Henry Clay Work (1832-1884)
Last updated: 28.08.18
Henry Clay Work was an American songwriter and composer of popular songs, born in Middletown, Connecticut and died in Hartford. He was educated in Illinois but later returned to Connecticut taking an apprenticeship as a printer. Self-taught in music and poetry, he is reported to have composed directly whilst typesetting without a manuscript or resorting to a piano. He wrote a large number of patriotic songs during the Civil War, the best known being of course Marching Through Georgia (1865), which later became a jazz standard. His Grandfather's Clock (1876) is known throughout the English-speaking world ever since (and by-the-way, one this old codger's childhood favourites). Another of his songs to a achieve widespread popularity was Ring the Bell, Watchman! (1865) which with a change of lyrics became the almost Australian national anthem Click go the Shears. It was also taken up by English and Scandinavian seamen as Strike the bell.
Besides his music, Work was also an inventor patenting diverse machinations such as a rotary engine, a knitting machine and a walking doll. It is written that he was probably one of only a few of the truly original American popular song composers to invent American popular music style influencing the succeeding generations of songwriters.
Besides his music, Work was also an inventor patenting diverse machinations such as a rotary engine, a knitting machine and a walking doll. It is written that he was probably one of only a few of the truly original American popular song composers to invent American popular music style influencing the succeeding generations of songwriters.
| Performer | CD Title | Supplier |
|---|
| Ragtime Music CDs: | |||
 |
Various Artists | on "100 Favorite Patriotic Songs" |        |
| Brass Music CDs: | |||
|
Rastrick & Brighouse Band | on "An Evening with Brighouse and Rastrick Band" | |
| Item | Title | Available | € | £ | $ | Other |
|---|
| DBE620 | Marching Through Georgia (1865) - March & Two Step T/T/T+B/B/GB(B), approx. 2¾ mins. |
1-2 days |  |
This list is arranged in chronological order and contains 51 works by Henry Clay Work (1832-1884). It does not claim to be complete and represents only the number of items located. Key: Items on hold
We Are Coming, Sister Mary (1853)  | Now Moses (1865) |
| Lilly-Willy-Woken (1855) | Ring the Bell, Watchman! (1865) |
| Brave Boys Are They! (1861) | Tis Finished (1865) |
| Grandmother Told Me So (1861) | Andy Veto (1866) |
| Lost on the Lady Elgin (1861) | Lillie of the Snowstorm (1866) |
| Our Captain's Last Words (1861) | Poor Kitty Popcorn (1866) |
| God Save the Nation (1862) | Who Shall Rule This American Nation? (1866) |
| Grafted Into the Army (1862) | Come Back to the Farm! (1867) |
| How Are You Telegraph! (1862) | Crossing the Grand Sierras (1870) |
| Kingdom Coming! (1862) | Take Them Away! They'll Drive Me Crazy (1871) |
| Little Major (1862) | Grandfather's Clock (1876) |
| Uncle Joe's Hail Columbia (1862) | Used-Up Joe (1876) |
| We'll Go Down Ourselves (1862) | King Bibler's Army (1877) |
| Babylon Is Fallen! (1863) | Shadows on the Floor (1877) |
| The Days When We Were Young (1863) | Sequel to Grandfather's Clock (1878) |
| The Girls at Home (1863) | The Ship That Never Returned (1884) |
| Nellie Lost and Found (1863) | Bring the Good Old Bugle, Boys (1885) |
| Sleeping For the Flag (1863) | Beautiful Rose (?) |
| Song of a Thousand Years (1863) | Buckskin Bag of Gold (?) |
| Watching For Pa (1863) | Columbia's Guardian Angels (?) |
| Come Home, Father (1864) | Dad's a Millionaire (?) |
| Corporal Schnapps (1864) | First Love Dream (?) |
| Wake Nicodemus (1864) | Phantom Footsteps (?) |
| Just Before the Battle Mother (1865) | Touch the Sleeping Strings Again (?) |
| Marching Through Georgia (1865) | Washington and Lincoln (?) |
| Marching Through Georgia - Song (1865) |