BACK TO MUSIC: A WORLD FAMOUS MELODY

Of the four musical elements (MELODY, RHYTHM, HARMONY, TIMBRE) only one of them can be identified repeatedly as such characterizations as "world famous" or thousands of other various descriptions. To clarify - it is much more difficult to say something like "world famous "rhythm" (well...maybe...) or "world famous harmony" (...possibly, but...) "world famous "timbre" (...very unlikely...) You get the idea.

But when it comes to MELODIES...wow...there must be unbelievable numbers of possibilities.

Having made this point, let's talk about one of the most famous military marches ever: THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER by the great John Philip Sousa. Everybody is acquainted with his works and whether you like them or not could have to do with how you feel about patriotism, or less complimentarily, jingoism. Certainly, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, patriotism was very "in" and Sousa gloried in its feeling, expressed through his music. But there is a major irony here. J.P.S.'s fondest wish was to write operettas! Fortunately for march lovers, just about everything he wrote came out sounding like a march. Since he had such a great fondness for operettas, he turned his considerable talents as a lyricist to setting words to much of his music.
EL CAPITAN, a marvelous 6/8 march has words that almost seem comical with this quintessentially military march.

You may recall that in an earlier post in this blog I stated that in our popular musical "standards" the melody (or "tune") came first 95% of the time.
That's what happened in the case of THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER. Sousa wrote the march itself in 1896 while he was in Europe. Word reached him of the death of the manager of his Sousa Band. He composed THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER in his head and committed the notes to paper later. A couple of years later, he was returning from another trip abroad, and as the ship entered New York harbor, he made up lyrics for what turned out to be his Magnum Opus - the great STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER.

My dad taught me these lyrics when I was a little kid, and I can still sing 'em. You might ask how my Pa knew the words. Back in his school days, the song was taught to all of the kids, and he never forgot them. Here they are:

THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER

Let martial note in triumph float, and liberty extend its mighty hand,
A flag appears, mid thunderous cheers - the banner of the Western land.

The emblem of the brave and true, its folds protect no tyrant crew -
The Red and White and starry Blue is freedom's shield and hope!

Other nations may deem their flags the best and cheer them with fervid elation,
But the flag of the North and South and West is the flag-of-flags...the flag of freedom's nation!

Hurrah for the flag of the free! * May it wave as our standard forever.
The gem of the land and the sea; the banner of the right!

Let despots remember the day when our fathers, with mighty endeavor,
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray:

That by their might and by their right it waves forever!
* also: Three cheers for the red, white and blue!

What a truly great melody! In the march itself, there is a "turn-around" also known as a dog fight. Sousa's marches always featured massive batteries of percussion and brass instruments.
As a little kid, I used to get goose pimples when the village band came marching down the street in the parade, playing that great march. I undoubtedly experienced true patriotism in my breast more than any other time in my life.

In ths blog I hope to talk about many more great melodies. Just for the record I (and many others) consider Jerome Kern's ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE to be a prime candidate for the all time best standard. Ironically, it came from a Broadway Show, Very Warm for May (1939) which folded after a very short run. Its lyrics were by the marvelous Oscar Hammerstein III, who was having his ups and downs until 1943 when he teamed up with Richard Rodgers in their groundbreaking great, OKLAHOMA!

In the words of Bugs Bunny, "Th-th-that's all, folks!"

Here's a short song that I just made up: "Please come back to my blog, or I'll call you a dirty dog!"

(Lotta class...right?) Phil