July 4 2025 Dixon IL Dixon Municipal Band

July 4 2025 Dixon Municipal Band Concert on the front lawn of the Old Lee County Court house in Dixon IL.

Transcript

00:00I'm Ed Pillar and you're watching EdPillar.com.

00:30Ed Pillar and you're watching Ed Pillar.com.

01:00Good evening and welcome to the old Lee County Courthouse lawn for the Dixon Municipal Band's Patriotic Concert.

01:20Your band is under the direction of John James and is managed by Kathy James.

01:25Your announcer is Chris Hammett.

01:26Now, please stand and sing along as we play our national anthem.

02:26Thank you all for joining us here on a beautiful night here in Dallas.

02:56In downtown Dixon, Illinois, we are glad you are here to share this wonderfully American tradition with us.

03:02Published in 1929, Henry Fillmore dedicated Americans We to all of us, as in we the people.

03:10And what could be more patriotic than that?

03:13In addition to being a prolific composer, Fillmore was also known as a flamboyant and highly entertaining conductor.

03:20He sincerely wished to make people happy with his music.

03:24Our pursuit of happiness begins tonight with Henry Fillmore's Americans We.

06:28The Blue End of the Grey, Civil War Suite by Claire Grundman, was published in 1961,

06:54commemorating the centennial of the start of the American Civil War.

06:58Here's a quick history lesson, kids.

07:00The Civil War in the United States began in 1861, after decades of tension between northern

07:06and southern states over slavery and states' rights.

07:09The 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln led 11 southern states to secede and form the Confederate

07:16states of America.

07:17The war between the states ended with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee's Confederate army

07:22to the Union army of Ulysses S. Grant in 1865.

07:27So who were the blue and the gray?

07:29Well, the soldiers of the north, the Union army, wore blue uniforms, and the soldiers of the

07:35south, the Confederate army, wore gray.

07:38Those colors are how many people remember the two sides.

07:41Grundman's Civil War Suite beautifully weaves together many folk songs and ballads of that time.

07:48The battle hymn of the republic, battle cry of freedom, and marching through Georgia were popular

07:54in the north, while Dixie, the yellow rose of Texas, and the bonnie blue flag were whistled

08:00and played in the Confederate states, both sides saying Kingdom Coming, Tents Tonight, and Aura Lee.

08:07You will hear all of these in Claire Grundman's The Blue and the Gray.

08:30Here we go.

08:44Here we go.