On the Fourth of July at Lake Tahoe, Maestro Laura Jackson and the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra will premiere a new “Star Spangled Music Edition” of American composer Dudley Buck’s “Festival Overture on the American National Air” (1879). The Reno orchestra commissioned and premiered Michael Gandolfi’s patriotic cantata Chesapeake: Summer of 1814, last year.One of America’s…
Author: starspangled
Guest Post—Wayne Baker on Symbolic Patriotism
Originally published on OurValues.OrgWHENEVER the president delivers his State of the Union address, one thing we’re sure to see is a display of American symbols—the flag aplenty, the elaborate protocol of the president’s invitation and entry into the House of Representatives, and more.How do you feel when you see these American symbols and rituals? Does…
Banner Moments NEH K-12 Teacher Institute—Off & Running!
COLLEGE PARK, MD: Supported by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the University of Michigan’s American Music Institute in cooperation with the Star Spangled Music Foundation, the University of Maryland School of Music, and the Hampsong Foundation has begun a national K-12 summer teacher institute with 29 teachers from across the…
Arturo Toscanini's Star Spangled Banner Resurrected
The New York Philharmonic will perform Arturo Toscanini’s World War II orchestral arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner” for its Star Spangled Celebration concerts on July 4, 5, & 6 (conducted by Bramwell Tovey) and July 14 in Central Park & July 18 in Vail, Colorado (conducted by music director Alan Gilbert). (See press release.)The new…
Thomas Hamspon Poets & Patriotism Recital Program
Thomas Hampson’s program for our Poets & Patriotism recital at the U.S. Library of Congress has gone to press. It offers a historical survey of how American lyricists have confronted the issues of life in the United States, celebrating, negotiating, and inspiring public dialogue about what it means to be a citizen. UPDATE: the full…
Spangled Mythconception #7: An Official Version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" Exists
MYTH #7: There is a sanctioned traditional or otherwise official version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”CORRECTION: The 1931 act making Key’s song America’s anthem does not identify an official arrangement, in part because the song as sung in the 20th-c. had already departed from what Francis Scott Key had known. During World War I, attempts were…
Free Sheet Music for Your RaiseItUp! Flag Day Celebration
The Star Spangled Music Foundation is pleased to offer a free series of historical sheet music arrangements of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and related songs in celebration of the anthem’s bicentennial. In partnership with the Smithsonian’s RaiseItUp! Flag Day celebration, we are happy to recommend the 1918 “Service Version,” the same edition recommended by the 1942…
Spangled Mythconception #6: Congress Made Key's Banner the U.S. National Anthem
MYTH #6: A 1931 act of Congress made “The Star-Spangled Banner” the official anthem of the United States CORRECTION: This is absolutely correct in terms of the anthem’s legal status, but the bill approved by the House and Senate and signed by President Herbert Hoover simply recognized what had been true in American cultural practice…
Spangled Mythconception #5: The Banner as Baseball Ritual Begins with Babe Ruth & the 1918 World Series
Myth #5: The “The Star-Spangled Banner” as baseball’s game day ritual begins with Babe Ruth and the 1918 World SeriesCorrection: The earliest documented performance of Key’s Banner in pro sports was on opening day at a baseball game in 1862, but the ritual of playing the song at every game developed gradually and was dependent…
Spangled Mythconception #4: Key's Banner is Based on a Bawdy Old English Drinking Song
MYTH #4: Key’s Banner is based on the melody of a bawdy old English drinking song CORRECTION: “The Anacreontic Song” was the constitutional anthem of an elite, London-based, amateur music society… but it gets complicated. Francis Scott Key would have most likely encountered the melody of “The Anacreontic Song” initially through its most popular American…