American Music Archives - Page 11 of 13

Why Is Randall Thompson’s “Alleluia” So Mournful?

December 12, 2020March 3, 2017 by debisimons

Isn’t the word “alleluia” supposed to be a shout of joy?

First, the occasion: the opening of the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood. Let’s see–”Tanglewood” is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, an outdoor concert venue in rural Massachusetts. The Berkshire facility (which at some point was renamed as the Tanglewood Music Center) opened in 1940 under the leadership of Serge Koussevitsky, the BSO’s music director at the time. The Tanglewood venue had been active for three years, and Koussevitsky saw an opportunity to expand the facility into a summer music camp for students. He decided to commission a piece by an American composer for the student body to perform at the opening ceremonies.

The Story of Eric Whitacre’s “Sleep”

August 24, 2024February 18, 2017 by debisimons

In a sense, Mr. Whitacre has already done my work for me. You can read the charming story of his writing this piece to the words of the Robert Frost poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” and then finding out that the poem was no longer available for use, putting the song “under his bed,” and then getting his friend Charles Silvestri to write new lyrics, by going to his website and reading the story here. I’ll give you just a taste here to whet your appetite for the whole thing:

This was an enormous task, because I was asking him to not only write a poem that had the exact structure of the Frost, but that would even incorporate key words from “Stopping,” like ‘sleep.’ Tony wrote an absolutely exquisite poem, finding a completely different (but equally beautiful) message in the music I had already written. I actually prefer Tony’s poem now.

A Supposed Wardrobe Malfunction in “Cheek to Cheek”

December 11, 2020February 12, 2017 by debisimons

Somewhere in my magpie mind I had a memory of a story about the dress that Ginger Rogers wore during the famous dance sequence of “Cheek to Cheek” in the movie Top Hat. All I could remember was that something had happened with the feathers coming off the dress and that Fred Astaire’s wife, who had trouble saying her r’s, had said, ““Fwed will be so embawassed.”

Well, there are two versions of the story. The first one with the commentary from Astaire’s wife Phyllis says that the dress was covered with red feathers and that Phyllis, who had come to the set with David Niven to watch the filming and who was a little jealous of Rogers, said “She looks like a wooster.”

Four Questions about “John Saw Duh Numbuh”

February 17, 2021January 16, 2017 by debisimons

144,000 with Trumpets, 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld, public domain

The arrangement that my choir sang in 2017 is by a couple of true powerhouses in American choral music: Robert Shaw and Alice Parker. Just about everyone has heard of Robert Shaw and his chorale, but I hadn’t ever heard of Alice Parker.

What does “hang your head over” mean in “Down in the Valley”?

December 11, 2020January 12, 2017 by debisimons

I’m sure I sang “Down in the Valley” in grade school, and I know I’ve had a picture in my mind of someone on the edge of a cliff overlooking a valley, lying face down and literally hanging her head over the edge, with her hair falling over her face and blowing in the breeze. (I guess I always thought it was “her” since I pictured long hair.) The image seemed pretty strange to me. Why would anyone do that?

So when my choir sang an arrangement of this song I decided it was time to step up and find out just what was a-goin’ on. It’s been a fascinating journey.

What’s the Source of the Hebrew Text in “On Justice, Truth and Peace”?

December 11, 2020November 14, 2016 by debisimons

What a wonderful message is contained in this song! Let me answer the question above first, and then I’ll cover some other issues. So the Hebrew words “Hine ma tov uma naim shevet achim gam yachad” are from Psalm 133 in the Hebrew Bible. I have always loved this psalm, and since the entire thing is so short I’m quoting it in full:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (KJV)

Does “This Land Is Your Land” Belong to You and Me?

December 11, 2020October 14, 2016 by debisimons

photo credit Wikipedia; note the sign on Guthrie’s guitar: “This machine kills fascists.”

Maybe! The song may have been in the public domain since 1973. It’s one of those interesting but meandering stories that’s hard to untangle. The short version is that Woody Guthrie wrote the song in 1940 but didn’t copyright it until 1945. That original copyright was never renewed and so therefore would have expired 28 years later. But in 1956 Ludlow Music, which seems to have been Guthrie’s publisher, filed for its own copyright and apparently did keep it up to date. Why two simultaneous copyrights were allowed isn’t clear. So earlier this year the same law firm that successfully sued to get “Happy Birthday” put in the public domain tried to do the same with “This Land.” (You missed that breaking news about “Happy Birthday”? Tsk, tsk!) If the suit is successful, one requirement will be the refunding of all licensing fees paid since 2010.

Is “Oh Shenandoah” About the Shenandoah River?

December 11, 2020October 7, 2016 by debisimons

Charles Deas’ The Trapper and his Family (1845) depicts a voyageur and his Native American wife and children. Perhaps the daughter of Shenandoah and her “Yankee skipper”? Who knows? Image accessed via Wikipedia.

Hoo boy. I seem to start out a number of these articls saying, “I’ve always vaguely thought . . . “ and then explaining why I was wrong. Well, here’s another one. I’ve always vaguely thought that “Oh Shenandoah” was about the Shenandoah River and/or Valley Didn’t you? The river with that name runs through the valley in Virginia and West Virginia, although it’s not a major one but instead a tributary of the Potomac. (There’s also a Shenandoah River in New Zealand, but we won’t worry about that one.) So my vague impression was that the speaker was from the Shenandoah Valley/River and loved that part of the country but he was having to leave it to cross the wide Missouri.

Here’s an important line that gives a helpful clue: “Oh, Shenandoah, I love your daughter.” Let’s parse this out. If the Shenandoah in the song is a river, then the river’s daughter is . . . what? A stream? Doesn’t make too much sense, does it?

Who Is Michael, and Why Is He Rowing a Boat?

February 6, 2024September 24, 2016 by debisimons

This is yet another of those songs everybody sings and nobody thinks about. Come on, now. Have you ever asked yourself this question? I sure hadn’t.

Once again my good friend Wikipedia put me onto the right track and I’ve gone on from there. As with so many wonderful songs that are entrenched in American music, this one stems from slave spirituals. And, as with the meaning of so many spirituals, it’s a mix of biblical and historical ideas.

What on earth are the “mournful numbers” in “A Psalm of Life”?

March 21, 2022September 19, 2016 by debisimons

When contemporary composer John Muehleisen set Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “A Psalm of Life” to music, he knew that the poet was not talking about actual weeping numbers in the first line, perhaps a number 7 with tears dripping from the end of the top bar. No. Here the word “number” means a piece, selection, or verse. When we refer to the songs in a Broadway show, for instance, we often call them “number,.” as in “a showstopping song-and-dance number.” Therefore, if we piece together the title, “A Psalm of Life,” the subtitle, “What the heart of the young man said to the Psalmist,” and the first two lines (“Tell me not in mournful numbers/Life is but an empty dream”), we get a message of hope, optimism, and action.