Anthem Failure

[robcat2075]

In 1908 Teddy Roosevelt sent the US battleship fleet on a worldwide "goodwill" tour... unready for action, however.




On paper, the US Navy had a small band at that time but it seems not to have been sent on the tour.

Anthems seem not to have been a big part of patriotic fervor back then, such that SSB was not officially adopted until 1931.

[BGuttman]

There were many variants of The Star Spangled Banner available at that time. A very popular version dated from the Civil War (3d NH Volunteer Post Band -- available in manuscript from the Library of Congress). It's written in the key of Eb, which could explain the difficulty of singing. Also had some repeats that didn't correspond to the poem. But it did have a very florid part for the Eb Cornet (Leader).

In 1908 Hail Columbia had stopped being the President's tune -- Sousa had written a march which later was replaced by Hail to the Chief. Columbia had been one of several tunes used as the US National Anthem before standardization on SSB --in Bb or Ab (Ab was deemed easier to sing).

I'm sure there were Ship's Bands on the larger vessels, although what they had for music may have been rather meager.

<Edited to correct an error>

[ghmerrill]

The Star-Spangled Banner is widely recognized as difficult to sing -- and in fact one of the most difficult national anthems to sing. In the absence of more (and more accurate) evidence, let's put this problem on the singer instead of the band?

[harrisonreed]

It's because they were singing it in 4/4. Everyone knows it's in 12/16

[Doug Elliott]

Not if you swing it

[robcat2075]

As i peruse the history of the "US Navy Band" I get the sense it may not have been regarded as a high national priority at all times.

[Kbiggs]

I’ve heard it in 7/4 before, and without the raised 4th in the 3rd bar. It was… interesting…

[BGuttman]

It's because they were singing it in 4/4. Everyone knows it's in 12/16

Geez. And I thought it was in 24/32

[JohnL]

As i peruse the history of the "US Navy Band" I get the sense it may not have been regarded as a high national priority at all times.

The US Navy in general was not a high priority in the years following the Civil War. It wasn't until the 1880's that Congress started appropriating enough money to begin building a real "blue water" navy, and it took the Spanish-American War (1898) to really get things rolling.

The article you posted refers to what was called "The Great White Fleet"; a group of American warships that went on an around-the-world cruise in 1907-1909. I'm not sure if any of those ships would have carried a band; there were sixteen "battleships" in the fleet, but the biggest of them was only fractionally larger (by displacement) than a WWII-era heavy cruiser, and they would have been much more cramped.

If they were asking a random group of sailors to sing The Star Spangled Banner a capella? Yeah, I can't really see that ending well in a musical sense.

[timothy42b]

I’ve heard it in 7/4 before, and without the raised 4th in the 3rd bar. It was… interesting…

That lowered 4th is pretty common now from amateurs and pop singers. I'm not sure where they get it.

I think it was actually lowered in the original pub song, but it's been raised as long as I've been hearing it. To my ears it's jarringly wrong when not raised. But it's clearly deliberate.

[BGuttman]

I’ve heard it in 7/4 before, and without the raised 4th in the 3rd bar. It was… interesting…

That lowered 4th is pretty common now from amateurs and pop singers. I'm not sure where they get it.

I think it was actually lowered in the original pub song, but it's been raised as long as I've been hearing it. To my ears it's jarringly wrong when not raised. But it's clearly deliberate.

It's in the Civil War era part. The piece is in Eb and in that 3rd bar there is an A natural (using an accidental). If we weren't having issues loading images I'd upload the part for your interest. There are a set of part books called "Heritage Americana" that includes transcriptions from various Civil War era band books and this version of the Star Spangled Banner is there. Heritage Americana is set up for a mid-19th Century band consisting of Eb Cornet (Leader), 2 Bb Cornets, 2 Eb Altos, 2 Bb Tenors (in bass clef), Baritone Horn (in bass clef), Eb Bass (tuba), and percussion. In the original part books the Tenors and Baritone were all in transposed treble.

[ghmerrill]

On investigation and some thought, this report of the NY Times may describe an effect that has much less to do with the Navy or the Navy Band than with the situation of the time. I think that all of us recall being pretty thoroughly drilled in singing (well, trying to sing) our national anthem from grade school onwards. I certainly remember that.

But this report is from 1908. The Star-Spangled Banner became the official national anthem only in 1931!! That's 21 years after my father was born (!), and 23 years after this NYT article. It has been "recognized as the national anthem" (whatever that may mean) by the US armed forces only since 1916 (that's 8 years after this NYT article). Even now, the teaching/singing of our national anthem varies widely across the states and even different school districts.

And notice that in the last line of the NTY report "anthem" is enclosed in quotes. And these are "scare" quotes -- used to imply that the word is being used in other than a literal or precise (or even correct) sense.

Put in that light, the report itself seems a bit odd. But if you step back a moment and look at it, it seems -- in the actual historical context -- to perhaps be less a complaint about our naval forces being unable to sing our "national anthem" than a kind of wry observation that at that point we still didn't really have a national anthem. And it's not about singing or music or the Navy band at all.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

It's because they were singing it in 4/4. Everyone knows it's in 12/16

All kidding aside…..in the 1990s we had a “music supervisor” in my county school district who many music teachers thought was a jive talker and a phony from the first minute we met him. He never answered simple questions like:

“Are you an Instrumentalist or a choral person?”
“What instrument do you play?”
“Where did you go to school for your music training?”

Two things revealed that he was a fake……

1. When he approved the order of a Sousaphone for one of the high schools and received the bill, he asked “Why is this telephone so expensive?”

2. When the guest conductor for an All-County Band rehearsal was late, he decided to step in and start their rehearsal with “The Star Spangled Banner.” It was a standard arrangement in 3/4 time. He conducted the entire piece in 4/4. The students figured out that he was a phony and could barely make it through the piece because they were laughing so much.

[harrisonreed]

The recent Virginia Military Tattoo played the opening anthem in 4/4. It was run by the Navy. The Navy version of the anthem is the official DoD version, it's in 3/4, it's the standard. But they played some version in 4/4. I died a little inside.

[ghmerrill]

…..in the 1990s we had a “music supervisor” in my county school district who many music teachers thought was a jive talker and a phony from the first minute we met him. He never answered simple questions like:

That would make a wonderful "made for TV" movie. You should write up some kind of script synopsis and pitch it to Amazon (or Apple, or ...).

[JohnL]

The recent Virginia Military Tattoo played the opening anthem in 4/4. It was run by the Navy. The Navy version of the anthem is the official DoD version, it's in 3/4, it's the standard. But they played some version in 4/4. I died a little inside.

Were they accompanying a singer?
"I want to do it just like Whitney Houston!"

[robcat2075]

On investigation and some thought, this report of the NY Times may describe an effect that has much less to do with the Navy or the Navy Band than with the situation of the time. I think that all of us recall being pretty thoroughly drilled in singing (well, trying to sing) our national anthem from grade school onwards. I certainly remember that.

But this report is from 1908. The Star-Spangled Banner became the official national anthem only in 1931!! That's 21 years after my father was born (!), and 23 years after this NYT article. It has been "recognized as the national anthem" (whatever that may mean) by the US armed forces only since 1916 (that's 8 years after this NYT article).

Another factoid i read said that the Navy had approved SSB for official use in 1889. Not quite an anthem, though.

The situation is an interesting illustration of "common law"... people doing something so consistently for so long that they presume it is the rule.

I've read two accounts on how the nation was moved to make SSB official in 1931.

One is that "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" ran an item stating that "America has no national anthem!". The other is that John Philip Sousa wrote an op-ed stating the same. I think Ripley was first but for either of those to have the shock value the authors intended, it must have already been widely presumed that the US did have a national anthem and that a particular tune, SSB, was it.

i suspect the lack of protracted US military involvements between the Civil War and WWI had much to do with patriotic songs falling from constant public use, then WWI did much to bring them forward again and SSB most of all such that by 1929 it had become the de facto anthem.

[robcat2075]

The recent Virginia Military Tattoo played the opening anthem in 4/4. It was run by the Navy. The Navy version of the anthem is the official DoD version, it's in 3/4, it's the standard. But they played some version in 4/4. I died a little inside.

[BGuttman]

Please. That was more painful than what was described for 1908.

[JohnL]

i suspect the lack of protracted US military involvements between the Civil War and WWI had much to do with patriotic songs falling from constant public use, then WWI did much to bring them forward again and SSB most of all such that by 1929 it had become the de facto anthem.

It's not a coincidence that what's generally considered that "standard" interpretation (harmonized by Walter Damrosch, arranged by John Philip Sousa) was created in 1917. I'll be playing that version at a Memorial Day concert later today.

[ghmerrill]

I've read two accounts on how the nation was moved to make SSB official in 1931.

One is that "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" ran an item stating that "America has no national anthem!". The other is that John Philip Sousa wrote an op-ed stating the same. I think Ripley was first but for either of those to have the shock value the authors intended, it must have already been widely presumed that the US did have a national anthem and that a particular tune, SSB, was it.

There were a number of supporters of The Star Spangled Banner as the US national anthem. There seems to have been no single pivotal endorsement, but rather really a kind of broad and convergent movement.

Ripley's editorial (which appears to have been a kind of late-comer "me too" opinion piece) was published on Nov. 3, 1929, and Sousa's most public endorsement came in 1931. These were quite late events in the movement.

The Congressional bill had actually been written prior to those dates, and had been introduced in Congress on April 15, 1929.

However, Sousa should get a lot of the credit for supporting the idea for some years, and in various contexts. As early as 1917 he'd been appointed to a committee by Woodrow Wilson to standardize the arrangement of the song, and the final version was performed at Carnegie Hall later in that year.

But the whole process appears to have spanned more than a decade. I'm not sure it was "presumed" throughout the population that the Star-Spangled Banner was our de facto national anthem. But it does appear that this may have been the view in the "seats of power".

[tbdana]

An anthem is a song that represents the ideals of a group of people. The word "anthem" comes from Old English antefn. The original word meant a song sung antiphonally, or in turns by two groups of singers. Anthems today are often associated with national or group pride, and share musical characteristics that make them memorable and unifying. They tend to be simple, easy to sing, and emotionally uplifting. Typically they feature melodies that are straightforward and easy to remember, making them accessible for mass participation. The rhythm is usually steady and clear, often marching or hymn-like.

Musically, the SSB is not an anthem. The melody is an old English pub song. It is very difficult to sing. It's in 3/4 time. And it lacks both an uplifting message and the steadiness of a march or hymn. The words are a poem about war. (As a child the lyrics terrified me, as I imagined huddling in the dark as I desperately tried to survive the night while rockets and bombs and debris rained down all around me.) It's telling that all anyone ever sings is the first chorus, because as you get down into the following choruses the words are kinda yikes...

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

SSB is not a proper anthem. "America the Beautiful" is an anthem. It has all the proper characteristics, and its message is a unifying and uplifting one. It's one of the hymn-like ones. "God Bless America" could be an anthem but for the divisive religious message in a pluralistic society that requires a separation of church and state. It's an example of the marching kind. Both have patriotic uplifting messages, simple melodies that are easy to remember and to sing, and the musical characteristics of anthems.

Another one that would be a great national anthem for the U.S. is Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land." It has the message and all the other characteristics of a good anthem.

IMHO the only purpose for the continued existence of the SSB and its ubiquitous use to begin sporting events is for us either to either admire people who can sing it well or mock the people who crash and burn on it, with the latter far outnumbering the former.

[AndrewMeronek]

War themes are in a lot of American anthems. For example:

The despot's heel is on thy shore,
Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore,
Maryland! My Maryland!

Replace Maryland with 'Merica and a lot of people would probably approve.

[AtomicClock]

I'm not sure it was "presumed" throughout the population that the Star-Spangled Banner was our de facto national anthem.

Especially in a pre-WWI America, I wonder how much of the population even understood that countries were expected to have anthems at all. It's an odd concept, unless you've grown up with it.

[ghmerrill]

Especially in a pre-WWI America, I wonder how much of the population even understood that countries were expected to have anthems at all. It's an odd concept, unless you've grown up with it.

Maybe it helps to have a monarch in play -- if not currently and actually functionally, at least historically and symbolically?

But I don't think we should make much of the various possible meanings of "anthem" as a particular meaning for something like a "national song". "Hymn" (or maybe "secular hymn") might do at least as well. But that gets us into the religious connotation of "hymn". As a national "anthem", I always thought that "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is really hard to beat.

But then I also think that <<Прощание славянки>> is one of the most moving pieces of music I've heard -- especially when the trombone section stands up and comes in.

[robcat2075]

Not an anthem? Doesn't represent ideals?

On the surface, the lyrics are a narrative of the attack on Ft. McHenry, but the event is drawn as an example of national ideals of union, freedom, and bravery.

[ghmerrill]

As a child the lyrics terrified me, as I imagined huddling in the dark as I desperately tried to survive the night while rockets and bombs and debris rained down all around me.) It's telling that all anyone ever sings is the first chorus, because as you get down into the following choruses the words are kinda yikes..

I guess American/Canadian hockey games ought to be doubly concerning. I'm not sure "The Star-Spangled Banner" is much worse (though somewhat more explicit and less melodic, I guess) than "O Canada". And that's so much better and appropriate than "God Save The King" (which is the "Royal anthem" of Canada). Maybe this is just all something about North America (well ... yeah ... I guess it is).

[ghmerrill]

... but the event is drawn as an example of national ideals of union, freedom, and bravery.

From the perspective of those under attack.

[BGuttman]

Another good candidate for a US National Anthem was "God Bless America", written by Irving Berlin. At the time, anti-Semitism was pretty strong in the US and because Berlin was Jewish it didn't make the "cut". Still, it's a lot easier to sing and reflects positive notes on our country.

Note that when the "fat lady sings" it's Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" to end a television show.

[ghmerrill]

Another good candidate for a US National Anthem was "God Bless America", ...

I have to say that I've just never found it inspiring -- either the music or the lyrics. A kind of tedious show tune.

[JohnL]

IMHO the only purpose for the continued existence of the SSB and its ubiquitous use to begin sporting events is for us either to either admire people who can sing it well or mock the people who crash and burn on it, with the latter far outnumbering the former.

I appreciate those who both have the ability to sing it well and the do so while resisting the temptation to tinker with it, sympathize with those who lack the ability to sing it well but somehow end up trying to do so in front of a crowd, and am sorely disappointed by those who are perfectly capable of performing it competently but insist on "making it their own".

And I dream of the day when a celebrity walks up to microphone and utters the words "Please, sing it with me. It's not my anthem, it's our anthem. It belongs to all of us, and we should sing it together."

[harrisonreed]

An anthem is a song that represents the ideals of a group of people. The word "anthem" comes from Old English antefn. The original word meant a song sung antiphonally, or in turns by two groups of singers. Anthems today are often associated with national or group pride, and share musical characteristics that make them memorable and unifying. They tend to be simple, easy to sing, and emotionally uplifting. Typically they feature melodies that are straightforward and easy to remember, making them accessible for mass participation. The rhythm is usually steady and clear, often marching or hymn-like.

[ghmerrill]

Ask ChatGPT for examples of anthems and you get an amazingly diverse array of pieces -- where it's pretty difficult to say in any case "Oh, that's definitely not an anthem." ChatGPT knows a lot of things because it's seen a lot of things.

[Mikebmiller]

We have a brand new minor league baseball team in town this summer, so I have gone to about 8 games. I have been subjected to some bloody awful renderings of the SSB, along with a few good ones. The worst are the singers who try to do some sort of cadenza on almost every note. The best singers just sing the melody and stay on time and in tune.