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Let the Chimes of Normandy Be Our Wedding Bells

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https://digital.library.illinois.edu/items/eb6ab030-c556-0134-2373-0050569601ca-b

Supplementary Document

Title
Let the Chimes of Normandy Be Our Wedding Bells - Lyrics
Composer
Klickmann, F. Henri  
Lyricist
Armstrong, Paul B.  
Publisher
Frank K. Root & Co.  
Place of Publication
Chicago (Ill.)  
Local Identifier
2014_12996_460
Collection
James Edward Myers World War I Sheet Music Collection

Descriptive Information

Title
Let the Chimes of Normandy Be Our Wedding Bells
Composer
Klickmann, F. Henri  
Lyricist
Armstrong, Paul B.  
Publisher
Frank K. Root & Co.  
Place of Publication
Chicago (Ill.)  
Year of Publication
1918  
Date of Copyright
No copyright registered.
Physical Description
1 score ([1], 2–3, [1] p.). Folio.
Comment
Though McKinley promoted the song up through January 1919, minimal coverage in trade journals suggests only moderate popularity. Jack Wells and Alfred Bryan wrote a more successful ballad, “Chimes of Normandy,” (© 1917 11 19), but the title phrase was first introduced in Robert Planquette’s operetta Chimes of Normandy, which opened in New York in 1877 and was immensely popular for several decades.
Historical Note
  • This is the second of two printings, distinguished by back covers. Accounts in trade journals and the advertising history both suggest the song was written in March or April 1918 and marketed in May. The lyrics were included in McKinley’s Army and Navy Song Folio No. 1, issued in August 1918. Three piano rolls were issued in 1918: Rhythmodik, copyrighted March 20 (Victor Arden, assisted by W. E. D., roll G101874)
  • Connorized, in June (player not known, 6223)
  • and QRS, in July (Pete Wendling, roll 547).
Musical Note
A semi-high-class ballad with chromatic inflections, this is a skilled but conventional setting of a complex rhyme scheme, with gentle syncopation in the refrain. The first phrase of “Westminster Chimes” is quoted several times in the verse and the introduction, which concludes with a descriptive instrumental effect in the upper register of the piano, marked “chimes.” Instrumental versions were marketed as fox-trots.
Back Cover Description
Advertisement for “Late Patriotic Successes”. Four rows of samples: Top row: samples and covers for There’s a Little Blue Star in the Window (© 1918, advertised 1918 01 16) I’m Hitting the Trail to Normandy (© 1917 09 15) Second row: samples for Old Glory Goes Marching On (© 1918 04 10) Will the Angels Guard My Daddy Over There? (© 1918 04 10) When a Boy Says Good Bye to His Mother and She Gives Him To Uncle Sam (© 1917 09 04) Third row: samples for When It Comes to a Lovingless Day (© 1918 01 23) Let the Chimes of Normandy Be Our Wedding Bells (© 1918, not located in copyright catalogs) When the Kaiser Does the Goose-step to a Good Old American Rag (© 1917 10 22) Fourth row: samples and covers for A-M-E-R-I-C-A (© 1917 06 22) Giddy Giddap! Go on, Go on (© 1917 09 04)
Local Identifier
2014_12996_460
Collection
James Edward Myers World War I Sheet Music Collection
TitleLet the Chimes of Normandy Be Our Wedding Bells
ComposerKlickmann, F. Henri  
LyricistArmstrong, Paul B.  
PublisherFrank K. Root & Co.  
Place of PublicationChicago (Ill.)  
Year of Publication1918  
Date of CopyrightNo copyright registered.
Physical Description1 score ([1], 2–3, [1] p.). Folio.
CommentThough McKinley promoted the song up through January 1919, minimal coverage in trade journals suggests only moderate popularity. Jack Wells and Alfred Bryan wrote a more successful ballad, “Chimes of Normandy,” (© 1917 11 19), but the title phrase was first introduced in Robert Planquette’s operetta Chimes of Normandy, which opened in New York in 1877 and was immensely popular for several decades.
Historical Note
  • This is the second of two printings, distinguished by back covers. Accounts in trade journals and the advertising history both suggest the song was written in March or April 1918 and marketed in May. The lyrics were included in McKinley’s Army and Navy Song Folio No. 1, issued in August 1918. Three piano rolls were issued in 1918: Rhythmodik, copyrighted March 20 (Victor Arden, assisted by W. E. D., roll G101874)
  • Connorized, in June (player not known, 6223)
  • and QRS, in July (Pete Wendling, roll 547).
Musical NoteA semi-high-class ballad with chromatic inflections, this is a skilled but conventional setting of a complex rhyme scheme, with gentle syncopation in the refrain. The first phrase of “Westminster Chimes” is quoted several times in the verse and the introduction, which concludes with a descriptive instrumental effect in the upper register of the piano, marked “chimes.” Instrumental versions were marketed as fox-trots.
Back Cover DescriptionAdvertisement for “Late Patriotic Successes”. Four rows of samples: Top row: samples and covers for There’s a Little Blue Star in the Window (© 1918, advertised 1918 01 16) I’m Hitting the Trail to Normandy (© 1917 09 15) Second row: samples for Old Glory Goes Marching On (© 1918 04 10) Will the Angels Guard My Daddy Over There? (© 1918 04 10) When a Boy Says Good Bye to His Mother and She Gives Him To Uncle Sam (© 1917 09 04) Third row: samples for When It Comes to a Lovingless Day (© 1918 01 23) Let the Chimes of Normandy Be Our Wedding Bells (© 1918, not located in copyright catalogs) When the Kaiser Does the Goose-step to a Good Old American Rag (© 1917 10 22) Fourth row: samples and covers for A-M-E-R-I-C-A (© 1917 06 22) Giddy Giddap! Go on, Go on (© 1917 09 04)
Local Identifier2014_12996_460
CollectionJames Edward Myers World War I Sheet Music Collection

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