Several musical pieces are associated with New Year’s Eve and the new year. Here is a brief history of probably the most famous song for New Year’s Day: Auld Lang Syne.
The song started as an 18th century Scottish folk
song with Robert Burns’ collection of older lyrics. Its first recorded use was
heard as the end of the 1782 opera Rosina’s overture by English composer
William Shield. Ten years later Haydn arranged Auld Lang Syne and more
than 400 other Scottish folk songs, which helped popularize the song. Beethoven
also wrote an arrangement of song in his 1814 collection 12 Scottish
Folksongs. In the early 20th century, songwriter George M. Cohan
integrated the first part of Auld Lang Syne into the last part of the
chorus of his song “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” During World War One, British
soldiers sang “We’re Here Because We’re Here” to the tune of Auld Lang Syne
. A decade later John Philip Sousa incorporated the melody of Auld Lang Syne
in his march “Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.” About 50 years ago
English composer Ernest Tomlinson wrote a Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne, which
wove in 152 snippets of other composers.
Since its beginning, Auld Lang Syne has been
translated into many languages and sung around the world. Its pentatonic scale
matches Eastern Asian scales, which has helped its adoption in those cultures. Tomoko may have sung it as a child growing up. Just as New Year’s Day is universal, so is its mascot song Auld Lang Syne.
