George Frederick Root
Born on August 30, 1820 in Sheffield, Massachusetts.
As a young boy growing up in Boston, Root was trained on the piano by George J. Webb. In 1845, he moved to New York City where he played the organ at the Church of the Strangers and taught music at the Abbott Institute for Young Ladies. That same year he met and married Mary Olive Woodman and the couple had six children, Frederick, Charles, Clara Louise, Arabella, May and Nellie.
As a respected musician, Root toured Europe in the year 1850. Returning to the states he began assisting Lowell Mason at Boston’s Academy of Music. Root began working as a songwriter for minstrel songs in 1851 under the pseudonym G. Friedrich Wurzel (a German word meaning “Root”). His first successful composition came in 1853 with “The Hazel Dell” and in 1855 another success was published with “Rosalie, The Prairie Flower.”
From 1853-1858, Root lived in New York collaborating with other songwriters such as Mary S. B. Dana (“Free As a Bird”), Frances Jane Crosby (“There’s Music in the Air”) and Rev. David Nelson (“The Shining Shore”). In 1959, he moved the family to Chicago to join his older brothers publishing company, Root & Cady.
Influenced by the Civil War, Root’s music shifted from popular standards to war songs. In 1863, he composed “The First Gun is Fired” and then in 1864 the anthem of the Civil War, “The Battle Cry of Freedom” was published. Other songs composed during this time: “Just Before the Battle, Mother”, “Just After the Battle”, “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp”, “On, On, On the Boys Came Marching” and “The Vacant Chair”.
Root continued working for Root & Cady after the war and in 1872, the University of Chicago awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Music. In his later life, he was instrumental in founding the New York Normal Institute dedicated to the training of music instructors.
George F. Root died on August 6, 1895 in Bailey Island, Maine. His greatest composition “The Battle Cry of Freedom” continues to inspire American patriots and has been acknowledged as one of the most great freedom songs of all time.
Source: Songwriters Hall of Fame. 2013. Web. 9 Oct. 2013 With Permission.
For a detailed biography of Root's career, click HERE to visit the University of California Press Ebook section.
As a young boy growing up in Boston, Root was trained on the piano by George J. Webb. In 1845, he moved to New York City where he played the organ at the Church of the Strangers and taught music at the Abbott Institute for Young Ladies. That same year he met and married Mary Olive Woodman and the couple had six children, Frederick, Charles, Clara Louise, Arabella, May and Nellie.
As a respected musician, Root toured Europe in the year 1850. Returning to the states he began assisting Lowell Mason at Boston’s Academy of Music. Root began working as a songwriter for minstrel songs in 1851 under the pseudonym G. Friedrich Wurzel (a German word meaning “Root”). His first successful composition came in 1853 with “The Hazel Dell” and in 1855 another success was published with “Rosalie, The Prairie Flower.”
From 1853-1858, Root lived in New York collaborating with other songwriters such as Mary S. B. Dana (“Free As a Bird”), Frances Jane Crosby (“There’s Music in the Air”) and Rev. David Nelson (“The Shining Shore”). In 1959, he moved the family to Chicago to join his older brothers publishing company, Root & Cady.
Influenced by the Civil War, Root’s music shifted from popular standards to war songs. In 1863, he composed “The First Gun is Fired” and then in 1864 the anthem of the Civil War, “The Battle Cry of Freedom” was published. Other songs composed during this time: “Just Before the Battle, Mother”, “Just After the Battle”, “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp”, “On, On, On the Boys Came Marching” and “The Vacant Chair”.
Root continued working for Root & Cady after the war and in 1872, the University of Chicago awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Music. In his later life, he was instrumental in founding the New York Normal Institute dedicated to the training of music instructors.
George F. Root died on August 6, 1895 in Bailey Island, Maine. His greatest composition “The Battle Cry of Freedom” continues to inspire American patriots and has been acknowledged as one of the most great freedom songs of all time.
Source: Songwriters Hall of Fame. 2013. Web. 9 Oct. 2013 With Permission.
For a detailed biography of Root's career, click HERE to visit the University of California Press Ebook section.
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The Battle Cry of Freedom (1862)
Yes we’ll rally round the flag, boys, we’ll rally once again, Shouting the battle cry of freedom, We will rally from the hillside, we’ll gather from the plain, Shouting the battle cry of freedom! Chorus: The Union forever! Hurrah, boys, hurrah! Down with the traitor, up with the star; While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again, Shouting the battle cry of freedom! And we’ll fill our vacant ranks of our brothers gone before, Shouting the battle cry of freedom! We are springing to the call with a million freemen more, Shouting the battle cry of freedom! Chorus We will welcome to our numbers the loyal, true and brave, Shouting the battle cry of freedom! And although he may be poor, he shall never be a slave, Shouting the battle cry of freedom! Chorus So we’re springing to the call from the East and from the West, Shouting the battle cry of freedom! And we’ll hurl the rebel crew from the land we love best, Shouting the battle cry of freedom! Chorus From the Public Domain |
The Vacant Chair (1861)
Text by Henry S. Washburn Music by George Foster Root We shall meet but we shall miss him. There will be one vacant chair. We shall linger to caress him While we breathe our ev'ning prayer. When one year ago we gathered, Joy was in his mild blue eye. Now the golden cord is severed, And our hopes in ruin lie. Chorus: We shall meet, but we shall miss him. There will be one vacant chair. We shall linger to caress him While we breathe our ev'ning prayer. At our fireside, sad and lonely, Often will the bosom swell At remembrance of the story How our noble Willie fell. How he strove to bear the banner Thro' the thickest of the fight And uphold our country's honor In the strength of manhood's might. Chorus True they tell us wreaths of glory, Evermore will deck his brow, But this soothes the anguish only, Sweeping o'er our heartstrings now. Sleep today o' early fallen, In thy green and narrow bed. Dirges from the pine and cypress Mingle with the tears we shed. Chorus From the Public Domain |