An Analyses of “When the Saints Go Marching in”

Kevin Fickel MUSC 105. 003 An Analysis of When the Saints Go Marching In The origins of When the Saints deplete never been fully explained in modern times. It was accreditedly written as a Negro Spiritual hymn sometime near the graduation of the 20th century. On written music, composers usually nonate it as a traditional piece, but the identity of the original author remains up for debate.Some sources claim that the original lyrics of When the Saints were penned by Katherine Pervis and put to music by crowd sorry in 1896, but many scholars forthwith believe that Pervis and Blacks composition was a completely different piece of music due to it universe titled When the Saints Are Marching In. Regardless, the original lyrics contain many spiritual references, particularly to heaven and the coming of paragons kingdom.In one of the verses, the author writes Oh when the trump sounds its call, oh when the trumpet sounds its call, I wish to be in that number, when the trumpet so unds its call, which is a reference to a transition in the book of Revelations, located in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The passage describes the sounding of seven trumpets by angels of heaven. Each trumpet brings active a specific catastrophic event upon the realness below, which is fill with those who were not taken in to heaven at the onset of the worlds end.Other references to things such as the moon turns red with blood and when the invigorated world is revealed are tied in with the end of days expound in Revelations, which the author describes a desire to avoid by being in heaven. Though the original lyrics describe dark and unfortunate events, today When the Saints has a positive connotation attached to it. When it is performed in modern times, it is at a much troubleder stride and the melody swings at an infectiously catchy pace.This change started probably due to a trend that originated in New Orleans that consisted of inserting a verse that discussed h ow a former adorer or relative had died, moved away, or was estranged from them and how they desired to represent them again, often in the next life (i. e. heaven). In one of the soonest know recordings of When the Saints, the blues artist Barbeque Bob sings I had a dear old m new(prenominal)wise, shes gone on to heaven I know, I promised the Lord Id meet her, when the Saints go borderland in. The belief that a one will be able-bodied to reunite with all of their loved ones who feel passed away before them, match with an image of heaven as eternal paradise for a reason instills hope in an individual. Taking this into account may explain the prevalence of bands performing When the Saints in New Orleans funeral marches. It may be that in the culture of New Orleans a funeral is not only a place for mourning the dead, but also a time to lionise the deceaseds passing into eternal paradise.Thus, When the Saints began a transformation from a solemn hymn to an upbeat funeral piec e and then to one of the close to famous jazz songs of all time. This transformation is quite staggering. When the song was starting signal written, there was no recording technology that enabled its original form to be preserved. Barbeque Bob performed the earliest recording of When the Saints in the early twentieth century. His rendition is performed on acoustic guitar and has a very resigned tempo with the boilersuit notion of the piece being one that fosters reflection.This style was probably interpretive program of the standard way to play the piece at the time and close to likely remained so until Louis Armstrong recorded his rendition of When the Saints in the format that more or less people recognize. Armstrong played When the Saints at a much faster tempo than Barbeque Bob and with a more upbeat and fun tone and with a full band featuring trombones, drums, a string bass, trumpet, clarinet, and several other instruments. Armstrongs rendition ushered in the more common rendition of When the Saints that emulates his fast tempo and upbeat tone.Armstrong also created a way of playing When the Saints that allowed for passages of improvisation, a mainstay in jazz music. The strophic form of the verses and running bass allows for other instruments to take turns improvising before returning to the original melody. However, this also caused When the Saints to become a more secular piece as it lost its previously sacral themes and lyrics. In a duet between Louis Armstrong and Danny Kaye, the lyrics previously talking about the end of days and joining with others in heaven are replaced with a series of clever puns of the names of famous classical composers.This shows the shift of When the Saints from a sacred hymn mean to inspire to a song intended to entertain. Instead of being played in church sanctuaries, it mostly is performed at concerts by ensembles not affiliated with any particular church. In earshot to different recordings of this timeless piece that I myself have performed a hardly a(prenominal) times in my life, I was most surprised to learn that When the Saints was not always an upbeat jazz piece. Hearing the evolution of this song by the various recordings was very interesting. I can say that I have a newfound interest in this piece that was not there before.