PDF version
Composer:
Martin, Jack
Year Composed:
2005
Availability:
Commercial
Publisher:
RMW Publishing
Year Published:
2005
Sheet Music Format:
A4, Score (24) & parts (12x3=36)
Approximate Duration:
6
Technical Difficulty:
Difficult
Structure/Movements:
One movement.
Andante - Hymn-like: A little slower - March-like - Slower - Allegro
Clefs:
Treble, bass
Key signatures:
2#, 1b, 2b
Meters:
C, ยข
Range:
Horn 1: e1 - bb2
Horn 2: g - f2
Horn 3: c1 - a2
Horn 4: f - e2
Horn 5: a - bb2
Horn 6: f - f2
Horn 7: a - a2
Horn 8: e - c#
Horn 9: a - g2
Horn 10: d - d2
Horn 11: f# - f2
Horn 12: D - d1
Performance Notes:
The tunes are outlined above, and while the number of players is (as would be expected from a transcription of songs) a bit too high for individual voices, the piece is fun to play and popular with audiences that like a bit of Americana in the repertoire.
Credits:
Access to review score: Nancy Joy (NMSU)
American medley is a short compilation utilizing five melodies that have become deeply ingrained into our collective conscience as being definitely "American."
With the exception of The Stars and Stripes Forever, none were conceived in the forms in which they exist today. The four tunes weren't even written specifically for the text to which each is now forever linked.
In the case of America the Beautiful, the music was originally the hymn Materna, with different lyrics, composed by Samuel Ward years before Katherine Lee Bates wrote her poem.
Amazing Grace is a melody of unknown origin. This pentatonic tune first appeared in print in this country as St. Mary in the early 1800's. It was later combined with the text by John Newton, being published as the hymn New Britain, known universally today as Amazing Grace. Some theories place the tune's beginnings in Scotland, others as an African-American slave tune.
During the Civil War, William Steffe wrote the camp-meeting hymn Oh brothers, will you meet us on Canaan's happy shore? already containing the familiar "Glory, Halleluiah" chorus. It evolved into the song John Brown's Body before Julia Howe wrote her poem "Battle Hymn of the Republic" specifically for the tune.
The origin of the melody to Shenandoah is another mystery, with some proposing that it incorporates both Irish and African-American elements. It became widely known as one of the few truly American sea shanties in the 19th century and remains to this day one of America's most popular fold songs.
Sousa's The Stars and Striped Forever is undeniably his most recognized work, and is also the official march of the United States. Unlike the others, which were joined to text or different text later, the 'Stars and Stripes' was composed in the purely instrumental form in which it is known today. It does have lyrics, added later by Sousa himself.