William Steffe

From Wind Repertory Project
William Steffe

Biography

William Steffe (1830–1890) was an American composer. He collected and edited a camp-meeting song with the traditional "Glory Hallelujah" refrain, in about 1856. It opened with "Say, brothers, will you meet us / on Canaan's happy shore?" The tune became widely known.

Early in the American Civil War, this tune was used to create the Union Army marching song John Brown's Body, which begins with the lyrics "John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, but his soul goes marching on."


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