I recently stumbled across some old sheet music for “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and quickly realized that it is not the familiar tune.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. (1)
When Julia Ward Howe wrote the lyrics for this song, she intended for people to sing it to the tune of “John Brown’s Body.” (2) That is the version used today. But when the lyrics were published in Atlantic Monthly in February 1862, they didn’t come with any musical instructions. (3)
As far as I can tell, Daniel Crocker Holmes took it upon himself to compose an original tune. At the time, he was a school principal in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (4) He wrote it specifically for a local children’s magazine, Clark’s School Visitor. (5)
Shortly thereafter, in August 1862, the American Tract Society in Boston reprinted this version in The Christian Banner. This newspaper was created specifically to minister to men serving in the Civil War. (6)
The Society re-printed it again in June 1865. This time in their children’s magazine, The Child at Home. This version could have been seen by a lot of people, but it was never popular.(7) As far as I can tell, it has been languishing in obscurity ever since.
I stumbled across this image of the Christian Banner in the digital archives of Perkins School for the Blind. Julia Ward Howe’s husband, Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, founded the institution, which is likely why this paper is in their collections.(8)
The Christian Banner has a very ornate masthead. In the middle, there is an image of Bible surrounded by four small American flags. The title, “The Christian Banner,” is in large, bold type around it. The tagline, “For the Soldier and the Sailor,” is immediately below . The front page also has large color image of the American Flag right in the middle, surrounded by a variety of articles. It looks very similar to a modern flag, except that it has 34 stars arranged in a circular pattern instead of 50 stars arranged in rows.
The sheet music for “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Holmes is on the back page. The copy at Perkins appears to have shifted while it was being printed so you can’t read the notes clearly. The sheet music below is taken from The Child at Home.
I had it transcribed into Musescore so we could hear it. The sheet music is freely available on Musescore if you want to check it out. (9) So without further ado, the audio recording is below.
Special thanks to Perkins School for the Blind Archives and The Gardner Museum for their excellent digital collections. And to my sister, for her help transcribing the music. I couldn’t do this without you.
Notes
1 – This image of Julia Ward Howe is courtesy of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/collection/22922
2 – Howe, Julie Ward. Reminiscences : 1819-1899
https://archive.org/details/reminiscences1810000howe/
3 – “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” Atlantic Monthly, February 1862, page 145.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Atlantic_Monthly/ZKxIAAAAcAAJ?hl
4 – Fleming, George. My High School Days Including a Brief History of the Pittsburgh Central High School from 1855 to 1871 and Addenda, pages 100-101.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/My_High_School_Days/7J4iAAAAMAAJ
5 – Holmes, D. C. “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” Clark’s School Visitor, July 1862, page 112.
6 – Holmes, D.C. “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” The Christian Banner, August 1862, page 36.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/perkinsarchive/6629812707/in/photostream/
7 – Holmes, D.C. “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” The Child at Home, June 1865, page 28.
8 – “Samuel Gridley Howe,” Perkins School for the Blind.
https://www.perkins.org/samuel-gridley-howe/
9 – You can view the Musescore file here:
Lost History Books 