Star Spangled Banner - what arrangement for Sym Orchestra?

[JohnL]

Obviously, this is directed primarily at orchestra musicians in the USA...

What orchestral arrangements of the Star Spangled Banner have you played and what is your opinion of them?

[BGuttman]

We have a very old version on the "small octavo" size in Bb that we always played. No idea whose arrangement it was.

One other orchestra I played for had the Stokowski arrangement in A. String players loved it; winds and brass not so much. At one time the A arrangement was illegal in Massachusetts and I heard a story (probably apocryphal) of the Boston police removing the music from the Boston Pops stands before a concert.

[JohnL]

One other orchestra I played for had the Stokowski arrangement in A. String players loved it; winds and brass not so much. At one time the A arrangement was illegal in Massachusetts and I heard a story (probably apocryphal) of the Boston police removing the music from the Boston Pops stands before a concert.

There's a similar story about Boston PD arresting Igor Stravinsky because his arrangement has a dominant seventh chord in it.

I've seen a set of guidelines for the SSB, but they don't, in and of themselves, carry the force of law, though I suppose the Massachusetts state government might have passed a resolution or some such on the subject.

[harrisonreed]

Pershing's Own should be able to provide their orchestration, including strings, free of charge since it is a US Government publication.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/live/tuFpGD0ldW ... cy8E6vTgTx[/media]

Obviously you don't need the chorus for the orchestration to work. I prefer the military versions of the anthem, because they usually don't embellish anything too much. The Navy arrangement is usually the best.

[flotrb]

National Anthem Committee, April 2, 1942: "The Code for the National Anthem of the United States of America" reads as follows:

National Anthem.pdf

[JohnL]

National Anthem Committee, April 2, 1942: "The Code for the National Anthem of the United States of America" reads as follows: National Anthem.pdf

As I mentioned in my earlier post when I linked to that document, it does not carry the force of law (at least in and of itself), though it's possible that it has been officially adopted in some jurisdictions. If such is the case, the vast majority of vocal performances of the anthem that I've heard would have been illegal in those jurisdictions. I desperately want to avoid having a debate about what is and is not an appropriate presentation of the anthem (I have strong opinions of my own on the subject).

I'm looking for feedback from people about specific orchestral arrangements that they have performed (or at least heard performed).

[BGuttman]

My impression was that the Ab arrangement was more for vocal accompaniment (doesn't go quite as high).

I played a version in Eb from the 2nd NH Volunteer Post Band that was in Eb with a florid Eb cornet solo. You also couldn't sing the words to it. Interesting, but more in an academic way. This arrangement is in the American Memory part of the Smithsonian. Scored for Civil War era brass band, not orchestra.

[2bobone]

To my knowledge, there STILL is not an official version of The National Anthem. Somewhere around 1962 or 1963 the U.S. Army Band, at the behest of Congressman Joel Broyhill [VA] , arranged a historical review of arrangements of the Anthem at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. The choices ranged from a Civil War presentation to one that boggled the imagination. It was The National Anthem played in the style of Richard Wagner's Tannhauser Overture, with cascading clarinets and blaring brass ! Then the big moment arrived and Congressman Broyhill announced the proposed version that would become the officially accepted version. It had the use of the dreaded seventh chord on the word "FREE". The applause was tremendous !! Then the Congressman shouted, "Would you like to hear it again" ? More applause and then we played it again !! Even more applause !! Then ---- before he could read his prepared speech proposing that the version should be accepted as the official version ---- a tiny, little, old lady stood up in the front row and began protesting ! Her name was Otilly Sutrow [I'm pretty sure I've spelled that correctly] and she claimed to have known a family member of Francis Scott Key who told her that he could not sing the highest pitch in the piece himself ! Members of the press quickly surrounded Ms. Sutrow and the Congressman's project was thrown off track entirely ! Her picture was in The Washington Post the next day with scant attention to the Congressman's pet project which was the reason we were all there in the first place. I don't recall any official endorsement of TUSAB's arrangement but am sure that we continued to play that version [Seventh chord and all !] throughout my hitch in TUSAB. We had a version which used The U.S. Army Herald Trumpets [I played "G" Bass Herald] to great effect.
I'm pretty sure that I played on the Smithsonian civil War Band recording that Bruce mentioned. It was probably on their Over-The- Shoulder Saxhorns if memory serves. I am away from the recordings at present and cannot check to be sure. It was a rather bland rendition of the piece. Those were some fun times !
In 1931 Herbert Hoover accepted "The Star Spangled Banner" as the national anthem but no arrangement of the piece was officially stipulated.

[AtomicClock]

a tiny, little, old lady stood up in the front row and began protesting ! Her name was Otilly Sutrow

Wikipedia calls her a "confidence trickster". I wonder if something was going down.

[JohnL]

The choices ranged from a Civil War presentation to one that boggled the imagination. It was The National Anthem played in the style of Richard Wagner's Tannhauser Overture, with cascading clarinets and blaring brass !

I suspect the "Wagner-ish" version was Sousa's arrangement for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2023871328/

a tiny, little, old lady stood up in the front row and began protesting ! Her name was Otilly Sutrow

Wikipedia calls her a "confidence trickster". I wonder if something was going down.

My guess is that was seeking publicity that she could leverage into invitations to various social events...

[2bobone]

My thanks to "AtomicClock" for alerting me to the semi-sordid past of Ottilie Sutro and her duo-pianist sister, Rose. Apologies for my original spelling of her name. When I saw her over 60 years ago she looked like a "Sweet little old lady". Boy ! Was I wrong ! The sisters definitely had a larcenous streak in them, and, as has been mentioned, probably hoped to scam their way into something bigger and better ! Her claim to have known a member of Francis Scott Key's family was obviously part of the scam. They should have entered politics !