Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-11-04
By SAMUEL l.. LAClAR

sVINHE STAR SPANGrED Ran d.
= NER," most maligncd of oil ma =
Slcnal hymns. is again under fire. and
the national music chairman Of the
General Federation Of Wonien's Clubs,
Mrs. Oberndorfer. has issued an Inn
4 apassioncd letter in defense Of tho old
tune which has successfully withstcod
many attacks and will weather this ono
safely aud a good many others yet TO
come.
Just why there should BE- this con
slant dissatisfaction with our national
hymn is rather hard to see. but still
more difficult to perceive il the rca
son for the many attacks on it when
the attackers have nothing 10 Offer in its
place which will. in any way, come up
to the standard of the thing they ap.
parently want destroyed. or at least put
down from its high place.
There is nothing new in the charges
against the hymn as brought by the
latest bunch OF attackers. /, is true
that the music Of the song WAS originally
IN old English drinking song ITO Ana.
creon in Heaven but now tha,
drinking is or rather IS supposed in
the eyes of the law to be thing Of the
past IN the nitcd S,utss. this misnt be
urged by the facctious rather in favor
of the melody than against it a. re-
tanning u tradition ot Il bygonc age.
DCT, after all, what does tho origin
- Of melody amount I" if the tnuc
be expressly" of the sentiment nt th"
words To which it ~ lifted: Many II
good churchman has sung. with great
devotion, hymn tunes which had their
origin in the opera house, and admired
the ..sacrcd' character Of the music.
in blissful ignorance of the fact that
the melody came originally from II
source which. in times not SO iohS
gone by, was considered nnathama by
the more strict of the denominations.
AS long as they did not know. every
thing was all right. Nor would IT be
difficult Ia count UP n surprising mum
ber of hymn tunes in perfectly good
standing in the Church even i'll the
DAYS when churChmcn We're not 50 t"'-
Grant as they ar" now. which we're
composed for strictly secular. il not Tor
amusement purposes.
There ar" many turthev instances
where Il tune Inter used for religious
purposes has come from sources far
less respectable than the opera MnS
then cons idered to BE- but so long as no
one knew where they originated. they
were not questioned another trihutt
70 the general iudrtinitenrs~ OF music
when Specific Thought is TO be en-
pressed.
1t NAV be merely demonstration of
al IA = o. II III
ness that brings ont th"s" periodic
attacks upon the long Suffcrin" nnttohh
hymn of this country. But. whatever
il may be-. it is certain that no uthri
country nt tn" world goes through
this battle about every So often as Il
what shall be the hymn OF I'll" country
OF course there hnv" been occasional
spasmodc protests against son" "t th'
others. notably the Austrian nati"nn
hymn. one of tn" finest Of I'll" wh"'
lot and the only one written by II com
poser of the first rank. but II did no
amount to anything. and 50 far as W,
know, the old hymn is still on til" Jo
in what is left OF that once gr'0
nation.
DuT "The Star Srangl"d Banner
ID has n lot Of things to commend i
for the leading position among the ma
tiona songs Of the country. In IN
= first place. the poem is ideal: II take
for its subject the banner Of III" \a
tion, and nothing could be more appro
pirate than this nor more calculated II
intete patriotic enthusiasm. Up TO cat
there has not been any protest fro"
the many would be reformcrS Wit
which our country is infested ,p"rhap
10 a greater extent than any other nh
tion Of earth, as to changing the ma
itself.
Then the poetry is altogether whn
national hymn should be. If N
third stanza "brenthes hate against on
ally, Great Britain as We heard s
often during the war days. when I'll
national hymns of our allies were hear
in this country to far greater eXtcn
than would have been tolerated in an
other nation on earth. this is Comp"n
stated for bv the fact that not NOR
than one American citizen out Of ever
-. 900 or -. 900 knows the offendin
etanZa at all or can even give the gil
IF It. The whole poem Is martial fear
less and patriotic and altogether ad
mirable as a national song
We nre exceedingly Ink as to KNOWN
the words OF our national songs. jus
listen 10 a crowd singing any Of thnr
some time and see how brayely eyer
OUS S1iilS l1l Win Wv "tT'iS VI II
first line and speedily deScrndS 20 4
ignominious ''dum de DUN dc dun
before the end of the first stan2a
reached. to say nothing of the SUE
ceeding stanzns. Perhaps this very lax
ness or lack of interest in our Oationc
songs tand the national hymn i, II
exception may be one of tho reason
FOR the constant dssir" for n change
which thus far has never reached an
further point than much noise wit
no results,
nNE of the chief cau>rS Of complar II
" is that the music Of "Tho Sta
Spangled Banner is too hard for popr
lnr singing. II is true that the voc;
range required Is not possessed by eyer
3, person. being an octave and five note
hyinn of the former German Empir
: "Dic Wacht am Rnein." said by mar
Of the opponents Of our own To be o,
Of the greatest Of national hymns,
will he found thar the tonal range
identical with that of THE Star Spa,
sled Banner.
1t IL true that the range demanded
THE ''Marseillaiso" is several notes |.
than that of ours, 'Tod Save q
King is considerably loss than cv,
y the French song, being under
octave, while tn" beautiful Rlssii
khymn Is just ono octave in reciste
This makes them far cnsior for II,
IN trained voices To sing. and this fact
10 undeniahly desirable in a nation
hymn. Eut ours has only one unrol
fortably high note and in u rntrio
nincb most of the sin.rrs ran 90, III