Patrick
Gilmore
1829-1892
Bandleader,
Musician, Composer
Patrick Stephen Gilmore was born on Christmas
Day in 1829 in Ballygar, Co. Galway. Catholic Emancipation
in Ireland  was
only six months old when he was born. He was musical from
the outset as he learned to play the fiddle, fife and drum.
Marching bands were everywhere in those days and Patrick joined
the Ballygar band. On a trip to Athlone in 1843 he saw the
professionalism of the big British Army regimental bands and
was hooked. Upon asking his father to join the band the answer
was an emphatic no. But soon the famines raged the land and
his father consented to young Patrick so that he could escape.
He joined a regimental band as a trumpeter and was transferred
to Canada.
His sojourn in Canada only lasted a year
before he made his way to Boston, which was the musical capital
of the United States. He held positions in various posts in
bands that worked with the great entertainers of the day including
P. T. Barnum and the Swedish Nightingale Jenny Lind. In 1855
Patrick moved to Salem, Massachusetts where he met his wife
Ellen O'Neill. It is also in Salem where Patrick dropped his
middle name of Stephen and adopted the name of Sarsfield,
one of the more famous names in Irish history.
He had missed Boston and returned there
in 1859. By 1861 he was known as America's greatest bandleader
and he organized many regimental bands for the Union. His
own band, Gilmore's Band, served as the regimental band for
the 24th Massachusetts Infantry during the Civil War. He subsequently
wrote many notable tunes of the day, especially for the war.
Two of his compositions are still recognized today. He wrote
the melody to the words of John Brown's Body by Captain
Halgren and this was destined to become one of the great marches
of all time, and an unofficial national anthem, when it became
known as The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Before
the war ended he wrote the music to another poem by Louis
Lambert which became the famous song When Johnny Comes
Marching Home.
While music historians today recognize the
above two compositions as a huge gift to our patriotic repertoire,
Gilmore was known during his lifetime as more of an organizer
of extravagant events than a composer.. His first major event
was held in New Orleans at the inauguration of Governor Hahn
in 1864. He assembled a choir of 5,000 school children and
an orchestra of 500 pieces. This made national news and for
his efforts he was awarded a silver goblet filled with gold
coins. In 1869 he put on his "National Peace Jubilee"
in Boston. In this undertaking he built a new auditorium to
hold the spectacle which was presented with 10,000 voices,
1,000 instruments, 100 bells and cannons. He also had 100
real fireman hammering out the Anvil Chorus. Because
of its success Gilmore decided to do it one more time with
twice as many performers. The "World Peace Jubilee"
in 1871 included 20,000 voices, 2,000 instruments and several
hundred bells and cannons. He built an auditorium capable
of holding 50,000 people. He called on royalty from around
the world to send bands of which England, France, Germany,
Austria, Belgium and Ireland all complied. World famous composer
Johann Strauss composed The Jubilee Waltz for the
occasion. Even by todays standards these numbers are huge.
It is estimated that over 18 days a million people attended
this event.
Other facts about Gilmore is that he took
over the old Hippodrome in New York and named it Gilmore's
Concert Garden. It is now known as Madison Square Garden.
He later became the bandmaster of the 22nd regiment band in
New York. It is with this band that a tradition started that
the world still recognizes today. Every December 31, beginning
in 1888, the band would play in Times Square and at midnight
Patrick Gilmore would fire his pistol to bring in the New
Year. He was also the first bandmaster to take his bands around
the country and overseas for grand concerts
Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore died on September
24, 1892. That very night a young man by the name of John
Philip Sousa gave his first concert and dedicated the concert
to the life of Gilmore. Gilmore was noted for his flambouyant
showmanship and innovations and was America's first musical
"Superstar."
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