It’s that month when every four years a President is inaugurated. As we might imagine, over the decades the music around that ceremony and its attendant events has varied with the times.    “Hail to the Chief” is the one tune that remains attached to the inauguration of the President of the United States, officially, since Andrew Jackson used it in 1829. The tune has been associated with the office since 1815 when it was played to honor George Washington and the end of the War of 1812, though it was then called “Wreaths for the Chieftain”. Subsequent to Jackson’s tenure, Martin van Buren, John Tyler, and James Polk continued the tradition. In fact, Polk’s wife, First Lady Sara Childress Polk, requested the anthem’s use on a regular basis to announce the arrival of the President. A historian of the day noted that “Polk was not an impressive figure, so some announcement was necessary to avoid the embarrassment of his entering a crowded room unnoticed. At large affairs the band rolled the drums as they played the march… and a way was cleared for the President.”

   President Chester Arthur did not like the tune, so he asked John Philip Sousa to compose a new song titled “Presidential Polonaise”. It didn’t catch on, and after Arthur left office, the Marine Band resumed playing “Hail to the Chief” for public appearances by the President. In 1954 the Department of Defense made it the official tribute to the President, and the song, preceded by four ruffles and flourishes on drums and bugles, accompanies the appearance of the President at many public events, including inauguration ceremonies. It is also played during a President’s state funeral specifically after the casket is removed from the hearse, every time. Incidentally, the four ruffles and flourishes represent the highest number of such tributes reserved to only the highest office in the United States.Click here

“Hail to the Chief” has lyrics, though they are rarely sung.

Hail to the Chief we have chosen for the nation,

Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all.

Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation

In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call.

Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander,

This you will do, that is our strong firm belief.

Hail the one we selected as commander,

Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief!

   Where there’s a will, there is technology. Watch this video of Luminous Voices, a professional choir in Alberta Canada, performing “The Road Home” by Stephen Paulus in a parking lot FROM THEIR CARS! You’d never know it if you closed your eyes and listened.Click here.

   This choral achievement was made possible by the innovative skills of music professor David Newman of James Madison University who came up with the idea of using the singers’ car radios to rehearse ‘together’. He started by recruiting some friends and their cars to experiment by having them sing into wireless microphones connected to a mixer. Then he connected the mixer to an FM radio transmitter. The transmitter then allowed the singers’ voices to be transmitted back to them through their car radios without any discernable delay. As anyone who has tried to rehearse or sing in a virtual choir knows, the rate limiting problem is feedback delay. Newman’s system eliminates the delay without the need for software programs to filter and adjust. And maybe best of all, the singers are singing together, even if from the front seat of an SUV. So far, Newman says he thinks about 20 choirs are using the idea to rehearse.

   Luminous Voices director, Tim Shantz, reports that about 200 concert goers showed up for the parking lot performance, tuning in on their car radios to listen. Instead of applauding their appreciation, they honked their car horns. Shantz mused, “It’s not just about the performers and satisfying something for us. You realize the importance of the performing arts to everyone.”

   The human spirit finds a way to sing in spite of every obstacle thrown in its way. Here’s to a better year for singers and their audiences in 2021!

Morton Feldman