Peace Jubilee, titled: "Hymn of Peace." It was written in commemoration of the end of the Civil War and premiered during the First Day on June 15, 1869 [see No. 1 in the Programme at left].
Here is the complete text for the hymn:
Oliver Wendell Holmes
(1) Angel of peace, thou hast wandered too long;
Spread thy white wings to the sunshine of love!
Come while our voices are blended in song,
Fly to our ark like the storm-beaten dove—
Fly to our ark on the wings of the dove;
Speed o’er the far-sounding billows of song,
Crowned with the olive leaf garland of love;
Angel of peace, thou hast waited too long!(2) Brothers we meet on this altar of thine,
Mingling the gifts we have gathered for thee;
Sweet with the odors of myrtle and pine,
Breeze of the prairie and breath of the sea—
Meadow and mountain and forest and sea;
Sweet is the fragrance of myrtle and pine,
Sweeter the incense we offer to thee,
Brothers once more round this altar of thine!(3) Angels of Bethlehem, answer the strain!
Hark! a new birth-song is filling the sky!
Loud as the storm-wind that tumbles the main,
Bid the full breath of the organ reply—
Loud let the tempest of voices reply;
Roll its long surge like the earth-shaking main!
Swell the vast song till it mounts to the sky!
Angels of Bethlehem, echo the strain!Words by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1869
Music by Matthias Keller - “American Hymn,” 1866
"ANGEL OF PEACE (previously titled "HYMN OF PEACE")
The first modern day concert performance of this hymn was by
America's oldest surviving musical society (organized in 1786),
The Old Stoughton Musical Society Chorus, Roger Hall, conductor. The hymn was recorded at Historic Old West Church in Boston, Massachusetts in a concert celebrating the 350th anniversary of the City of Boston in 1980,To listen to this Boston performance --click here
This performance is included on
"Angel of Peace" - Music in Old Boston
150th Anniversary Celebrated:
The program celebrating the anniversary of the Grand National Peace Jubilee was held at the Boston Public Library (BPL) on March 29, 2019.
Unfortunately, the music portion of the program was mostly unrelated to the music performed on the opening day of the Peace Jubilee in 1869, with the exception of the "Anvil Chorus" which was performed twice by members of the Boston Firefighters Pipes and Drums and was the hit of the program.Since it was written expressly for the opening of this 1869 Peace Jubilee comemmorating the end of the Civil War, it would have been more appropriate to read the "Hymn of Peace" (see text above) or better yet to have it sung by the New England Conservatory Chamber Singers, who instead sang modern music totally unrelated to the 1869 Jubilee.
Why not sing the hymn written expressly for that Jubilee?
After this program was held, Roger Hall donated a copy of his CD-ROM to the Boston Public Library which contains material directly related to the 1869 Boston Peace Jubilee, including the Premiere performance of the "Hymn of Peace" from the Jubilee 350 concert for the City of Boston in 1980, performed by The Old Stoughton Musical Society.For more about this 1869 Jubilee with pictures click these links:
Bonus Episode: Grand Peace Jubilee of 1869
World's Peace Jubilee
and
International Music Festival
(1872)
This second music festival took place in Boston and was organized to celebrate the end of the Franco-Prussian War in Europe. It was once again organized by Patrick Gilmore and took place in June of 1872.
This massive music festival featured over 1,000 musicians in the orchestra and approximately 20,000 in the chorus. One of the young violinists in the orchestra was Edwin Arthur Jones, who would later become a composer mainly of choral music and have his orchestra. Among the special invited guests at this Festival were two European composers: Franz Abt and Johann Strauss Jr., who premiered his new "Jubilee Waltz" for this event. There were also bands invited from England, Ireland, France and Germany, as well as the U.S. Marine Band.
Though it was considered a financial failure because of smaller attendance than the 1869 Jubilee, this was probably the largest ensemble of musicians ever assembled in one location in the United States during the 19th century. For this enormous music festival, several new pieces were composed.
One of them was titled, "Festival Hymn," words and music by Dudley Buck, composed for the World's Peace Jubilee and premiered on June 18, 1872. The concert program describes the performance this way: "Full Chorus of Twenty Thousand Voices, accompanied by the Great Organ and Grand Orchestra of One Thousand Musicians."
This is the text written by Dudley Buck for the hymn:
O Peace! on thine upsoaring pinion,
Thro' the world onward flight taking,
Teach the nations their turmoil forsaking,
To seek thine eternal dominion.
From the Infinite Father descending,
O come with thine influence tender;
And show us how duly to render,
To Him our glad praise never ending,
O Music! thy source too is holy,
Thro' thy power ev'ry heart now uniting,
Why thy magic each true soul delighting,
Blessed bond 'twixt the high and the lowly,
Thro' thee, the great Father adoring.
Thy language is known to each nation,
Thro' thee, the vast Hymn of Creation,
From tongues without number outpouring,
O Music! O Peace!
Happy blending of voices and hearts,
Of voices and hearts in sweet lays,
In union, to God's holy praise,
Ever thus your pure influence lending.Jehovah! thou Sov'reign of nations!
Sweet Peace to our land thou hast granted,
Be praises eternally chanted,
In Music forevermore!
Aye! forever more,
In Music forevermore.
Amen.
This hymn has been recorded in its First Concert Performance by
The Old Stoughton Musical Society and is available on the "Angel of Peace"
CD-ROM -- click hereNot everyone was pleased with this massive World's Peace Jubilee.
The influential and outspoken critic, John S. Dwight, wrote critically:
"The great, usurping, tyrannizing, noisy and pretentious thing is over, and there is a general feeling of relief, as if a heavy, brooding nightmare has been lifted from us all!"
A more positive view was stated by Louis C. Elson, in The History of American Music:
"If the Peace Jubilee of 1872 did nothing else, it at least left a better repertoire to the country societies as a legacy."
Gilmore Anniversary
Peace Jubilee Concerts
(1889)This festival was to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the National Peace Jubilee twenty years earlier and like that one, this "Grand Anniversary Jubilee" took place in June. The dates were June 5-9, 1889 at the Mechanics Building in Boston.
The performers included a 1,000 voice chorus from Boston choral organizations, re-union Jubilee Chorus of 1,000 voices, and a Children's Chorus of 1,000 voices from Boston Public Schools.
The opening concert on June 5 began with the Overture to Richard Wagner's opera, "Tannhäuser," by Gilmore's Band and included Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" and closed with the patriotic song, "My Country 'Tis of Thee."
Special 150th anniversary edition!
"ANGEL OF PEACE" : Music in Old Boston
by Roger L. Hall
PineTree Press, 2019
The new edition celebrates the 150th anniversary of the
first Boston Peace Jubilee and has been expanded with over 100 files
on a CD-ROM including music examples and images highlighting
the three Boston Peace Jubilees (1869,1872,1889).
As an added bonus, there are music highlights from
the special concert celebrating the 350th Anniversary
of the City of Boston in 1980: "Musick in Old Boston"
which included several choruses from the Peace Jubilees.Roger Hall is a musicologist and music preservationist.
He is Director of the Center for American Music Preservation (CAMP).
He has researched and written about music from earlier America
for over 50 years and has produced many publications
including for
the American Music Resource Editions (AMRE)-- click here
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Additional information
"Praise Ye The Lord" - Six Composers From New England
(AMRC 0003)
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