"SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS"

George Frederick Root (1820–1895) was among the most prominent composers and music educators of nineteenth-century America.  During this period, as the gap between high-art “classical” music and the general public was beginning to widen, Root was at the forefront of efforts to bridge this gap, to eliminate distinctions between sophisticated, European-based music for the wealthy elite and popular music for the masses.

In the 1850s, Root began composing sentimental parlor songs, which were published in sheet-music format.  He was enormously successful, composing some 200 such pieces whose popularity rivaled those of Stephen Foster.  Root is also remembered for his Civil War songs, including “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” a Union recruiting march composed within hours of hearing President Lincoln’s call for volunteers to enlist in the Army.  Ironically, the song became extremely popular not just with Northerners, but with Confederate troops as well. 

In 1859, just before the outbreak of the war, Root gave up classroom teaching and moved to Chicago, where he joined his younger brother in the music retail and publishing firm Root & Cady.  The firm’s store and office at the corner of Washington and Clark streets was severely damaged by the great fire of 1871 and in 1872, the firm filed for bankruptcy.  Root’s popularity and influence, however, were already well established, and in that same year his contributions were formally acknowledged when the University of Chicago awarded him an honorary doctorate.