Search Results: Sheet Music from Seth Kaller, Inc.

1864. No binding. Condition: Fine. Manuscript Pen and Ink Folk Art Song Book, ca. 1864. 24 pp., 6 5/8 x 8 in. This hand-sewn booklet contains eight songs popular during the Civil War era, with music and lyrics in calligraphy. Songs include "On a Green Grassy Noll" by J. D. Canning, with music by Ira Odell; "The Old Mountain Tree" by James G. Clark; "Harmonian Waltz"; "Year of Jubilee, or Kingdom has Come!"; "Squire Jones's Daughter"; "The Sweet Birds Are Singing"; "Lament of the Irish Emigrant"; and "Soon and For Ever," by J. B. Monsell. The last page of the booklet is dated February 21, 1864. Partial Transcript: Year of Jubilee or Kingdom has Come! I come up Norf on a little bender, Left Missus at home wid no one to tend her, Ole Massa's gone, I dun-no what to; Sambo pretty sure he don't much care to. [Chorus:] Den sound de horn, beat de drum, Sound de horn and beat de drum, De year ob jubilee am come, Sound de horn and beat de drum, De year ob jubilee am come. Met genral Bloaregard, on… Read More

[STEPHEN JENKS].
Manuscript music and lyrics for the tune "Liberty," ca. 1800-15. 1 p., 13 x 3½ in.
Complete Transcript

Liberty C. M. By an unknown Author

No more beneath the oppressor's hand Behold a smiling &c

Of tyranny we groan, Behold a smiling happy land That freedom calls her own That freedom &c

Historical Background

"Liberty" is a fuguing tune composed by Stephen Jenks that first appeared in print in his Musical Harmonist
(1800). Fuguing tunes were often sacred music, specifically Protestant hymns, but this text is a patriotic song rather than a hymn. The lyricist, as the document makes clear, is unknown.

The lyrics did appear in an anthem sung at the Presbyterian Church of Newark, New Jersey, on July 4, 1797.

"Liberty" continued to appear in various compilations through much of the nineteenth century, including The American Harmonist (1821), The Southern Harmony (1835), The Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion (1845), and Fillmore's Harp of Zion (1867), sometimes… Read More