Evening star., 1902-09-02
NAT|ON'S.:::. WAR SONGS
Patriotic 0des and Tributes
to Old Glory.
TOUCHES OF SENTIMENT
VERSE ENDHARED TO HEARTS
OF AMERICANS.
Music Which Revives Memories Of the
War of the Rebellion
Humor and Pathos.
TOUCHES OF SENTIMENT

|
| "A song for our banner! The watcbword recall
| .1,t1i nnlch gave the republic her station;
United we stand divided we fall
II made and preserved US q ma tion.''
In that song of poet long dead is found
| the sentiment upon which is strung all the
splendid pearls of patriotic verse endeared
| TO the hearts of Americans through the
generations since our flag was first flung
| to the breeze
song tor our banner!' And since the
nag Is the emblem of the nations power
and progress, the national songs must have
III every stanza and sentence hint of the
flag under which we have achieved our
greatness.
Rose red and b,ood red
Its stripes forever gleam;
"11w TOW white and soul white,
The good forefather's dream.
SKY blue and true blue
win stars that geam Alright,
gior1ed guidon in the day,
shelter through the night"
And then the musici Ther, must he in
II the measured beat that gives time to
marching feet, notes that catch the mem
ory ana that sing in the heart song of
self-abnegatfon when the hell of battle,
with believing cannon and whistlinp bnI
lets, mas blinded the eyes and deafened the
ears to outward sight and sense
"A light, lifting air will not do Neither
Will short, choppy measure answer the
needs of that fearful hour. The man who
IS hgntlng for the principles which his flag
represents is bending every force of his
nature IN long, steady strain for su-
premacy and he wants the music and the
sentiment of the words to which 1t is set
TO be tuned in long sustained measures.
mat MI the air with rich harmony while
tne notes culver in his heart and set his
blood to leaping In his veins.
Martial Music in hymns.
Inc hrst martial music Of the nation was
probably found in hymns The early church
music was Of the more sonorous characte
with depth of volume and measured time
that eminently fitted 1t for martial ar
ransement. 1t remained for the nineteenth
century to take UP and popularize street
songs for Sunday school purposes.
The war Of the revolution was not rich
IN musical productions Even the poetry
OF OF !. the , aay was mostly bad, and but little
song books scarcely a line Of it can be
found today: The music Of the flies and
drums OF the revolutionary period was
Gaalneau aGaapeeo from old country airs. THE
scotland and is coincident with the landing
OF tRe Pilgrims, was one Of the queer airs
ehe ehe Ola continentals loved. Aud Lang
syne was anothe5 OF. the same order. The
music Is SO ancient that its origin is uncer-
tam. Ihere have been many words sung to it.
those by Burns being the favorite. The
music antedates las, it is said. The Blue
reay oa an od Enrsh was fayorite but it is
Dun care was one Of the liveliest melo-
dies of the revolutionary period, vet II had
celebrated It's three hundredth anniversary
even then. The Girl Left Behind Me"
was one of the choicest of quicksteps of
that day, as it was from 81 to '65 but the
pretty little girl has long since celebrated
her one hundred and fiftieth birthday.
one piece that belongs to the period
fhn
our national air, Hail Columbia This
was written originally as The Presidents
March by German musician named Jo-
hannes Roth who lived in PHILADELPHIA not
far from the home of Washington. An
other German of Philadelphia claims the
march but seems not to be able to substan-
tiate the claim. The music is heavy, not
SO very tuneful and certainly not complex
1t was written for Washington's first inau-
guration.
Words by DR.. Hopkinson.
The words that we now sing to this
march were written by Dr. Joseph Hopkin-
son. He tells how he came to write them.
1t was in the summer of 1898 when war
with France seemed inevitable and Con-
gress was then in session in Philadelphia
debating upon the important subject. A
young man, a friend of DR. Hopkinson
who had a very fine voice, was upon the
stage and was to have a benefit concert
I1e CdIe 10 the uoClOT HuCn U1SCOurageu.
and said the benefit was going to be
failure if he did not have a new song to
sing. He wanted something that would
rouse the people and bring them out. He
thought if he got some good patriotic
words adapted to The Presidents March"
he could make his fortune. DIR. Hopkinson
agreed to write some patriotic verses to fit
the old air, and Hail Columbia" was the
result. The effort cost the author but
days work, and the verses took immensely
The sentiment is regarded as little bonn
bastic for this day, but careful reading of
the words thrills the patriotic heart even
now. yankee Doodle an air sung in
our dersion in revolutionary times has
since become one of our national airs, but
is as old as the crusades.
America" of ancient and disputed ORR
gin, possibly French, more likely English,
certainly the foundation upon which the
national airs of most of the great nations
have been built, came to be one of our own
airs shortly after the revolution. 1t was
"God Save the King when the hired Hes
slams of old King George were trying to
wear the life out of our young nation, but
the red-coatS had no sooner turned their
backs upon us than we pre-empted their
national air and made it wholly our own
The Author Forgotten.
The first verse Of the lines written for
It by an author forgotten before he became
famous runs after this fashion:
Come all ye sons Of song,
Pour the full sound along
In yOy1ui STRAINS.
Beneath these western skies
See q new empire rise,
Bursting with glad surprise
TyraInic Chains
There were nHInerouStv v erses, some not SO
good, many verya. bad but the last was
tolerably prophetic. s1tsis as follows:
Now all Se sons of song,
Pour the fun sound along,
WIN shah control;
For in this western cline
Freedom shall rise sublime,
Till ever:changipg time
Shall cease to rol''
The adopted tune was not christened
America till many years later. however.
when Rev Samuel F.ISmith of Boston, in
1882. wrote Country, 'Tis ot Thee"
fora Fourth Of July picnic celebration,
people for that Sne stirring poem, which
was set to the tune of 8. all nations. but
The tune Of "tolunibia. the Gem OF the
ocean."is borrowed from ENGLAND, and the
enough to Americapize them. Thomas
a Beckett, an Englishman, once resident
Of Philadelphia, claims to have written the
American words and man by the name