Massachusetts has no official state waltz although it does have an official state march, a state folk song, a state glee club song, a state ode and a state polka. In fact, Massachusetts waltzes are in very short supply. There are many Massachusetts songs including one of the Bee Gees' biggest hits, a folk song by Arlo Guthrie, a rock anthem by the Dropkick Murphys, a country ballad by Aaron Lewis, and even a cartoon salute to the state by Peter of the TV series, Family Guy. But all of these are in duple time, not a waltz among them. Maybe songwriters are challenged by forcing the four syllables of Massachusetts into the the three beats of a waltz?
There is, however, a song titled Massachusetts Waltz. It evades the four-syllables-in-three-beats challenge by never mentioning the name of the state. In fact, the only thing connecting the waltz to the state of Massachusetts is that the band, High Diner, is based in Boston, Massachusetts. High Diner describes themselves as a band that unites" retro vibes with modern sounds" - something like a cross between Herman's Hermits and R.E.M. Their Massachusetts Waltz, co-written by John Murphy and Jordan Zylak, is a delightfully whimsical stream of nonsense and totally unlike any other state waltz encountered so far in this blog. You can listen to it here:
There are some earlier Massachusetts waltzs from the 1950's that can be found by copyright searches but they were apparently never published or recorded:
The Massachusetts Waltz, words and music by Charles Davis Pike
Massachusetts Waltz by Matthew Pilegard
First Lady of Massachusetts Waltz by Vincent Mottola
To be complete, among the seven state songs officially recognized by the Massachusetts legislature is a song in triple meter. On November 16, 2000, the Massachusetts state legislature named a "waltz" titled Ode to Massachusetts by Joseph Falzone (1924-2016) as the official "ode of the commonwealth." According to his obituary, Falzone worked most of his life at Suffolk Downs, a thoroughbred race track in East Boston. He worked on the side as a comedian and musician, remembered by many as "Joe, the one man band" who marched in parades in East Boston. You can find a score for his Ode to Massachusetts, probably the score he provided to the legislature, here. It is an unusual song. It is "through composed", there is no repetition of melody or chord pattern - like a Schubert art song. The score performance notes suggest "slow, gospel feel." You will find two videos of Ode to Massachusetts on YouTube - both use the same recording as a sound track for a Massachusetts slide show. This blog has been unable to learn who made the recording - if you know, please leave a comment. To this listener, the recording does not fulfill the "slow, gospel" potential of the song. Judge for yourself below.
And, finally, just because it is clever the video below is offered in liu of another Massachusetts waltz.
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