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The Music Corner by Herb Tardiff
O beautiful for spacious skies…
When we hear that first line of one of our most beloved national hymns, the emotions of Love for Country stir within us. Do you know the story behind this Independence Day song?
Katharine Lee Bates (1859 -1929), wrote the original poem in 1893 and revised it twice in 1904 and 1913. The words of this song came from a poem of the same title by Bates. It was originally published in the July 4th edition of The Congregationalist, 1895.
Bates was a teacher and professor of English at Wellesley College, poet and author of books such as America the Beautiful and Other Poems, which was published in 1911.
She made a trip to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, which was her inspiration for the lyrics to America the Beautiful. There is a plaque there today and the story is best told by Katharine herself: “We strangers celebrated the close of the session by a merry expedition to the top of Pike’s Peak, making the ascent by the only method then available for people not vigorous enough to achieve the climb on foot nor adventurous enough for burro-riding. Prairie wagons, their tail-boards emblazoned with the traditional slogan, “Pike’s Peak or Bust,” were pulled by horses up to the half-way house, where the horses were relieved by mules. We were hoping for half an hour on the summit, but two of our party became so faint in the rarified air that we were bundled into the wagons again and started on our downward plunge so speedily that our sojourn on the peak remains in memory hardly more than one ecstatic gaze. It was then and there, as I was looking out over the sea-like expanse of fertile country spreading away so far under those ample skies, that the opening lines of the hymn floated into my mind.”
The original melody was written in 1882 by Samuel Augustus Ward, a composer and organist. It was titled Materna and was first published in 1910. It was sung for many years to the tune of Auld Lang Syne. It was said there were as many as 74 different melodies tried out on the poem before deciding on the one we hold so dear.
Ward died one year before the song was published as America the Beautiful. Ward and Bates never did meet.
Interestingly, Ward’s family never obtained any royalties for the song and Bates received $5 when the poem was first published and then gave up all royalties to the title.
Along with My Country ‘Tis of Thee and The Star Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful was considered for the national anthem. But President Herbert Hoover signed a law giving the right to bear the national anthem to The Star Spangled Banner. Many disagreed and have lobbied down through the years for it to be changed to America the Beautiful. There are still many active petitions today.
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