HOAGY CARMICHAEL’S HIDDEN MANUSCRIPT: THE DISCOVERY OF “OLD GLORY” FOR CHILDREN’S CHOIR AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Abstract

While looking through the Hoagy Carmichael Collection at the Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, I came across a musical manuscript that featured a children’s choir with chamber orchestra. I could find no mention of this work, “Old Glory,” in the published literature. The discovery of “Old Glory” prompted the proposition of three questions: 1) What evidence suggests that Hoagy Carmichael was the composer of “Old Glory?” 2) For what person or purpose was “Old Glory” written? 3) Why was “Old Glory” never published or recorded? To answer these questions, I engaged in historical research processes involving emersion, intensive study of primary and secondary sources, a process of verification as prescribed by Gottschalk, and harmonic analyses of “Old Glory” and other works by Carmichael. The findings of this research support the conclusion that Hoagy Carmichael likely composed “Old Glory” and may have worked in collaboration with an orchestrator for its creation. “Old Glory” is patriotic and bears similarities to other works by Carmichael including the final movement of his “Johnny Appleseed Suite,” a multi-movement work for which “Old Glory” may have originally been composed. Carmichael did not publish or record any of his orchestral works, demonstrating an established precedence. Possible reasons that he did not publish “Old Glory” could include the technical difficulties inherent in the work or feelings of self-doubt caused by negative reviews of his first orchestral composition, “Brown County Autumn.” The discovery of “Old Glory” constitutes a valuable addition to music education as a new work that should be taught and performed. This research also contributes to the literature by identifying the orchestrator of “Brown County Autumn” as Eugene Zádor.