America the beautiful : the stirring true story behind our nation's favorite song / Lynn Sherr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sherr, Lynn, author.

Contributor:

Schimmel, Caroline F., donor, associated name.

Caroline F. Schimmel Collection of Women in the American Wilderness (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bates, Katharine Lee, 1859-1929. America the beautiful.

Bates, Katharine Lee.

Ward, Samuel A., 1848-1903. America the beautiful.

Ward, Samuel A.

Patriotic poetry, American--History and criticism.

Patriotic poetry, American.

National songs--United States--History and criticism.

National songs.

United States--Songs and music--History and criticism.

United States.

America the beautiful (Ward, Samuel A.).

Songs.

Genre:

Songs.

Music.

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

125 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Public Affairs, 2001.

Summary:

We've all sung it a thousand times, and most of us know at least the first verse by heart. It has been called a hymn, a prayer, our unofficial national anthem -- in short, "the national heartbeat set to music." It is "America the Beautiful," the song that has expressed the dreams of Americans from Ray Charles to Elvis Presley, from eager immigrants to hopeful graduates, from the battlefields of World War I to the playing fields of the Super Bowl. "America the Beautiful" came together in a confluence of good luck and sheer good will. In this first full biography of the song Americans love to sing, Lynn Sherr reveals the dramatic story behind its unlikely creation. She profiles the New England poet, Katharine Lee Bates, who composed the verse after an inspirational trek to the top of Pikes Peak, Colorado. She introduces us to Samuel Augustus Ward, who conceived the melody in a moment of Victorian inspiration after a trip to Coney Island. Katharine and Sam never met -- never even communicated -- but their soaring creations so seamlessly captured the American spirit, that they would be forever linked in our national heritage. Sherr also explores the song's nineteenth-century roots, pointing out its connection to the Civil War and to the commercial and technological progress of a nation charging forward. And she analyzes the words we sing so often: What are "alabaster cities" anyway? Why "amber waves of grain"? Finally, Sherr discloses little-known facts about the song Katharine Lee Bates irreverently called "A. the B." The words that never made the final cut. The different tunes -- nearly eighty -- we might have sung. How it almost -- and still might -- replace "The Star-Spangled Banner." As Lynn Sherr writes, "When I started this book and told people I was writing about 'America the Beautiful,' the first thing some said was 'Why?' For others, it was 'Wow!' But then they all paused and added the same thing: 'I love that song.' So do I."--book jacket flap.

Contents:

Introduction

The poem

The music

The song

The meaning

The anthem

The legacy.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (page 119) and index.

Local Notes:

Schimmel 8149: Presented to the Penn Libraries in 2024 by Caroline F. Schimmel. With dust jacket. Article from October 18, 2001 New York Times by James Barron mentioning the book and author laid in.

ISBN:

1586480855 $$q (hardcover)

9781586480851 $$q (hardcover)

OCLC:

47289592