God Bless America (arr Jennings)

From Wind Repertory Project
Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin (arr. Paul Jennings and Joyce Eilers)


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General Info

Year: 1918 / 1939 / 2001
Duration: c. 2:45
Difficulty: II (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Irving Berlin Music Co., exclusively distributed by Hal Leonard
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $45.00   |   Score Only (print) - $5.00


Instrumentation

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Irving Berlin wrote God Bless America in 1918 while serving in the U.S. Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York, but decided that it did not fit in a revue called Yip Yip Yaphank, so he set it aside. The lyrics at that time included the line "Make her victorious on land and foam, God bless America..." as well as "Stand beside her and guide her to the right with the light from above".

In 1938, with the rise of Adolf Hitler, Irving Berlin, who was Jewish and had arrived in America from Russia at the age of five, felt it was time to revive it as a "peace song," and it was introduced on an Armistice Day broadcast in 1938, sung by Kate Smith on her radio show.

God Bless America takes the form of a prayer (intro lyrics "as we raise our voices, in a solemn prayer") for God's blessing and peace for the nation ("...stand beside her and guide her through the night...").

- Program Note from Wikipedia


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Atlantic Wind Ensemble (Ocean Grove, N.J.) (Eliot Prowse, conductor) - 29 May 2021
  • Atlantic Wind Ensemble (Ocean Grove, N.J.) (Dennis T. Eschbach, conductor) – 25 May 2019
  • AUSA Military Band (Clovis, Calif.) (Monte Gmur, conductor) – 10 March 2019


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

  • Berlin, I.; Jennings, P.; Eilers, J. (2001). God Bless America [score]. Irving Berlin Music Co.: [United States].
  • God Bless America, Wikipedia Accessed 12 March 2019