Musical Interlude: The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Good day all. With all the scandals going on, I thought it was time to sit back and just look at some true talent. In this case, it is the United States Army Chorus singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic at the dedication of George W. Bush’s Presidential library. At this event, every living president was there. (Including Obama and the Clintons I’m afraid)

So, without further delay, the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jRnL6fRdcc’]

I was surprised that there were no female soldiers singing. Normally, they like to have as broad a range as possible. Well, ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do. (I’ll leave the dying to our enemies thank you) Now the history of this hymn is interesting. The details can be found at the Christian Broadcasting Network.

To have implicit trust in God’s faithful care and protection is never easy in times of danger or strife. Yet even in the midst of the terrible Civil War between the Northern and Southern states, a remarkable woman named Julia Ward Howe proclaimed her confidence in God’s triumphant power in this inspiring text.

Deeply anguished at the growing conflict between the two sections of the country, Mrs. Howe watched troops marching off to war singing “John Brown’s Body,” a song about a man who had been hanged in his efforts to free the slaves. Julia felt that the catchy camp meeting tune should have better words. In a desire to phrase her own feelings about the dreadful events of the time, she “scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.” The national hymn first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly Magazine in 1862, as a battle song for the republic. Before long the entire nation became inspired by her text and united in singing the new words with the old tune.

Mrs. Howe’s hymn has been acclaimed through the years as one of our finest patriotic songs. At one time it was sung as a solo at a large rally attended by President Abraham Lincoln. After the audience had responded with loud applause, the President, with tears in his eyes, cried out, “Sing it again!” It was sung again. And after more than a hundred years, Americans still join often in proclaiming, “Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on!”

It is a patriotic song, and unlike the mush today, makes no bones about itself. When song properly, it is a very moving piece as demonstrated by the Army Chorus. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Thatisall

~The Angry Webmaster~

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