Fiddler Spring 2023 Sumter Soliloquy

In early 2015, I got a call from Tim Stone, Superintendent at Fort Sumter National Monument. He called to ask if Molly and I would compose and perform a new piece of music for an event on April 14th commemorating the 150th anniversary of the re-raising of the U.S. flag over Fort Sumter. I said we’d be honored to compose the piece, but unfortunately due to previous commitments, we wouldn’t be able to attend. I assured him that we’d help find other musicians to perform our new music at the event.

During our conversation, Superintendent Stone mentioned that President Lincoln was very involved in planning the original flag-raising ceremony on April 14, 1865, but did not actually attend the event. Instead, he was in Washington, D.C. at Ford’s Theatre that night.

When I got off the phone and told Molly this story, she quickly said, “I think we better change our plans and be at Fort Sumter on April 14th!” I agreed and called Superintendent Stone back to let him know.

We began our new composition with an original melody, then wove in meaningful phrases from significant songs of the period. We ended the piece with a salute to our National Anthem and titled it Sumter Soliloquy.

In April we traveled to Charleston two days early, to have time to rehearse the new piece and explore the city. There was no piano in our hotel, so we walked to the church across the street and asked if they had a piano we could use. We were introduced to Reverend Pinckney, who graciously showed us to the piano in the Bible study room.

Performing Sumter Soliloquy at the Fort the next day was a great honor. There were about 100 people in attendance, along with a company of Civil War re-enactors and several very moving speakers. It was a truly memorable event.

Two months later in June, we saw news coverage of the mass shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston and realized it was the church where we’d rehearsed and where we’d met Reverend Pinckney, one of the nine innocent victims of that tragic event.

Then just three weeks later, the South Carolina Legislature voted to remove the Confederate flag from their State House. For us, Sumter Soliloquy now commemorates both the re-raising of the U.S. flag over Fort Sumter and the final lowering of the Confederate flag at the South Carolina State House.

In the words of Mother Emanuel’s pastor Reverend Eric Manning, “…the memory of the Emanuel Nine will never be forgotten, the resilience and strength of the survivors will continue to be celebrated, and the messages of forgiveness, love and grace will draw all people together.”