Patrick s gilmore biography of michael
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In 1992, on the Centennial of his death, the Society erected a monument at his gravesite.
Patrick S. Gilmore Song List:
- 22nd Regiment March
- The Everlasting Polka
- Good News From Home
- Music Fills My Soul With Sadness
- Sad News From Home
- Seeing Nellie Home
- We Are Coming, Father Abraham
- When Johnny Comes Marching Home
All bios appear as they were submitted in the year of induction or award presentation.
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His World Peace Jubilee in Boston, following the Franco-Prussian War, as dedicated to international peace.The festival was the biggest social event of the century in Boston and was even attended by President Grant and his cabinet.
In 1872, Gilmore traveled to Europe with his band. He led this band for almost twenty years during which it performed nearly once a day.
In addition to conducting bands, organizing, and managing music programs, Gilmore also authored several pieces of music and poems, including "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."
Gilmore died unexpectedly in St.
Louis, Missouri, on September 24, 1892, of heart disease. Gilmore would train, equip and send out 20 bands from Massachusetts. He became famous as a cornet soloist and joined the Salem Brigade Band in 1853, which at the time was regarded as the best in America. Ever the showman, his was a life sincerely devoted to his mission, which he carried out with an indomitable spirit and courage.
Wherever he was, when he mounted the bandmaster's stand, the crowds rose and applauded enthusiastically. Gilmore began leading the New York Twenty-seventh Regiment Band in 1873. His nature was that of a musician, open-hearted and generous, and he spared neither expense nor effort to create the effects he desired.
Irish Orpheus: The Life of Patrick S.
Gilmore, Bandmaster Extraordinary
This is a biography of the famous Patrick S. Gilmore whose name was legendary in the early stages of American band music. In the 1850s Gilmore opened his own music store, earned a reputation as a cornetist, and conducted several bands in and around Boston.
When the Civil War broke out, the Boston band that he organized in 1859 enlisted with the Union Army via the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers.
Even his most severe critic, John Sullivan Dwight, dean of music critics in Boston, had to admit after Gilmore's National Jubilee, that the festival 'musically did good.' Gilmore was also a great advocate of peace. It is an objective account of the highlights of his life, which frequently made the headlines of his day. I. P.S. Gilmore Biographical Information; II.
Concert Programs; III. Sheet Music; IV. Graphic Materials; V. the Patrick S. Gilmore Society; VI. Artifacts; and VII. Recordings.
Provenance
Purchased from Michael Cummings (2004). Although the band's tenure with the army lasted less than a year, it performed musical and medical duties at several battles including Bull Run and Antietam.
On the night of his funeral, a young bandleader named John Philip Sousa dedicated his performance in memory of the late Patrick S. Gilmore - in Sousa’s reference, “The Father Of the American Band.”
In 1969, The Patrick S. Gilmore Society was founded in Boston dedicated to commemorating the accomplishments of Gilmore and to encourage and promote community band music.
-- Adapted from dust jacket.
Michael Cummings collection of P.S. Gilmore
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Collection
Identifier: IM-M135-2004
Scope and Contents
The Michael Cummings collection of P.S.
Gilmore materials documents the life and music career of Irish-American Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore and highlights the activities of the Patrick S. Gilmore Society, founded by Michael Cummings in Boston in 1969. The field of American band music has been very poorly covered, and a portrayal of such an outstanding exponent of the art as Gilmore will unquestionably be most welcome by American music lovers.
Between 1993 and 2002, the Society hosted a string of popular band concerts each summer on the Boston Esplanade, where community bands from throughout New England came together to perform.
Sources:
Patrick S. Gilmore, Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductees and Awardees, accessed on October 28, 2025, https://www.songhall.org/profiles/patrick-s-gilmore.
The Patrick S.
Gilmore Society website (now defunct), accessed on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine October 28, 2025, https://web.archive.org/web/20071014054703/http://psgilmore-society.org/aboutus.html.
Full Extent
14.25 Linear Feet (12 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Michael Cummings collection of P.S.
Gilmore documents the music career of Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, American band conductor and composer, and the activities of the Boston, Massachusetts-based Patrick S. Gilmore Society.
His musical career began when he started playing the flute as a teenager.