In 1814, after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor, Francis Scott Key penned the famous words that would become the American National Anthem. At the end of the battle, the 15 stars and stripes of the young nation’s flag continued to fly defiantly above the Fort, forming the poem’s defining image.
Composed in 1866, a year after the end of the American Civil War, Dudley Buck’s Concert Variations on “The Star Spangled Banner,” Op. 23 for organ are similarly optimistic and celebratory. The work follows in a long tradition of organists improvising on a familiar melody. A statement of the theme is followed by four brilliantly virtuosic variations and a triumphant concluding fughetta.
Born in Hartford Connecticut, Dudley Buck (1839-1909) was a noted American composer, organist, and writer on music. Among his students was the young Charles Ives.
Paul Jacobs performs on the Mander Organ at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City: