America the Beautiful, Singing with My all Girls Choir: Voices & Our 1998 Europe Tour

The inspiration for this post is a choir journal I kept between 1997-1998, the school year I went to Europe to sing with my high school choir. I found it in my basement well over a year ago. After reading it, I was inspired to include it in my micro-museum here inside the Annie Lynn Club. Listen to recordings of us singing in this post!

Below you’ll see links to the journal entries as I share them, and a poem at the bottom I wrote just before this trip.

But first, I just gotta share how it all started! Thank you so much for being here.

I was a sophomore in high school in 1997-1998. I attended La Follette High School in Madison, Wisconsin and graduated there in 2000 after four years in choir.

I auditioned for the all girls choir called “Voices” the end of my freshmen year. There were plans in the works for a tour to Europe the following school year. I remember being nervous to audition, but excited too.

We were asked to sing a verse from America the Beautiful at the audition, and I got in!

Although this was over 26 years ago, I just learned that the song America the Beautiful originates from a poem written by a woman named Katharine Lee Bates. It was published July 4th, 1895, and she received just $5.00 for it. The melody came later, and is from an Episcopal hymn called “Materna” written by Samuel Ward.

From my quick research, out of curiosity, I found that there appears to be three versions of the words. The first being from 1893, her original poem, and then a version in 1904 and 1911. I find comparing between the versions very interesting. I’ll get back to my story shortly, but first…Take a look!

I’ve included her original poem and 1911 version below.

America, The Beautiful (1893 Poem by Katharine Lee Bates)
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America, America!
God shed His grace on thee,
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America, America!
God shed His grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife,
When once or twice, for man’s avail,
Men lavished precious life!
America, America!
God shed His grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain,
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America, America!
God shed His grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

America, The Beautiful (1911 version)

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Wow! Right!? I mean, come on! So good.

Okay, thanks for sticking with me. Back to making it into Voices after singing America the Beautiful!

The next fall we immediately began preparing for what would be an unforgettable experience that has shaped my life forever.

There were 23 of us, some of us sophomores like myself and others were juniors and seniors. We even had one freshman! Not all of us went on the trip, but most of us. We all became like sisters and formed bonds together. Sometimes we fought. Sometimes we laughed. Sometimes we cried. But through it all, we were truly together and connected.

We wore choir robes that had been used over the years, nothing fancy, but it gave us a uniform look and I felt proud wearing mine. We learned over 50 songs by memory, with a variety of sacred music, motets and anthems, as well as spirituals and folk hymns, and a selection from the American choral traditions, including: America The Beautiful.

Here’s a picture of me in my choir robe:

I helped raise money for my trip.
I remember working at a University of Wisconsin, Madison Badger football game selling concessions to raise money for the trip. I also sold citrus fruits, like these amazing juicy oranges and grapefruits that were some of the best I’ve ever tasted! People loved them and I did quite well getting a good chunk of money to offset what my folks would pay. I felt proud of that. The citrus came in a rectangle box with a red ribbon printed on it, probably because it was a holiday time thing. It fit my parents Christmas nativity scene in it perfectly after they had eaten all the fruit up. A few years ago my Mom passed the manger set down to me and it was still being stored in that box. I love how I get to pack and un-pack it in this box every year. It’s held up, and reminds me of this time, which I’m thankful for.

I stared keeping a journal. I regularly wrote about my time in choir, the rehearsals, the practicing at home it required to memorize our huge repertoire. I remember feeling anxious about it, and sometimes unsure we’d ever be ready. It seemed like a massive undertaking, and looking back on it, it was.

I was only 15 that fall of 1997, and just turned 16 in the spring before we went to Europe. I had never been overseas, but my two older sisters had. They had both gone to Scotland with my grandparents to visit my cousins, but by the time I was old enough to have a chance they had moved back to the U.S. I write more about what I got to do instead with them here: Flying to Florida alone when I was eleven

I remember my mom and I talking before I left about the Europe choir tour trip and how I was feeling about it. She encouraged me to use all my senses, and to take it all in. I decided to continue writing in my journal about my experience on the trip as well.

I feel like it’s important to preserve stories from periods of time for a lot of reasons. Re-reading my journal, I’m reminded how it’s from a perspective I could not replicate now. I wrote from my world view at the time, and I’ve chosen not to alter anything. Well, I did correct a few spelling errors, but the rest is as it was written at the time.

Our Voices European Choir Tour was between April 2 – 14, 1998. We toured Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and Austria.

I have put a disclaimer at the bottom of each of the posts. It reads:
* Disclaimer: This is a work of creative non-fiction based on actual journal entries at the dates and places included. However, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of all the information included, as it was written solely from what I remembered at the time. To respect the privacy of individuals, many names have been changed. The journal has been edited for grammar and punctuation. This is not an advertisement. I am not being compensated for sharing anything from my journal including, but not limited to, places we stayed or visited. Alcohol should be consumed responsibly. Mentions of consumption of alcohol in my journal is, to the best of my knowledge, in accordance with local laws for the places we visited abroad at the time in 1998. 

Not all of the posts maybe require it, but I figured… lets make sure I’m clear about what this is and what this is not.

I don’t mention him by his actual name or initials, and refer to him only as “Mr. M,” but those who had my choir director know how much he cared about us and valued teaching, how he saw choir as a place to learn so much more about ourselves and each other, and the world around us. For me, I still feel incredibly lucky and fortunate to have had this experience, and to have had him as a teacher and mentor.

I’m so excited to share my choir journal with you!

Some entries are longer than others, and so I’ve combined a few days. For a total of twelve days, I’ve got it down to eight posts.

On the ninth day, you’ll notice lyrics to a song I wrote on this trip! I had almost forgotten about it. It wasn’t until I discovered my journal in my basement a while back that I found it. I included those lyrics for you to see. I think it’s amazing that I guess I was writing songs long before I thought I was ever even “writing” songs.

Thank you so much for reading, and… Bon Voyage!

Read Annie’s 1998 Europe Tour Choir Journal:

Day 1 & 2: Madison to O’Hare to Prague, Czech Republic
Day 3 & 4: Prague, Czech Republic
Day 5: Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Day 6 & 7: Bratislava, Slovakia, Gumpldskirfhen & Vienna, Austria
Day 8: Vienna Austria
Day 9: Passau, Germany (includes recordings from our concert)
Day 10 & 11: Salzburg, Austria
Day 12: Munich, Germany

Oh, one last thing. Because I was inspired by Katharine Lee Bates’ poem and finding out only just recently that she in fact wrote America the Beautiful, I’ll leave you with an original poem I wrote! I just found it too, and discovered that I wrote it right before my Europe trip! Here it is:

Idea, Desire, Patience (a poem I wrote in 1998)

Once there was an idea
A desire one had
It started out simple
With the intent to expand
Growing each second, minute, hour, day
Forming a different sound
Praying for the right to stay

With the desire came an everlasting journey
To find that moment one would wait
Imagining tomorrow was unpredictable

An idea for music
A desire for a different turn
A pathway with no end
A life well lived

If you liked this post. Read Sunday Brunch with Rose about visits with my Great Grandma, who was born in 1898 and turned 100 years old the same year I went on this choir tour! I also share what she gave me right before I left for Europe.