Vieuxtemps, Souvenirs d’Amérique

I usually turn to something American for the Fourth of July. Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881) was a Belgian composer better known in his day as a virtuoso violinist comparable to Niccolò Paganini. And the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, performing in this week’s video, obviously resides outside the U.S. But Yankee Doodle, the theme for Vieuxtemps’ set of variations, is about as American as you can get. Or is it?

The tune goes back to Medieval Europe, and the text derives from a 15th-century Holland harvest song with nonsense verse.

Yanker, didel, doodle down, Diddle, dudel, lanther, Yanke viver, voover vown, Botermilk und tanther.

And what about the nonsense of sticking a feather in your cap and calling it “macaroni”? Chalk that up to the excesses of youth. Young Englishmen who traveled to the continent discovered pasta and were said to belong to the “macaroni club.” They began referring to the extreme fashions of the day, such as oversized wigs, as “very macaroni.”

Yankee Doodle then made its way to America on the lips of British officers to lampoon the pretensions of the uncouth colonial yankees. The yankees, however, adopted the song as a symbol of pride, adding lyrics that made fun of the British.

It raises a question we addressed in Exploring America’s Musical Heritage: At what point do the arts of Europe transplanted to America become genuinely “American”?

For Vieuxtemps, there was no question about the “Americanness” of Yankee Doodle and no irony in calling this work an American Souvenir. Vieuxtemps wrote it as an encore piece in 1843 for his concert tour of America.