Sunday, March 29, 2009

Musical Mystery

After reading the results of Roger Norman's challenge about a Temple band director and the accompanying article from the Temple Tribune, Carroll Newberry wrote:

I did a cursory "google" search of these songs and Mr. Montin's name is not
mentioned as the writer of either of them. Perhaps a more extensive search would
turn up a connection with him. Interestingly, "Mademoiselle from Armentieres",
which is now sung mostly by children, had a number of versions. Some of the
verses were quite descriptive of her nefarious nightime activities with the
soldiers. As a result, these verses were promptly censored and not known among
the general public. Of course, they are now on the internet.

It seems quite a few composers claim credit for the music and lyrics of "Mademoiselle from Armentieres." But Mr. Montin's name is not among composers that scholars speculate wrote the once popular song. The World Book of Famous Music discusses the origin on pages 344-345. So many satirical verses were written, many may have felt justified in claiming authorship.

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