Memories of another, older war -- a war no one knows except from history -- were evoked for millions of Americans last summer by the ravishingly melancholy fiddle and guitar strains that accompanied the PBS series The Civil War. The haunting tune, called Ashokan Farewell, had been composed eight years earlier, one morning at the end of summer, by a lapsed '60s rocker turned upcountry fiddler named Jay Ungar. By wedding its beauty and timelessness to hundreds of graphic still photos, PBS created an affecting combination.
Since then, the song has assumed its own separate identity. With Ashokan Farewell as the...
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