Sigma Alpha Iota

A PRESIDENTIAL MYSTERY as she passed the army nurses gave her an American flag which she bore proudly. The President was the last to come ashore amid a perfect whirlwind of cheers. His face was beaming, and silk hat in hand, he bowed acknowledging at either side as waves of cheering bore in on him…The Mayor spoke in French, but the President appeared to follow as he heard himself greeted as the apostle of Liberty come to relieve the tortured peoples of Europe from their agony and as an eminent statesman who defended their aspirations for Justice and Liberty." Wilson received most of the poems and pieces of music on these reels while he was in residence in France for those many months. As an example, one such poem, "Homage to the American Army," found with no author identification, was received complete with a musical manuscript, written with French lyrics and the following English translation: At President Wilson's eloquent call Whose voice makes their hearts vibrate in unison, Guided by the Statue with its symbolic torch Lighting up their way across the Atlantic, These proud Republicans jealous of our laurels In their mighty bottoms, embark by thousands. They are coming, scorning the snares of the deep To help us in saving the Liberty of the world. On arriving to the front, they charged at the Hun Like the Yaer and Verdun heroes With the same gallantry and the same endurance, The same ardent desire, the same prayer of hope To send the enemy from life to death With the same war cry "They shall not pass." The American Army, in their deep hatred, Have sworn to save the Liberty of the world. On your way back to your homes Bent under the weight of numerous laurels, Our old folks, our children, the tenderly moved mothers, Our great dead rising from their flowered graves And the sweet nurses with their dear maimed In chorus will cheer your star-spangled banners… Your banners that give us once more the peace which alone is fruitful And that save for ever the Liberty of the world Included among the music was a "Valse de la Liberation" and a "Wilson Valse," both on manuscript paper, obviously written by amateurs. Among the published works, was a song called "Good-bye Shot and Shell dedicated to Woodrow Wilson and his world-famous policy of lasting peace through a concert of power by a League of Nations-the Great and Final Enterprise of Humanity": Peace, peace welcome sound, Flash the news the whole world 'round, Run tell Mother, Sister Brother Daddy's on his way Peace, peace, Yankee crowne Old Flag never touched the ground, Colors flying, no more sighing Celebrate the day… Goodbye shot, goodbye shell, Goodbye suffering, goodbye hell Goodbye slavery of Nations, Goodbye baines (?) for daily rations Goodbye Czar, and King and Kaiser, Now we trust you all are wiser. Goodbye cooties, rats and stenches, No more muddy, bloody trenches. Goodbye gas bombs, torture filling, No more Zeppline baby killing. Goodbye battlefields and moaning, Hindenburg and submarining. War times, war times, come again no more, For it's goodbye, goodbye, goodbye shot and shell. On the line "War times, war times, come again no more" the composer Gerald Peck quoted a musical line from Stephen Foster's song "Hard Times Come Again No More." The song has a Foster quality about it: simple, singable and rousingly joyous. War will never come again. The World War was the war to end all wars! Hurrah! Coming of The Apocalypse At the beginning of these two microfilm reels of "Musical Compositions" was a musical libretto entitled The Apocalypse: Dramatic Oratorio. The document didn't seem to fit the other works in the collection that praised Wilson as a world savoir or America's soldiers as liberating heroes. I didn't give it much thought right away. After looking at the microfilms, I went home with some copies of the triumphant songs. However, over the next few days I began to think about The Apocalypse and decided to go back, since I had not copied it, and look at it again. Something intrigued me about this unusually serious libretto in the midst of celebratory poetry and music. What I discovered by reading through the document, was that the libretto, taken from the Books of Daniel and Revelation in the Bible, was created in 1918 by Pauline Arnoux MacArthur and Henri Pierre Roche, under the auspices of the National Federation of Music Clubs. The Federation was seeking a composer to set the libretto to music in a manner that "would be original, dramatic and of high spiritual value." The work was not to exceed two hours. The contest would award the winning composer $5,000 — in today's value about $50,000, a substantial sum. The dramatic oratorio was divided into four sections: Prologue, Belshazzar's Feast; Part 1, Armageddon; Part 2, Babylon; Part 3, The Millennium. The libretto was very explicit, all the characters designated and all the texts written out. In the top right hand corner of the title page was a hand-written: "May 1918." Who might have written this date and could it possibly be Woodrow Wilson's own handwriting? Woodrow Wilson was not in Europe yet when he received this document; in May 1918, he was still in the United States and would not leave for France until late December of that year. I looked through the Wilson Papers (on microfilm) and was able to find an outline and notes that Wilson made in his own hand in preparation for a speech given to the American Red Cross on March 18, 1918 in New York City. At the top of his notes he wrote "Red Cross, New York City 18 May 1918" The script for "May 1918" on that document was almost identical to the "May 1918" on the libretto, so I concluded that Wilson himself wrote the date on the title page of The Apocalypse. He had possibly received this libretto either in the mail or from someone during that time. Questions emerged: Who sent or gave this libretto to Wilson? When and where did he receive it? Why was he sent this libretto? Why did he keep it in his collection of "Musical Compositions"? The Award-Winning Composer Leaving these questions unanswered for the moment, I returned to the libretto to find out if MYSTERY continued on page 16 sai-national.org WINTER 2012 PAN PIPES 15

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