Clay Composition Project – Patrick Gilmore

While, I have been pursuing my Masters in Education degree at SUNY Oswego my concentration has been in Music. One of the music courses, which I choose to enroll in was a History of American Music. During this course I studied many different topics. One of the papers I wrote was about the United States Civil War and the music from this period. In this paper, I looked at the music of Patrick Gilmore an avid band director and composer. One of the most popular tunes, which Gilmore wrote was, When Johnny comes Marching Home. The piece, which I choose to program into Clay is named, The Spirit of the North. Gilmore was a native from Massachusetts and during the Civil War performed in bands established by the North. The piece is dedicated to the Tremont Batallion of Zouaves, under the command of Major Edward B. Dickinson.