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Sweet
Evelina
(1863)
Words
& Music: Traditional
Arr:
Merv Rowley
Sweet Evelina was first published in New
York City in 1863 by the firm of
Horace Waters, 481 Broadway. It was in the form
of a piano arrangement by a Mrs. Parkhurst, and
identified the lyricist as “M.” and the composer as
“T.” A cover notation stated that the music was
printed, “As sung by all the minstrel bands”. This
indicates an origin that may have been as early as the
1830’s.
This tune can be classified as a charming,
sentimental ballad of a lost love, amongst the beauty of
the early American frontier. To a soldier away from
home, Evelina could easily be the “girl left
behind”. At any rate, the music chanced to become
popular with the Confederate
troops during the Civil War (and a favorite of
Gen. J.E.B. Stuart.) In fact, following the Confederate
victory at Bull Run (Manassas, VA) a parody was written
to the music of Evelina, entitled, The Retreat
of the Grand Army from Bull Run. The lyrics appear
in the historical link below.
America forgot this song for some 60 years
following the Civil War, however it regained popularity
again in the 1920’s, and has since been recorded many
times as a part of America’s heritage of folk music.
We present this D-F#-A arrangement in the key of
A for ease of playing, for your enjoyment.
This one reminds me of Pretty Saro, but
much happier… maybe The Yellow Rose of Texas?
♫♫♫
Music files for download:
PDF file
- Sweet_Evelina.pdf
TablEdit file - Sweet Evelina.tef
MIDI file - Sweet
Evelina.mid
Historical
Links:
Parody:
The Retreat of the Grand Army from Bull Run
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This website is brought
to you by Merv Rowley,
Ruth Randle, Elizabeth DiPietri, Suzanne Campling and Gail West
Please email
gwest1955@aol.com with any website questions, broken
links, etc.
Copyright © 2006 GMW MarketingPLUS
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