Where Home Is: Life In Nineteenth-Century Cincinnati/Crossroads Of The East And West (CD)
Label: New World Records
Format: CD
Genre: Folk
In stock
Life in 19th-Century Cincinnati
The Harmoneion Singers; John Miner, conductor; Peter Basquin, piano and harmonium; Clifford Jackson, baritone; John Aler, tenor
Where Home Is is an anthology of traditional songs of family and religious life coupled with contrasting songs by abolitionists, frontiersmen, and blackfaced minstrels. The explosive mixture of peoples and cultures found in nineteenth-century Cincinnati resulted in the widely disparate musical views represented here by wholesome choral works, jovial romps of instrumental virtuosity, and song-statements of political and religious fervor. A border city on the Ohio River and western frontier, Cincinnati was home to a diverse population of Northerners and Southerners, Protestants and Catholics, natives and immigrants, abolitionists and anti-abolitionists.
The Harmoneion Singers with John Miner conducting, and Peter Basquin, piano and harmonium, continue their exploration of America's past musical treasures by presenting works of Augustus Dameron Fillmore, William C. Peters, George Holman, and George F. Root, among others. Extensive liner notes by noted historians Kathryn Kish Sklar and Jon Newsom discuss life and music in nineteenth-century Cincinnati, and feature complete song lyrics. This historical gem belongs in the collections of historians, Americana aficionados, and music lovers alike.