Missed my stop...

The Federal City Brass Band recreates the sound and appearance of a Union Army regimental brass band of the 1860s using period instruments and period dress. The performance will feature music that was played by brass bands and in homes and concert halls in Massachusetts during the Civil War, the time in which Little Women takes place. Some are old standards that we recognize even today. Others may not be familiar to our ears but would have been well-known to contemporary audiences both military and civilian.  The March sisters’ father, Mr. March, would certainly have heard these tunes played by regimental bands while serving with the army, and his family at home frequently gathered around Beth’s piano to enjoy singing beloved hymns and other popular ballads and songs of the time. Opera is represented here as well, as in fact it was the “pop music” of its day. Operatic tunes were arranged for piano, for brass band, and for any combination of instruments and were a staple of any concert program. Several of these selections come from the band books of the 25th Massachusetts Regiment Band, while others were either written, published, or first performed in Boston or elsewhere in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.