Annotation:President's March (2) (The)

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PRESIDENT’S MARCH [2]. AKA - "Hail Columbia," "Washington's March." American, March. This “President’s March” is generally credited to German-born violinist Philip Phile [1] (c.1734–1793) in 1793 (a decade after the end of the American Revolution), although less substantial claims have also been made for Joseph Hopkinson and Philip Roth. Researcher O.G. Sonneck ("The Musical Side of Our First President") substantiates Phile's claim by the appearance of unnumbered page in the collection of former Governor Pennypacker of Philadelphia. The page crediting Phile had become detached from an engraved music collection, and it bore two marches, one the "President's March by Pheil" (the other was a March by Moller). Moller's march bore the publishing mark of the firm of Moller and Capron in Philadelphia with the year 1793. It became the song "Hail, Columbia" [2] when arranged with lyrics by Joseph Hopkinson in 1798 and was used in the United States as a de facto national anthem for most of the 19th century.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Maggie’s Music MMCD216, Hesperus - “Early American Roots” (1997).

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