{"product_id":"under-the-willow","title":"Under the Willow","description":"\u003cp\u003eComposed for the \u003cbr\u003eUNITED STATES ARMY FIELD BAND \u003cbr\u003eConducted by Colonel Jim R. Keene   \u003cbr\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0693\/1031\/6784\/files\/GM1098-S_Under_the_Willow_SCORE_PREVIEW.pdf?v=1791753709\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePerusal score \u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePROGRAM NOTES:  \u003cbr\u003e The Civil War began when the Confederates bombarded Union soldiers at Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 12, 1861. The war ended in Spring, 1865. Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. It was to date, the deadliest war Americans have ever fought in. The war divided America and battles were fought state against state, neighbor against neighbor and brother against brother. Losses are estimated between 650,000 and 850,000. In most cases soldiers were buried where they fell on the battlefield. Others were buried near the hospitals where they died. At most battlefields the dead were exhumed and moved to National or Confederate cemeteries, but because there were so many bodies, and because of the time and effort it took to disinter them, there are undoubtedly thousands if not tens of thousands of Civil War soldiers in unknown battlefield graves. There were 51,000 casualties at Gettysburg alone. Skirmishes scattered all over the U.S. also left graves  here and there, some marked, others not, Americans buried alike, blue next to gray. To this day, graves and markers are still being discovered and the destruction the war left behind is also, still evident.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eWhen given the opportunity to compose a work commemorating the Civil War I won't lie, I was excited. I have worked on many Civil War television events including \"North \u0026amp; South\" the mini series, it's sequel \"Love \u0026amp; War\" and \"The Blue and the Gray.\" Among the many finds during my research for those projects was a the poem \"The Blue and the Gray\" written by Francis Miles Finch. His inspiration for the poem came from an article he had read published in the New York Tribune during the Civil War which spoke of women praying and placing flowers on graves with no prejudice as to which side the deceased may have fought upon. That poem has stuck with me and has come to symbolize for me the tragedy of all war. That poem is also the inspiration for the title of this work. I wanted to harness the flavors of both the north and the south, a simpler time with particular attention given to African American nuances which later went on to become the blues and present it with contemporary feel in my own musical language.\u003cbr\u003eThis work was written to commemorate all souls lost to the Civil War;\u003cbr\u003eYoung and Old, Black and White, Blue and the Gray.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eFrances Miles Finch, “The Blue and the Gray” Source: The Atlantic Monthly, vol. 20, no. 119 (September 1867), pp. 369–370. The Atlantic Monthly version is accompanied by the following text, attributed to the New York Tribune: “The women of Columbus, Mississippi, animated by nobler sentiments than are many of their sisters, have shown themselves impartial in their offerings made to the memory of the dead. They strewed flowers alike on the graves of the Confederate and of the National soldiers.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAfter reading this New York Tribune article, Frances Miles Finch wrote the poem “The Blue and the Gray”.\u003cbr\u003eThe title of this work is a reference to this poem. Below are this first two stanzas of Finch's poem.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“The Blue and the Gray”\u003cbr\u003eby Frances Miles Finch (1827-1907)\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBy the flow of the inland river,\u003cbr\u003eWhence the fleets of iron have fled,\u003cbr\u003eWhere the blades of the grave-grass quiver,\u003cbr\u003eAsleep on the ranks of the dead; —\u003cbr\u003eUnder the sod and the dew,\u003cbr\u003eWaiting the judgment day; —\u003cbr\u003eUnder the one, the Blue;\u003cbr\u003eUnder the other, the Gray.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThese in the robings of glory,\u003cbr\u003eThose in the gloom of defeat,\u003cbr\u003eAll with the battle-blood gory,\u003cbr\u003eIn the dusk of eternity meet; —\u003cbr\u003eUnder the sod and the dew,\u003cbr\u003eWaiting the judgment day; —\u003cbr\u003eUnder the laurel, the Blue;\u003cbr\u003eUnder the willow, the Gray.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0693\/1031\/6784\/files\/GM1098-S_Under_the_Willow_SCORE_PREVIEW.pdf?v=1791753709\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePerusal score\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Giroux Music","offers":[{"title":"Complete Set (Score and Parts)","offer_id":50602058842352,"sku":null,"price":135.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Score only","offer_id":50602058875120,"sku":null,"price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0693\/1031\/6784\/files\/GM1098_Under_the_Willow_COMPOSED_11x17_300DPI_PRINT.png?v=1791753489","url":"https:\/\/www.girouxmusic.com\/products\/under-the-willow","provider":"Giroux Music","version":"1.0","type":"link"}