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164 The National Music of America.
continued by the Italian and his monkey; it seemed as if " Hail Columbia" were imperishable.
All national songs undergo some alteration and improvement during their constant usage. Sometimes the original version of such song-? is full of musical flaws and harmonic errors. The " Marseillaise " in its early editions had a trumpet fanfare at the end of each verse that would not have passed muster in any musical examination; Carey's original copy of " God Save Great George, our King " had many harmonic errors.1 In a similar way, we find " Hail Columbia " in its first version (now in possession of the author) to contain musical progressions that set the teeth on edge.
We reprint this rare and early edition; it will be noticed that the song has not yet received a title, that the combination of
1 See Chappell's " National English Airs," \,. 86, footnote— Doctor Harington's letter. |
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