Probably the most popular sentimental ballad sung around the campfires of the Confederate Army, this song is identified almost exclusively with the South. Lorena became a favorite name for Southern wartime babies and graced several frontier towns and at least one steamship as well. According to Civil War music authority Irwin Silber, one Confederate veteran swore that he heard "Lorena" more frequently during the War than any other song, including "Dixie."

The arrangement of "Lorena" heard here was taken from a facsimile of the original sheet music. According to James F. Chumbley, who made the MIDI file, the original arrangement was "scored for solo male voice (tenor or baritone) and piano.... To modern ears the accompaniment sounds embarrassingly thin. It's almost as if Mr. Webster [the composer] was not yet comfortable with the characteristics of a piano, which was a new instrument back in 1857; at least it wasn't in very widespread use then. He does not use the 'piano-forte's' ability to vary its loudness from soft (piano) to loud (forte). He also does not use its ability to sustain a note by pressing down on the sustain pedal. Maybe this is why it sounds a lot like this arrangement would be much happier if it were played on a harpsichord."

We are pleased to present this song as it would have been heard in parlors across the South during the War Between the States.

"Lorena"