Patriotic Tune Selections
This is not a comprehensive list of all patriotic tunes just some that we thought would be nice to include. When available a brief history is also included.
1812 Overture - With a performance history going back over 300 years, Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" may have been written by a Russian to commemorate a new cathedral, but today it is perhaps most well known as a musical symbol of America's independence.
Old 1812 Quickstep (fife vsn) - Old 1812 is a standard tune played by many ancient fife and drum corps. We are unaware of any lyrics having been written for this piece.
America, the Beautiful - was based on a poem written by the professor, poet, and writer, Katharine Lee Bates, during an 1893 trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado. When she got to the top of Pike’s Peak, the view was so beautiful that it inspired her to write, "All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse."
America the Beautiful vsn 2 -
American Patrol - The song American Patrol was written by F. W. Meacham and was first recorded and released by Sousa's Band in 1901.
Anchors Aweigh - Composed by Charles A. Zimmerman and Alfred Hart dedicated to the Naval Academy class of 1907.
Ashokan Farewell - named for Ashokan, a camp in the Catskill Mountains not far from Woodstock, New York.
Battle Hymn of the Republic - Julia Ward Howe wrote the song as a pro-Union, anti-slavery anthem.
Battle Hymn of the Republic (fife vsn) -
Dixie - originated in the minstrel shows of the 1850s and quickly became popular throughout the United States.
Field Artillery March - patriotic military march of the United States Army written in 1917 by John Philip Sousa, based on an earlier work by Edmund L. Gruber.
Globe and Eagle - takes its title from the emblem of the U. S. Marine Corps. Chosen by Sousa while he was an orchestra conductor in Philadelphia.
God Bless the USA - an American patriotic song written and recorded by American country music artist Lee Greenwood
Grand Ol' Flag - written by George Cohan in 1906 and is still a well-known and well-loved song today, more than one hundred years later!
Green Beret - written by then Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler, beginning when he was training to be a Special Forces medic. He recorded the song December 1965
Hail To The Chief - The melody was based on an old Gaelic air, and the song was first performed in the United States in 1812. It was not until 1829 that the first documented performance of the music in the presence of the President of the United States occurred.
King Cotton March - A military march composed in 1895 by John Philip Sousa, for the Cotton States and International Exposition (1895)
Liberty Bell March - an American military march composed by John Philip Sousa for jis unfinished operetta The Devil's Deputy.
Patriotic Medley -
Saints Go Marchin' On - originated as a 19th century or earlier African American religious song.
Semper Fidelis - written in 1888 by John Philip Sousa and is regarded as the official march of the United States Marine Corps.
Star Spangled Banner - written on September 14, 1814, by the then 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbor during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812.
Star Spangled Banner vsn. 2 -
Star and Stripes Forever - John Philip Sousa wrote the march “The Stars and Stripes Forever” on Christmas Day, 1896.
Star and Stripes Forever vsn. 2 -
USA Collection...version 1 -
USA Collection...version 2 -
Washington Post March - John Philip Sousa wrote the march and introduced it at a ceremony on June 15, 1889, “with President Benjamin Harrison in attendance” before “a huge crowd on the grounds of the Smithsonian Museum.”
When Johnny Comes Marchin' Home Again - written by the Irish-American bandleader Patrick Gilmore during the American Civil War. The melody was previously published around July 1, 1863, as the music to the Civil War drinking song "Johnny Fill Up the Bowl".
Yankee Doodle - Seems to have been written by a British army physician, Dr. Richard Schuckberg, during the French and Indian War. It was a satiric look at New England’s Yankees.
Hymnal selections:
Peace in the Valley - a 1937 song written by Thomas A. Dorsey, originally for Mahalia Jackson.
How Great Thou Art - a Christian hymn based on a Swedish traditional melody and a poem written by Carl Boberg (1859–1940) in Mönsterås, Sweden, in 1885.
Amazing Grace - a Christian hymn published in 1779, with words written in 1772 by the English poet and Anglican clergyman John Newton.