Soldier Sleep

Tess Rowan Jannery-Barney

Medium: digital prints

Dimensions: (2) 18 x 24 inches

Public Domain artwork referenced in this piece:

Rupp, Albert, lyricist and Daisy Raymond, composer. “Soldier Sleep.” San Francisco, C. A.: Joe Sweeney Pub. Co, 1920/1929.

Artist Statement

How does the music and performance of war shape the way young people connect with the past and present of the United States?

“Soldier Sleep” was first published in 1920 and is not a very well-known song from the era. It was written for and about soldiers in World War I. Through this adaptation of “Soldier Sleep,” I want to explore the intersections between war, history, and music.

My adaptation of this World War I song, “Soldier Sleep,” is a part of a larger musical I am developing called Toy Soldiers: A War Song Story. Toy Soldiers follows a group of teen girl musicians who fight in American battle reenactments. In the development of “Soldier Sleep” and Toy Soldiers, I hope to reimagine American war songs in new contexts, lyrics, arrangements, and modern musical styles, connecting with the voices of today’s teenagers.

About the Artist: Tess Rowan Jannery-Barney

Tisch Drama Undergraduate Student, Tisch School of the Arts

Tess Rowan Jannery-Barney is excited to share her work in The Public’s Domain exhibition. She is majoring in Drama and minoring in the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Technology, as well as Producing at NYU. Tess is a writer, musician, and performer originally from the Washington, D.C. Area. Her work has been recognized at The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, Stagedoor Manor Dramafest/Stephen Sondheim’s Young Playwrights Inc., The Blank Young Playwrights Festival, and the Capital Fringe Festival. Tess began writing her original Morse code musical Static (@staticmusical) at age 14. Since Static’s Best Musical winning premiere at the 2022 Capital Fringe Festival, Tess has continued to develop Static across the country. Tess workshopped an excerpt of her musical Toy Soldiers: A War Song Story (@toysoldiersmusical) at the New Studio on Broadway’s Free Play Festival in January. “How Happy the Soldier” from Toy Soldiers won the American Battlefield Trust’s Music and the American Revolution Competition. Tess is currently studying abroad at the NYU Berlin campus.

Footnote

To view the original sheet music for “Soldier Sleep” :

https://www.loc.gov/item/2013567709/ 

Citation:

Rupp, Albert, Lyricist. “Soldier Sleep.” Composed by Raymond, Daisy [San Francisco, C. A.: Joe Sweeney Pub. Co, 1920/1929] Notated Music. https://www.loc.gov/item/2013567709/.