"Chester"

[mmcirvin]

Okay, here is something that has baffled me for a while. The Morton Gould piece to which I am listening is based on an American Revolutionary hymn called "Chester", which was apparently one of the most popular patriotic songs at the time and sort of an unofficial proto-national anthem for a while.

This page has some lyrics for "Chester". These lyrics have been somewhat redacted: originally they were much more specific about naming names, which made the song rather inflammatory.

In any case, try as I might I can't figure out how you'd sing those lyrics to this tune. They don't quite seem to go. Were they just a little looser about beats-to-syllables correspondence at the time? Were they doing Mariah Carey type histrionics with the "i-i-iron rod"?

UPDATE: It was William Schuman, not Morton Gould. Thanks, Sam.

Comments

[samantha2074.livejournal.com]

Dear Matt,

William Schuman != Morton Gould

Also, the lyrics would work fine -- if sung to another tune. I don't get that.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

I didn't even look at the tag. I think I was doing free association: "Chester" -> Dick Tracy creator Chester Gould -> Morton Gould. Or maybe I was mixing up Fall River Legend with New England Triptych.