{"id":2006,"date":"2015-01-29T10:22:34","date_gmt":"2015-01-29T15:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=2006"},"modified":"2025-04-18T10:10:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T14:10:14","slug":"play-play-national-anthem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/play-play-national-anthem\/","title":{"rendered":"To play or not to play National Anthem"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Toscanini<\/a>
Toscanini leads the New York Philharmonic in the National Anthem<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just before America\u2019s entry into World War II in 1941, the New York Philharmonic found itself in a dispute over the placing of two American flags<\/a> on its stage and the playing of the National Anthem before every concert. It was up to Arthur Judson, manager of the orchestra, to answer pro and con letters.<\/p>\n

Arturo Toscanini had previously led the Philharmonic but now conducted the NBC Symphony. In concerts broadcast over radio, he would turn to face a standing audience and lead them in singing \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.<\/a>\u201d The musicians also rose from their chairs as they played.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Other<\/a>
Other orchestras, such as the Chicago Symphony, played the Anthem and hung flags during WWII<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Orchestras around the nation soon copied Toscanini\u2019s style, which led to an October 23, 1941, letter \u2013written six weeks before Pearl Harbor \u2013 to the New York Philharmonic. \u201c<\/span>I was much annoyed in having to stand while the orchestra played the Star Spangled Banner,\u201d a man wrote. \u201cThis is not symphonic music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judson replied that \u201cit\u2019s not a decision of the Philharmonic or its board but of the American Federation of Musicians and will be done by all union orchestras in the U.S.\u201d A woman\u2019s letter supported the flag tribute by declaring that \u201cour country is practically at war and I feel that it is high time that we\u2026developed some feeling of patriotism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A portion of Toscanini’s arrangement of National Anthem.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On May 2, 1942, when the U.S. was at war, another subscriber announced in a letter that he was not renewing his subscription to the concerts because \u201cto inject [patriotism] where it does not belong\u2026strikes a discordant note.\u201d Judson, who might have been fed up by this time with the back-and-forth letters, responded, \u201cAnyone who resents [the Anthem] certainly ought not to subscribe [to the symphony]. We therefore welcome your withdrawal.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the war ended in August 1945, the Philharmonic altered its National Anthem<\/a>\u00a0use, causing still more letters to pour in about the American flag. On October 19, 1945, for example, a man complained: \u201cAt last night\u2019s concert I was amazed at the omission of our national anthem\u2026.Was it an accidental omission?\u201d<\/p>\n

Judson explained that \u201cwith the end of the War, we played [the Anthem] at the beginning of each series of concerts\u2026.For the second concert of each series, we have gone back to the customary practice\u201d of not playing it.<\/p>\n

That response would become his standard answer to others who missed \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner,\u201d which had been a regular feature for four war-torn years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just before America\u2019s entry into World War II in 1941, the New York Philharmonic found itself in a dispute over the placing of two American flags on its stage and the playing of the National Anthem before every concert. 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