Customer Reviews

Civil War 1: The Confederacy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First of all, this is not a collection of campfire songs and nowhere does it claim to be. This CD is a collection of pieces that express the emotion of the times and the feelings of a people. From the near-operatic "Somebody's Darling" to the stirring and orchestral "General Lee's Grand March" this was the music of the times. The rendition of "Dixie's Land" is one of the few times I've heard it played as it was written by Ohioan Daniel Emmett. Written for stage produced minstrel shows (Bryan's Minstrels) this full chorus version is lively and intermixed betweeen stanzas with "Kingdom Coming (Year of Jubilo)" in quickstep. The piece ends with an authentic Rebel Yell that still raises the hair on my neck. It is hard for modern Americans to understand this type of music, some of which tends toward the maudlin. But it accurately expresses the feelings of the only Americans ever to be conquered. The beautifully haunting "Furl that Banner," with its muted horns and muffled drums, portrays the deeply felt emotion of an army that would have continued to fight had it been asked to do so. But that is why the last song on the album is the defiant "Dixie's Land." If you're looking for a few guys sitting around plunking a banjo, this isn't it. There are plenty of those CDs and many of them are excellent. But "Confederacy - The Music Of the South" is a tonal documentary that is well worth the money.

The orginial Union and Confederacy records were a gift to my parents from my uncle in the 60's. Although my tastes (then and now) run to rock and roll, All Quiet Along the Potomac and Lorena still give me goose bumps. Whenever my uncle makes tapes for me, he still includes gems from the two records. I suppose that memories of my youth and warm fuzzy feelings will always enhance my appreciation of this music, but nevertheless I consider these recordings to be far superior to the more modern Ken Burns collection.

This recording first came out around 40 years ago on LP, and I just had to have it. When I got it, I was thrilled, and had to have the companion recording (The Union) when it was issued shortly thereafter. Nevetheless, from the standpoint of 2001, I am forced to acknowledge that these are not so much collections of songs from the Civil War (the only thing available when they were first issued) as they are just what they claim to be - cantatas by Richard Bales. The presentation is consequently a long way from anything that might have been heard in the 1860s. It follows the formula of Bach or Berlioz (instrumental followed by soprano followed by chorus, etc., all with full symohony orchestra) rather than some regimental band or soliders around a campfire or a minstrel armed with a banjo. Nevertheless, the tunes are the same, and except for what I regard as overly boisterous cacophony on one or two numbers from both recordings (a stylistic peculiarity of many large choral performances of the time), these recordings are quite enjoyable and well done. My only other complaints are petty: the booklet came across much better in the larger format that came with the LP, and the Union album is half again as long as the Confederate. The damyankees win again!

I had this on CD quite a few years ago along with it's companion The union. The Confederacy was a joy to listen to. I was trying to buy it again as I have lost my CD. Much to my horror I find it not in print. Please remedy this!

I have the old 33 1/3 record. I would love to have this CD. Just awesome

I bought the Union part of this collection, which was very good, however, being mostly interested in the Confederacy I look forward to aquiring this cd, which has been out of stock too long. Please make it available if possible, since the Union part was excellent it is a shame not to have the other, most interesting part.

My grandchildren's first meaningful trip to the Gettysburg Battlefield this summer stirred in me a quest to find and acquire updates of LPs, long-ago scatched from over-use, of this item-- Richard Bales' The Confederacy and its companion, Richard Bales' The Union: in my memory, the greatest recordings of Civil War music ever made. And then I listened to the selections anew..... Truthfully, I can add nothing much to a review written by Theo Logos about the Union album. Except maybe this....

Picture if you will an eight year old boy riding in the backseat of a big old Chevy, his parents in the front seat taking him on a long-anticipated week-long summer vacation. The vacation had been months in the planning. The Civil War Centennial was upon the country and during the previous winter, the boy had read We Were There at the Battle of Gettysburg; the result was this trip to see the actual site. In a day before Interstates, the drive seemed interminable. But after many "Are We There Yets," suddenly, unexpectedly, there just outside our car's windows were rows of bristling black cannon--Union cannon along Cemetery Ridge, I later learned, that had poured cannister and grapeshot into Pickett's Virginians and Pettigrew's Carolinians on that fateful July 3 1863. Now, nearly a century afterward, the boy looked out of the car window in absolute awe. A week later, back home, wearing a blue felt kepi and wearing a blue cub scout shirt everywhere he went(a re-enactor before such a being actually existed, maybe), a lifelong interest--love interest, one might say--had been born. The following Christmas, two record albums were under the tree, and a good week was then spent pouring over the companion album notes while listening to the records over and over (and over)again.

If you can relate to that eight year old, then you will agree with his 5-star rating of this beloved set. If you were an eight year old who discovered the Civil War in a later day, when more traditionally-rendered versions of some of these same Civil War songs and others not included here had become readily available, you maybe will want to pass this complilation by, as Theo Logos suggested, and keep on shopping. But if you are a Civil War buff or historian "of a certain age," this is a must-have. The cd version is a decade and a half old and long out of production. Get yours now and certain cherished days of the early 1960s will be yours once again.

My mom got this set for us (it came as a set, the Union and the Confederacy,in cloth-bound albums with pictures and text) when we were kids, around the time of the Civil War Centennial. How we loved it!!!! As a teacher, she used it in her classroom when teaching American History. I can still recite part of Lee's Farewell to the Army of Northern Virgina and most of the Gettysburg Address! I am thrilled to now find it out in CD format, though the bound albums that accompanied the vinyl record were as valuable and memorable as the record. I cannot recommend this set highly enough -- you must get both "The Union" and "The Confederacy." They balance each other beautifully.

For years I have searched for these companion albums. I had no idea that they came out on CD. I will continue to hope that it will someday be available again. Wouldn't it be great if someone would make a documentary with re-enacted pictures with corresponding music, it is part of America's musical heritage and it should never be lost.

If any reader who knows of a resource of these CD's please contact me.
evanepalmer@hotmail.com

I suppose that if you know nothing of WBTS music, this will do. That is about it. The scores and the mixes are cacaphonous, in the style of '50s musicals. In fairness, it may be only a matter of taste; I like WBTS music the way the men might have heard it, or even occasionally, the way civilians might have heard it at a show or gathering. This work is none of that. This is WBTS music the way a mid-twentieth century American would have it. It simply isn't real.