America the Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind Our Nation's Favorite Song

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Summary: An amazing, exciting and intriguing history of the song
Review: America The Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind Our Nation's Favorite Song by journalist and author Lynn Sherr, is an historical account of a patriotic American classic and recommended for both school and community library American history collections. Individual chapters delve into the history of the original poem, the music that made the song, the meaning of the anthem and the legacy of this patriotic work. Filled with color photographs, reproductions of primary sources and a fascinating wealth of lore, America The Beautiful is an amazing, exciting and intriguing history of the song that defines the United States.

Rating:
Summary: "It is not food for the soul, but wine"
Review: Lynn Sherr describes the poem, music, meaning, history, and legacy of the song "America the Beautiful" in this unique book. In many ways this book is a glimpse at the Progressive era in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Katharine Lee Bates, author of the poem, was a progressive intellectual who supported many views which were considered radical in her time (i.e. women's rights, pacifism, social service, etc.). Sherr follows Bates on her travels to a teacher's sojourn in Colorado, where Bates received inspiration for her poem. On her way, Bates visited the 1893 Columbia Exposition in Chicago where she was awed by the "White City" (not so much a racist classification-at least not as Bates regarded it-but an interpretation of the ideal urban civilization). This experience found its way in the fourth stanza of Bates' poem as "alabaster cities." Bates also visited Jane Addams' Hull House on this trip. Samuel Ward, of which little is known, is also discussed briefly. Ward wrote the music that would later be used for "America the Beautiful" in the form of a hymn entitled "Materna" (with the lyrics for "Oh Mother, Dear Jerusalem.") His inspiration came during a visit to Coney Island.

What I found to be fascinating is how Bates' poem captured the hearts of so many people even before it was set to music that many wished was our national anthem. Bates received hundreds of letters praising her poem from all age groups. I cannot imagine any poem moving the people of the nation today except, perhaps, if it were in the form of a rap. I found the explanation on how Bates' poem and Ward's music were united to be very interesting. Sherr also includes the original version of the poem and the different changes Bates incorporated. Sherr put a lot of care into this book, including many photos, postcards, sheet music, and other paraphernalia related to the story. She also interviewed people like the composer of "A Chorus Line" about the song: "it's very relaxed at ["the fruited plain"] point, and then it just bursts forward" (pg. 56). Music expert Marvin Hamlisch gives his opinion on other musical renditions of the poem (pg. 62). Sherr does not hide her political leanings in this book (she mentions that Al Gore used a line from the song as part of his concession speech, which she must have deemed a highlight in the song's legacy). Sherr is also blatantly sycophantic when describing the life of Bates, but this book is still a very interesting, well-written, and beautifully constructed tribute to one of our most famous patriotic songs. It has 113 pages of text and is well illustrated. I recommend shopping around for the best deal.

Rating:
Summary: "It is not food for the soul, but wine"
Review: Lynn Sherr describes the poem, music, meaning, history, and legacy of the song "America the Beautiful" in this unique book. In many ways this book is a glimpse at the Progressive era in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Katharine Lee Bates, author of the poem, was a progressive intellectual who supported many views which were considered radical in her time (i.e. women's rights, pacifism, social service, etc.). Sherr follows Bates on her travels to a teacher's sojourn in Colorado, where Bates received inspiration for her poem. On her way, Bates visited the 1893 Columbia Exposition in Chicago where she was awed by the "White City" (not so much a racist classification-at least not as Bates regarded it-but an interpretation of the ideal urban civilization). This experience found its way in the fourth stanza of Bates' poem as "alabaster cities." Bates also visited Jane Addams' Hull House on this trip. Samuel Ward, of which little is known, is also discussed briefly. Ward wrote the music that would later be used for "America the Beautiful" in the form of a hymn entitled "Materna" (with the lyrics for "Oh Mother, Dear Jerusalem.") His inspiration came during a visit to Coney Island.

What I found to be fascinating is how Bates' poem captured the hearts of so many people even before it was set to music that many wished was our national anthem. Bates received hundreds of letters praising her poem from all age groups. I cannot imagine any poem moving the people of the nation today except, perhaps, if it were in the form of a rap. I found the explanation on how Bates' poem and Ward's music were united to be very interesting. Sherr also includes the original version of the poem and the different changes Bates incorporated. Sherr put a lot of care into this book, including many photos, postcards, sheet music, and other paraphernalia related to the story. She also interviewed people like the composer of "A Chorus Line" about the song: "it's very relaxed at ["the fruited plain"] point, and then it just bursts forward" (pg. 56). Music expert Marvin Hamlisch gives his opinion on other musical renditions of the poem (pg. 62). Sherr does not hide her political leanings in this book (she mentions that Al Gore used a line from the song as part of his concession speech, which she must have deemed a highlight in the song's legacy). Sherr is also blatantly sycophantic when describing the life of Bates, but this book is still a very interesting, well-written, and beautifully constructed tribute to one of our most famous patriotic songs. It has 113 pages of text and is well illustrated. I recommend shopping around for the best deal.

Rating:
Summary: History rewritten
Review: The story behind "America the Beautiful" is as emotionally moving as the song it produced and Lynn Sherr has captured all of this in her timely new book. I read it this evening and found myself on more than one occasion needing to go to my piano and play and sing through this wonderful national song.

Many facts leap out at the reader...the poet and author of "America the Beautiful", Katharine Lee Bates, never met the composer, Samuel A. Ward, and except for one $5 fee, neither received any money for it...Mr. Ward died before the tune and text ever appeared together in print...and that dozens of other tunes were proposed to be wedded to Miss Bates's poem yet it wasn't until shortly before her death in 1929 that tune and text became the accepted national version that we sing today.

There are many more rich details to this story and Ms. Sherr has put them forward with colorful prints throughout the book, many of them reminders of the times in which these two gifted people lived. Fate certainly played several pivotal parts. The biggest was Miss Bates's trip west in the summer of 1893 where she was inspired in at least three places to pen lines that exist in the song today... "alabaster cities" (from seeing the "White City" of the Chicago World's Fair), "amber waves of grain" (while passing through Kansas on a train) and "spacious skies", "purple mountain majesties" and "above the fruited plain" from her view atop Pikes' Peak. But we also learn that it is quite plausible that Samuel Ward wrote the tune on a friend's linen cuff as he left Coney Island one day aboard a boat. And if it hadn't been for a conscientious clergyman from Rochester New York, the words and music might never have been paired. I'm glad that a few other musical attempts that tried to be tied with the poem are printed in this book...play through them and you'll see why Mr. Ward's music is clearly superior.

After the story itself is finished, Ms. Sherr goes on to give her thoughts on the meaning of the song and the fight to get it established as our National Anthem to replace the "Star-Spangled Banner". This point has been fought over for a long time and will continue to be. For those of us who much prefer "America the Beautiful" it is reassuring to know that in almost every gathering I have attended since September 11 where music has been sung, "America the Beautiful" is one people request. It's no wonder. This great song reflects on the America in which we live, hope and dream. Lynn Sherr has done a magnificent job.

Rating:
Summary: History rewritten
Review: This book is another liberal's attempt to rewrite history. This book is totally the author's attempt to push her own liberal views. She states that the poem just came into KB's head but then tears the song down and interrupts each line to fit her own views. She tries to prove that Katherine Bates was a godless disgusting individual. I seriously doubt that Katherine Bates could have been a lesbian, an environmentalist, an animal rights activist, anti-war, and anti-God. That seems to describe a 21st century correspondent.