Chattanooga Times Free Press - ChattanoogaNow
Boys Choir and Bobby Horton present ‘Music of the Civil War’
The Chattanooga Boys Choir will present “The Blue and the Gray: Songs and Stories of the Civil War” on Monday, Oct. 29, marking the 155th anniversary of the Civil War’s Battle of Wauhatchie.
Joining the choir will be guest Bobby Horton, nationally known historian and an authority on music of the Civil War period. Horton will perform solo and with the choir during the free concert in Heritage High School’s auditorium.
Horton was asked in 1984 to produce the score for a feature film set in 1863 in Southern Indiana. While researching music from the mid-19th century, he uncovered thousands of tunes from that period. He began recording what became 14 volumes of authentic Civil War tunes in his home studio — singing all the parts and playing all of the era’s instruments himself.
He has performed with the musical-comedy trio Three On a String throughout the United States and Canada for more than 40 years. He has produced and performed scores for 16 PBS films by Ken Burns, including “The Civil War” and “Baseball;” two films for A&E network, and 21 films for the National Park Service.
CBC Director Vic Oakes says repertoire for this program was chosen to represent multiple perspectives of the Civil War, i ncluding African- American spirituals, songs of the soldier and tunes popular among both Confederate and Union forces. Selections include “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” “March- ing Through Georgia,” “Let Me Fly” and “Goober Peas.”
The choir will also perform “Battle Above the Clouds,” an original song about the battle on Lookout Mountain by Tennessee composer Vicki Tucker Courtney, and Andrea Ramsey’s arrangement of “Tell My Father” from the musical “Civil War” by Frank Wildhorn.
The program will conclude with the choir performing “O America” by Brendan Graham and William Joseph, a song made popular in recent televised spe- cials by the Celtic Women.
“I tell the stories of the people involved in the conflict. Confederate or Union, North or South, these songs are about the human experience under the most extraordinary of circumstances,” says Horton.
Along with pianist Jeff Harbin, Horton will accompany the choir on banjo, guitar and fiddle, including some original period instruments dating from the 19th century. This concert will mark the third collaboration between the Chattanooga Boys Choir and Horton, who performed together in 2011 and 2013.
“The songs presented at this concert are a soundtrack of the Civil War, focused on several conflicts that occurred right here in our region. It is fascinating to watch the boys’ faces light up as they realize the very places and actions they are singing about took place right where they live. This is history come alive,” says Oakes.
For more information: 423634-2299.