The Brothers Johnson write an anthem

Synopsis

On today’s date in the year 1900, the principal of Stanton Elementary in Jacksonville, Florida was asked to give a Lincoln’s Day speech to his students. Stanton was a segregated school for African-American children, and was the school that its principal, James Weldon Johnson, had attended. He decided he would rather have the students do something themselves, perhaps sing an inspirational song. He decided to write the words himself, and enlisted the aid of his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, who was a composer.

“We planned to have it sung by schoolchildren, a chorus of 500 voices. I got my first line, ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ — not a startling first line, but I worked along, grinding out the rest,” Johnson recalled. He gave the words to his brother as they came to him, not even writing them down as his brother worked at the piano. By the time they finished, he confessed he was moved by what they had created: “I could not keep back the tears and made no effort to do so.”

The song was a great success on February 12th, 1900, and then was pretty much forgotten by Johnson — but not by the children who sang it. They memorized it. Some of them became teachers, and taught it to their students. The song spread across the country, and soon became the unofficial National Anthem of Black America.

“We wrote better than we knew,” he said.

Music Played in Today's Program

J.W. (1871-1938) and J.R. (1873-1954) Johnson: “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”; Choirs and Boston Pops Orchestra; Keith Lockhart, conductor; BMG/RCA 63888

On This Day

Births

• 1567 - Baptism of English composer and poet Thomas Campion, in London

• 1760 - Bohemian composer and keyboard virtuoso Jan Ladislav (Johann Ladislaus/ Ludwig) Dussek (Dusik), in Cáslav

• 1898 - American composer Roy Harris, in Chandler, Oklahoma

• 1923 - American composer Mel Powell, in New York City

Deaths

• 1799 - Czech composer and pianist František Xaver Dušek (Duschek, Duscheck or Dussek), 67 in Prague. He was a friend and colleague of Mozart.

• 1896 - French composer Amboise Thomas, 84, in Paris

• 1906 - Russian composer Anton Arensky, 43 (Gregorian date: Feb. 25)

• 1915 - French composer, conductor and pianist Emile Waldteufel, 77, in Paris

• 1959 - American composer George Antheil, 58, in New York

• 1972 - English composer Benjamin Frankel, 67, in London

Premieres

• 1760 - Rameau: comedy-ballet Les Paladins, in Paris

• 1797 - Haydn: A National Song, in Vienna, in honor of the birthday of the Austrian Emperor Franz II (who reigned from 1792-1835). This melody was later used as a theme in Haydn’s String Quartet No. 3 (Emperor), and eventually became the Austrian national anthem.

• 1894 - Rachmaninoff: Trio Élégiaque (Elegiac Trio) No. 2, for violin, cello, and piano, in Moscow, with Yuly Konyus (Julius Conus) (violin), Anatoly Brandukov (cello), and the composer at the piano (Julian date: Jan. 31)

• 1905 - Koussevitzky: Double-Bass Concerto (Gregorian date: Feb. 25)

• 1909 - Paderewski: Polonia Symphony, by the Boston Symphony, Max Fiedler conducting

• 1924 - Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, at Aeolian Hall in New York, with Paul Whiteman conducting and the composer as soloist

• 1936 - David Diamond: Three Vocalises for soprano and viola, at the third Composer’s Forum Laboratory in New York City (sponsored by the WPA Federal Music Project), by soprano Louise Taylor and violist John Howell

• 1964 - Cowell: Quartet Euphometric, at Philharmonic Hall in New York City, by the Galimir String Quartet. This music was composed between 1916-1919.

Others

• 1785 - Likely date of the premiere performances of three of Mozart’s Haydn Quartets, at his apartment in Vienna, with Haydn present and a quartet made up of Leopold and Wolfgang Mozart with the Barons Anton and Bartholmaus Tinti.