Monday, May 28, 2012

There are no words

 Or maybe there are. 

—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Farewell

5 comments:

Always On Watch said...

A beautiful selection for Memorial Day!

Sorry that I'm arriving late to this post, Viburnum.

Z said...

OH MY GOSH. WHAT IS THAT MUSIC?
I have never heard of them and they almost brought tears to my eyes...they are SUCH fine instrumentalists (what vibrato, etc.) and the HARMONIES knocked me out.
Thanks for that...just GORGEOUS.
I sent it to a guitar-playing bro-in-law in Canada and am now going to link you over at Silverfiddle's because he's quite a guitarist. Thanks, V.

Finntann said...

Nice, didn't realize where I recognized it from until I googled it. Ken Burn's Civil War.

viburnum said...

Yep. Burns used it as background music in his documentary. I had always thought that it was an antebellum piece, it has that sort of feeling to it, but I later found out that it was composed in 1982 just a few years before the Burn's work. Jay Unger, the guy playing the fiddle, wrote it.

If you want that with unavoidable tears, listen to it here as it appeared in the series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxDP6q6C5mE&feature=related

My original post was only the title and the link to the music, but Lincoln's evocation to the rest of us for 'increased devotion to that cause' kept echoing in my head.

KP said...

SO nice, thanks.