All Topics  
Patrick Gilmore

 
Patrick Gilmore

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Patrick Gilmore
 
 
  Topics Patrick Gilmore Topic Home

Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (December 25, 1829 – September 24, 1892) was an Irish
Irish people

The Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha D? Danann and the Milesians ?the last group supposedly representing the "pure" Gaelic a...
-born composer
Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
 and bandmaster
Military band

File:Band Trooping the Colour, 16th June 2007.jpgA military band is a group of personnel that perform musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces....
 who lived and worked in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 after 1848. Whilst serving in the Union Army
Union Army

The Union Army was the army that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S....
 during the Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
, Gilmore wrote the lyrics to the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", the tune he took from an old Irish antiwar folk song, "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye
Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye

"Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" is a popular Ireland traditional anti-war and anti-recruiting song. It is generally dated to the early 19th century, when Irish troops served the British East India Company....
". This was published under the name Louis Lambert.

ore was born in Ballygar
Ballygar

Ballygar is a village in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is 11.7 km from Roscommon town....
, Co Galway on Christmas Day in 1829.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Patrick Gilmore'
Start a new discussion about 'Patrick Gilmore'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (December 25, 1829 – September 24, 1892) was an Irish
Irish people

The Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha D? Danann and the Milesians ?the last group supposedly representing the "pure" Gaelic a...
-born composer
Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
 and bandmaster
Military band

File:Band Trooping the Colour, 16th June 2007.jpgA military band is a group of personnel that perform musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces....
 who lived and worked in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 after 1848. Whilst serving in the Union Army
Union Army

The Union Army was the army that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S....
 during the Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
, Gilmore wrote the lyrics to the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", the tune he took from an old Irish antiwar folk song, "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye
Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye

"Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" is a popular Ireland traditional anti-war and anti-recruiting song. It is generally dated to the early 19th century, when Irish troops served the British East India Company....
". This was published under the name Louis Lambert.

Life & Career

Gilmore was born in Ballygar
Ballygar

Ballygar is a village in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is 11.7 km from Roscommon town....
, Co Galway on Christmas Day in 1829. Already a fine cornet
Cornet

Not to be confused with coronetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical Bore , compact shape, and mellower tone quality....
 player, he settled in Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a U.S. state located in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States. It borders Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north....
 in 1848, becoming leader of the Suffolk, Boston Brigade, and Salem bands in swift succession. He also worked in the Boston music store of John P. Ordway
John P. Ordway

John Pond Ordway was a doctor, composer, music entrepreneur, and politician.Graduating from Harvard Medical School in 1859, Ordway was one of the first surgeons to volunteer at the start of the American Civil War, serving in the 6th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry....
 and performed with Ordway's Aeolians, a group of blackface minstrels. With the Salem Band, Gilmore performed at the 1857 inauguration of President James Buchanan
James Buchanan

James Buchanan, Jr. was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the last to be born in the 18th century....
. In 1858 he founded "Gilmore's Band", and at the outset of war the band enlisted with the 24th Massachusetts Volunteers, accompanying General Burnside
Ambrose Burnside

Ambrose Everett Burnside was an United States soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S....
 to South Carolina
South Carolina

South Carolina is a U.S. state in the Southern United States of the United States. It borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north....
. After the temporary discharge of bands from the field, Governor Andrew
John Albion Andrew

John Albion Andrew was a United States political figure. He served as the Governor of Massachusetts between 1861 and 1866 during the tumultuous American Civil War....
 of Massachusetts entrusted Gilmore with the task of re-organising military music-making, and General Banks
Nathaniel Prentice Banks

Nathaniel Prentice Banks was an United States politician and soldier, served as Governor of Massachusetts, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and as a Union Army general during the American Civil War....
 created him bandmaster general.

When peace resumed, Gilmore was asked to organise a celebration, which took place at New Orleans. That success emboldened him to undertake two major music festivals at Boston, the National Peace Jubilee
National Peace Jubilee

The National Peace Jubilee was a celebration, organized by Patrick Gilmore in Boston in 1869. It featured an orchestra and a chorus, as well as numerous soloists....
 in 1869 and the International Peace Jubilee in 1872. These featured the finest singers and instrumentalists (including the only American appearance by waltz
Waltz

The waltz is a ballroom dance and folk dance dance in Time signature, performed primarily in closed position....
 king Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II was an Austrian composer famous for having written over 500 waltzes, polkas, March , and galops. He was the son of the composer Johann Strauss I, and brother of composers Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss....
) and cemented Gilmore's reputation as the leading musical figure of the age. Coliseums were erected for the occasions, holding sixty and one hundred and twenty thousand persons. Grateful Bostonians presented Gilmore with medals and cash, but in 1873 he anticipated Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth

George Herman Ruth, Jr. , also popularly known as "Babe", "The Bambino", and "The Sultan of Swat", was an United States Major League Baseball baseball player from –....
 by moving to New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
, as bandmaster of the 22nd Regiment. Gilmore took this band on acclaimed tours of Europe. It was back on home soil, preparing an 1892 musical celebration of the quarter centenary of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was a Republic of Genoa navigator, colonialist and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean?funded by Queen Isabella of Spain?led to general European awareness of the America in the Western Hemisphere....
' voyage of discovery, that Gilmore collapsed and died at St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri, located near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. St....
. Gilmore is buried with his wife and daughter in Old Calvary Cemetery, Queens
Queens

Queens is the largest in area, the second-largest in population, and the easternmost of the Borough which form the New York City. The Borough of Queens' boundaries are identical to those of the County of Queens , a Administrative divisions of New York#County of the State of New York in the Northeastern United States United States....
, New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
.

Legacy

In many ways Gilmore can be seen as the principal figure in 19th Century American music. He was a composer, the "22nd Regiment March" from the early 1880s is just one example. He held the first "Promenade Concert in America" in 1855, the forerunner to today's Boston Pops. He set up "Gilmore's Concert Garden", which became Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, has been the name of four arenas in New York City....
. He was the Musical Director of the Nation in effect, leading the festivities for the 1876 Centennial celebrations in Philadelphia and the dedication of the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty , or, more formally, Liberty Enlightening the World , was presented to the United States by the people of France in 1886....
 in 1886. In 1888 he started the tradition of seeing in the New Year
New Year

The New Year is an event that happens when a culture celebrates the end of one year and the beginning of the next year. Cultures that measure yearly calendars all have New Year celebrations....
 in Times Square
Times Square

Times Square is a major intersection in Manhattan, a borough of New York City at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd Street to West 47th Street s....
. In 1891, he played for some of Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb....
's first commercial recordings. Musically, he was the first arranger to set brass instruments against the reeds, which remains the basis for big band
Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the swing from the early 1930s until the late 1940s....
 orchestration. His arrangements of contemporary classics did a great deal to familiarise the American people with the work of the great European musical masters.

Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame

The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond....
 in 1970.

Lyrics

When Johnny comes marching home again,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give him a hearty welcome then
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer and the boys will shout
The ladies they will all turn out
And we'll all feel gay,
When Johnny comes marching home.


The old church bell will peal with joy
Hurrah! Hurrah!
To welcome home our darling boy
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The village lads and lassies say
With roses they will strew the way,
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.


Get ready for the Jubilee,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give the hero three times three,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The laurel wreath is ready now
To place upon his loyal brow
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.


External links