The Star-Spangled Banner

Francis Scott Key, lyrics (1779-1843)

John Stafford Smith, music (1750-1836)

 

The words for the Star-Spangled Banner come from the poem by Francis Scott Key entitled "Defence of Fort M'Henry". He wrote this poem in 1814, inspired by the triumphant sight of the U.S. flag (with 15 stars and 15 strips, known as the Star-Spangled Banner) that flew continuously over Fort McHenry throughout the bombardment by the British Royal Navy during the War of 1812. Key's Brother-in-law saw that the words fit perfectly to the popular melody, "The Anacreontic Society", the official song of a London gentlemen's club for amateur musicians; the song was quite popular in the United States. The U.S. Navy recognized the collaborated setting for official use in 1889, but it was not until 1931 that Congress passed a joint resolution making it the official national anthem of the United States.

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Fanfare pour précéder La Péri

Paul Dukas (1865-1935)

 

Written in 1911 as a "dance poem in one scene", this was Dukas's last published work; and although not as famous as his symphonic poem The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, it is one of his most skillfully crafted works. La Péri, tells the story of a prince in search of the flower (a lotus) of immortality, and how he falls in love with a sleeping fairy or peri (a winged spirit renowned for its beauty). The ballet itself is preceded by a brilliant brass fanfare, hastily written just before the premier. Dukas was extremely critical of his work and often destroyed anything he considered sub-par; he nearly destroyed La Péri and the fanfare, but it was saved by the intervention of his friends.

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Battle Hymn of the Republic

Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910)

 

Sometimes known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah", the well-known patriotic song was originally adapted by American author, poet, and abolitionist Julia Ward Howe from "John Brown's Body", a popular soldier song during the Civil War. Howe transformed the melody, giving it a much more victorious feeling; and she used biblical references in the lyrics to link the Union cause with God's vengeance.
 

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Concertino in D Major, Op. 107

Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)

 

Commissioned by the Paris Conservatoire in 1902 as an examination piece for flute students, it is rumored that Chaminade wrote it specifically with an ex-lover in mind...an ex-lover who left her to marry someone else. As punishment, Chaminade made the Concertino so fiendishly

difficult that this ex-lover would be humiliated when he couldn't manage the piece successfully. She dedicated the piece to the celebrated Conservatoire flute professor of the time, Paul Taffenel. Rooted in traditional French Romanticism, the piece is pleasingly tonal and melodic with an idyllic pastoral sound, sweeping runs and arpeggios, and mood-shifting key changes.

 

Fighting for recognition and respect as a female musician and composer at a time when it could be seen as "improper", Chaminade was a young prodigy, was admired by leading composers of the day, wrote hundreds of pieces, and performed throughout Europe and the United States, inspiring hundreds of women. Fellow French composer Ambroise Thomas said, "This is not a woman who composes, but a composer who is a woman."

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"Méditation" from Thaïs

Jules Massenet (1842-1912)

 

Premiered in 1894, Thaīs, is just one of over thirty operas that made Jules Massenet one of the leading composers of French opera in the decades surrounding the turn of the 20th century. The familiar "Méditation" is a symphonic intermezzo, or entr'acte, occurring between scenes in Act II. The piece occurs as a wayward courtesan, through the imploring of a monk, reflects upon her life and the salvation she can find through God by leaving her old life behind.

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The Veteran Anthem

Takosha Swan

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After five years of honorable military service in the Army and the Georgia Army National Guard, including service during Operation Iraqi Freedom in Kuwait and Iraq, Takosha Swan responded to Governor Kemp's challenge to prevent suicide among veterans, service members, and their families by creating this song of inspiration and purpose. Swan states:

"The lyrics of The Veteran Anthem have a message. I’m reminding veterans of who they are, because you can forget after being in the military. It’s like, 'I’m still a soldier, but I’m also a human being, a mother, a wife, a person who has dreams, and I need to be able to balance that'...There’s also [a message] to the family members. Sometimes...they can’t relate. They don’t know why the service member in their house seems to be going into some type of depression. Or maybe there’s some distance, or they just don’t seem inspired. So, the song is to help everybody, the nation, all of us to remember who we are. We forget our worth. We forget our value. We forget how important we are. Veterans, after being in the military, feel like, 'Oh, I don’t have a mission anymore. I’m not as important as I was when I was in the military.' I’m here to say, 'That’s not true now. You have even more to give because you have all those skill sets from the military, and you can give them to the civilian world.'"

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Petite Suite, IV: Ballet

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

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As the leading composer of impressionism, it is rather typical that Debussy draws inspiration from poetry, in this case from Verlaine's volume of Fêtes Galantes, to suggest an image of various characters enjoying frivolity. The entire suite is comprised of four movements: I. En bateau (sailing), II. Cortège (Retinue), III. Menuet, and IV. Ballet. Although the first two movements are the ones that draw directly from the poems, the ballet of the fourth movements paints a lively image of the French ballet house, nostalgic and sparkling, as if one of Degas's paintings have come to life. The suite was originally written for piano for four hands; however, in 1907 Henri Büsser, a college of Debussy's, transcribed the suite for orchestra.

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Armed Forces Salute (A medley):

arranged by Bob Lowden

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Army: The Caisson Song

John Philip Sousa, Music (1854-1932)

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Originally titled "The Caissons Go Rolling Along", the first version was written in 1908 by Edmund Gruber (his ancestor composed the classic Christmas carol Silent Night). In 1917 Sousa transformed Gruber's melody into a March that he named, "U.S. Field Military March". In 1952, the Army held a contest to find an official song, among hundreds of submissions "The Army's Always There" by Sam H. Stept was the winner. However, the melody felt too similar to "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts", prompting the Army to use the melody from Sousa's "U.S. Field Artiliary March" with new lyrics by Harold W. Arberg in the mid-1950's. Unfortunately, most people still sing the original lyrics:

 

Original Lyrics: 

Over hill, over dale 
As we hit the dusty trail, 
And those caissons go rolling along. 
In and out, hear them shout, 
Counter march and right about, 
And those caissons go rolling along. 

Refrain: 
Then it's hi! hi! hee! 
In the field artillery, 
Shout out your numbers loud and strong, 
For where e'er you go, 
You will always know 
That those caissons go rolling along. 

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New Lyrics: 

March along, sing our song, 
With the Army of the free 
Count the brave, count the true, 
Who have fought to victory 
We're the Army and proud of our name 
We're the Army and proudly proclaim 

Refrain: 
Then it's Hi! Hi! Hey! 
The Army's on its way. 
Count off the cadence loud and strong, 
For where e'er we go, 
You will always know 
That The Army Goes Rolling Along. 

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Coast Guard: Semper Paratus 

Francis Saltus Van Boskerck (1868-1927) 

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Latin for "Always Ready", the official song, written in 1928, of the U.S. Coast Guard bears the same name as their motto.  The original lyrics were written by Coast Guard Captain Francis Saltus Van Boskerck.  However, some of the lyrics were changed in 1943 by Lieutenant Walton Butterfield, and in 1969 the opening line to the chorus was changed from "So here's the Coast Guard marching song, We sing on land and sea" to "We're always ready for the call, We place our trust in Thee". 

 

Marines: Marines' Hymn  

Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) 

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Although the lyrics are by an anonymous author, the music is taken from the "Gendarmes' Duet" in the 1867 opera Geneviève de Brabant by Jacques Offenbach.  It was introduced by the first director for the United States Marine Corp Band, Francesco Maria Scala.  Officially adopted in 1929, it is the oldest official song of the five U.S. Military branches.   

 

Air Force: The U.S. Air Force 

Robert MacArthur Crawford (1899-1961)

 

Anxious to represent the newer military branch, the U.S. Air Force held a competition in 1937 to find a song that could be adopted as its official song.  Hundreds of songs were submitted for consideration, including one by Irving Berlin, without any success.  It was not until two days before the deadline that Robert MacArthur Crawford, a rejected WWI Air Service pilot and professional musician known as "The Flying Baritone", submitted a recording which proved a unanimous favorite.  Sometimes known as "Wild Blue Yonder", Crawford's song was officially adopted in 1947 when the Air Force became a separate service from the previously titled Army Air Corps. 

 

Navy: Anchors Aweigh 

Charles A. Zimmermann (1861-1916) 

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Originally written as a football fight song for the Army-Navy football game of 1906 in Philadelphia (Navy won 10-0), Anchors Aweigh has since become the official song of the U.S. Navy.  Midshipman Alfred Hart Miles wrote the lyrics and asked Charles Zimmermann, the bandmaster for the Unites States Naval Academy Band, to help him create the fight song.  The phrase "anchors aweigh" means that all anchors are clear from the sea bottom, allowing the ship to be officially under way. 

 

La Vie en Rose 

Édith Piaf, lyrics (1915-1963) 

Louiguy, music (1916-1991) 

 

Written in 1945 and released in 1947, this delightful song earned French singer, Édith Piaf, international fame.  The lyrics express the joy of finding true love and how that joy can make the world feel like one is "looking through rose-colored glasses" so to speak.  After the difficulty of WWII, this joyous and uplifting song became tremendously popular, especially in the United States where seven versions of the song all reached the Billboard charts in 1950. 

 

L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2: IV. Farandole 

Georges Bizet (1838-1875) 

 

The L'Arlésienne Suites are orchestral compilations of the most beloved numbers from Bizet's incidental music that accompanies Alphonse Daudet's drama, L'Arlésienne (The Girl from Arles).  Although the drama itself was rather unsuccessful, Bizet's charming music is among some of his most popular compositions.  He excels at capturing the quintessential lightness of the French style in all his works, but none so much as this charming Farandole. This movement of the suite opens with the regal "March of the Kings" theme (another of the incidental numbers) before launching into a lively dance.  The traditional Farandole, popular in the region of Provence, is an open-chain community dance similar to the gavotte, jig, and tarantella. 

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The Year 1812, Solemn Overture, Op. 49 (excerpt) 

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) 

 

Popularly known as simply the 1812 Overture, it was written in 1880 to commemorate Russia's defense against Napoleon's Grande Armée invasion of 1812.  In large part, Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel War and Peace, with its accurate descriptions of the historic event, revived nationalist pride which in turn led to numerous monuments and artistic commissions in celebration of the Russian victory.  Among these commissions, Tchaikovsky hastily wrote the overture in a mere six weeks; and although the overture continues to be one of his most performed works, he complained to his patron at the time that he was, "not a conductor of festival pieces" and that it would be "very loud and noisy, but [without] artistic merit, because I wrote it without warmth and without love."  Often an accompaniment to firework displays, the 1812 Overture is mostly known for its triumphant finale of brass fanfare, ringing bells, and cannon fire. 

 

Stars and Stripes Forever 

John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) 

 

The beloved march was composed on Christmas Day of 1896 while John Philip Sousa and his wife were sailing home from a European vacation.  Having just learned of the passing of the manager for the Sousa Band, he composed the march in his head, waiting until their arrival in the states before committing it to paper.  Although immediately successful, it was not until 1987 that U.S. Congress officially adopted it as the National March of the United States.  Historically, it has been known as "the Disaster March" throughout show business.  Theater and circus house bands used the march as a sort of code to subtly signal personnel of a life-threatening emergency that would require a calm and organized evacuation.