Re: "God Bless America"

[Fred Blumenthal <xd2fabl...>]

I hope we're all aware of the difference between an anthem and a hymn.  The
best illustration may well be the Protestant church (sorry) where an anthem
is a supposedly more virtuosic and demanding piece sung by choir, maybe
with soloists, while a hymn is sung by the congregation, and has lesser
demands.  Thus the much-criticized "Star-Spangled Banner" is correctly
labeled an anthem, and I believe that "America" (same tune as the British
national anthem) is correctly the official American hymn.  I wouldn't want
to be the one to suggest beginning baseball games with "America" instead of
the "SSB," or everyone having a snort or two before trying that melody,
like those who toasted Anachreon; but those ideas would make sense.

Fred Blumenthal
xd2fabl (at) us(dot)ibm(dot)com



                                                                                
                                 
                      Alex Lubet                                                
                                 
                      <lubet001 (at) umn(dot)edu>         To:       World music 
from a Jewish slant                       
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                      shamash.org                Subject:  Re: "God Bless 
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                      09/17/2002 02:39 PM                                       
                                 
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Geez, I was only kidding.

At 07:33 PM 9/17/2002 +0000, you wrote:
>>Please don't be so hard on God Bless America; composed by a Jew
>>and >rhymes 'foam' and 'home'.  To quote a great Jewish lyricist, Who
>>could >ask for anything more?
>
>Alex and friends,
>
>I am indeed hard on "God Bless America" and expect to remain so.
>
>Woody Guthrie composed "This Land Is Your Land"--proposed by some
>(wishfully, I'm afraid) as an alternative anthem--inspired, negatively, by

>Irving Berlin's song.  He thought that the song had an unspoken
>connotation of being sung by, and for, the wealthy/prosperous and smug
>(Berlin was certainly the first, though he was a heartfelt patriot, if a
>lousy citizen of the Jewish people)--*not* for ordinary working
>stiffs.  (So the refrain of "TLIYL" was originally "God blessed America
>for me" [where we sing, and Woody changed it to:  "This land was made for
>you and me"].)  Captures my sentiments exactly--especially when I hear the

>obnoxious Kate Smith singing GBA.  I realize many sing it with heartfelt
>and patriotic sincerity--but I cringe.
>
>TLIYL, by the way, was written to a borrowed (or, Woody might say, stolen)

>melody, just as The Star Spangled Banner was.  In a private communication,

>Steve Barnett conveyed that he thought that I was saying that TSSB's
>borrowed melody was one reason why (he agreed) it shouldn't be our
>national anthem; but, fwiw, that wasn't my point; contrafacta (new words
>to an old melody) are ubiquitous in folk as in Jewish music and embrace
>some of our most cherished songs, and I wouldn't rule out an anthem
>candidate on that basis.
>
>("My Country, Tis of Thee" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic" are both, of
>course, also contrafacts; and "Hatikvah" itself is very likely a
>contrafact to a Roumanian folk song and, in any case, its melody is a
>so-called wandering melody, found in innumerable cultures--not remotely
>original.
>"America the Beautiful," otoh, which is my personal--and
>others'--candidate for anthem, was, I believe, written to an original
>melody.  Has anyone seen/read the new book on ATB, written, improbably, by

>some TV personality, I believe?  Any good?)
>
>I'm well aware of the data that Steve usefully supplied in re TSSB, as I
>have the incredible good fortune of having found a rare book--an entire
>book!--on the anthem in a second-hand store.  Just a wealth of material on

>Key's words, the melody, appearances in print of TSSB, and, I believe, on
>the *many* (I believe a hundred or more, maybe two hundred [sets of])
>words that were written to the "Anachreon in Heaven" melody before
>Key's.  But, to echo Alex, I wouldn't be so hard on the anthem for *that*
>(borrowed melody) reason; the Anachreon society was actually, a drinking
>*and poetry* society:  They read poems in a pub and, I guess, toasted each

>one!  Kind of classy in its own way, no?  And as for extolling wine,
>women, and song--To which, brother Steve, do you take exception?
>
>Best wishes to all,
>
>Robert Cohen
>
>
>
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Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
Adjunct Professor of American and Jewish Studies
University of Minnesota
100 Ferguson Hall
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 (o)
612 699-1097 (h)
612 624-8001  ATTN:  Alex Lubet (FAX)







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