Northwestern University Hymn (Alma Mater)

As Homecoming weekend at Northwestern University approaches, memories of my time on campus have been rushing back. There was that time we decided that we should move a couch into our fraternity bathroom, the lecture in my music history class that made me fall in love with opera and the time in the cafeteria when we decided to use a chocolate doughnut to make a breakfast sandwich resulting in the "Bacon McDoughnut."

Then there's the music. The fight song, “Go U, Northwestern” which I analyzed in this earlier post and of course the “Northwestern University Hymn” more commonly reffered to as the "Alma Mater." I love "Go U, Northwestern." I've performed that song more than any other song in my life, but there's something different about the "Northwestern University Hymn," something more profound.

As a member of the Northwestern University Marching Band (NUMB), I had the honor of performing this song for the university community however it was the times after games when NUMB would sing this song a cappella in a circle, arms around that this song represented what it meant to be at Northwestern.


It was a feeling of being at home, having a family, and being connected to something bigger than me. Often when we would sing the “Alma Mater” people in NUMB would be crying. I can’t explain why it meant so much, but it did. Every time I hear this melody it brings me back to this feeling and every time I think of Northwestern, the "Alma Mater" is echoing in the background.

The first version of Northwestern’s hymn was arranged by the first dean of the school of music Peter Christian Lutkin in 1907. J. Scott Clark, an English professor, arranged the lyrics in Latin which were based on the University’s motto from Philippians 4:8.

Whatsoever things are true,
Whatsoever things are honest,
Whatsoever things are just,
Whatsoever things are pure,
Whatsoever things are lovely,
Whatsoever things are of good report,
If there be any virtue and if there be any praise,
Think on these things

This motto is used to this day in university ceremonies and the first line in Latin "Quacumque Sunt Vera,” adorns the university seal. The music that Lutkin chose for these lyrics was “St. Anthony’s Chorale” which is attributed to Frank Joseph Haydn. This tune was relatively obscures until Brahms arranged a set of variation on this melody.



There is debate whether Haydn actually wrote this melody, however it is indisputable that Brahms arrangement cemented this melody as one of the most recognizable melodies in classical music.

The “University Chant,” as Lutkin titled it, was performed by university choirs and the students body. The combination of the Latin, which was part of every student’s academic studies at the time and this beautiful classical tune embodied the academic standards and values of the university.

Peter Christian Lutkin & his original arrangement of the "University Chant."

As Northwestern University changed, so did the student body and by the 1950s the respect and enthusiasm for the “University Chant” diminished and it fell into obscurity. In 1954, in an effort to revive the song, Thomas Tyra, a School of Music Alumni wrote English lyrics. He moved away from the university motto and instead wrote English lyrics expressing devotion to Northwestern.

Hail to Alma Mater
We will sing thy praise forever
All thy sons and daughters
Pledge thee victory and honor
Alma Mater Praise be thine
May thy name forever shine
Hail to purple
Hail to white
Hail to thee Northwestern

While many argued that the English lyrics would take away from the song's original meaning, these new less esoteric lyrics connected with the student body. Four years later, John Paynter, Northwestern's legendary band director, arranged the “University Chant” for band. Along with the English lyrics, the "chant" was retitled “University Hymn.”

Paynter’s arrangement starts off like most hymns with the last four measures of the melody used as an introduction. The band plays through the first two phrase in a straight-forward but artfully arranged four-part harmony. Like many devotion hymns, the arrangement is simple to focus not on performers but the university.

In a stunning musical development, the whole band instead of accompanying the audience sings the last half of the melody. Starting in unison, as one voice, the harmony slowly unfolds into four parts representing the singularity of values at Northwestern that expands into countless possibilities.

Paynter provides a moment of reflection for the audience as the band repeats the last half of the melody, starting with a single trumpet, which is joined by a euphonium. The rest of the band enters softly, rising to a climax, glorious but reverent and majestic while humble.

One of my greatest honors was to be the conductor of the “Alma Mater” as the music director of Phi Mu Alpha. Our fraternity hosted parties and at midnight we would gather in the living room of our house to sing fraternity songs. We would end every performance with the “Alma Mater.” Everyone in the audience would join in a circle and we would sing about how much we loved our university.



Standing in the center surrounded by friends, molding the music with my hands is one of the most magical feelings in my life. Singing this song in NUMB was different, we were in uniform, part of the ritual of the football game. However, in my fraternity house we were in the middle of a party. People would stop whatever games they were playing, put down whatever they were drinking and join us to share a moment together.

For my friends, pride in Northwestern wasn’t just about winning football games, it was something different and real. It wasn’t dorky, or forced, it was simply how we felt.

Hail to thee Northwestern
May thy name forever shine

Welcome home.

Beau by Jimmy Stewart (poem)

"Beau" live reading from The Tonight Show

"Beau" text

WARNING: If you like animals, have a dog, or have had one in the past this "Beau" will make you cry and even you don’t like animals all that much, be careful because this poem will likely make you tear up.

My wife and I have decided to get a dog. She grew up with Abby, a Shetland sheepdog and one of the things she always wanted to as an adult was get a puppy of her own. This is something I never considered before meeting my wife.

I remember bugging my parents about getting a dog but not really making too much of an issue out of it. I wanted a dog to fit in with my friends who had dogs, not because I actually liked animals. My parents weren’t really into pets and it wasn’t something they wanted as part of their lifestyle. They grew up with dogs in Taiwan but they were more animals than pets. So beyond the fish that inhabited our house every so often, pets weren’t part of my life growing up.

I’m not comfortable around dogs. So when Diana, my wife suggested that we babysit a dog named Wrigley for a week and a half, I was a little apprehensive. It’s not like I don't inherent dislike dogs, I just don’t know what to do with them. The first afternoon I spent with the dog was a little awkward and uncomfortable but after a week and a half, I found myself fighting back tears not wanting to let go of Wrigley.

The first time I saw Jimmy Stewart read his poem, “Beau” was as part of a boxed videocassette tape collection of clips from The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. My parents bought this collecting having many found memories of this show which defined which featured some of the most important cultural figures in popular culture.

Whenever we would watch Jimmy Stewart speak about his Beau, I would get sad, more because Jimmy Stewart himself was becoming choked up, but now when I watch this clip, I’m tearing up for a different reason. I understand why Stewart is so sad.

When I got back from work on Monday, the day after I gave the Wrigley back, I walked in the front door and to my dismay there was no dog sitting attentively waiting to greet me. I had to catch myself before I called for Wrigley. I felt silly that I had forgotten that the dog was no longer staying with us. I miss our house guest and that was only after a week and a half, I can’t imagine what kind of wreak I’d be after losing a dog like Stewart lost Beau.

Jimmy Stewart’s poem, “Beau” starts out describing his dog as flawed. Not a well-trained dog, Beau would not sit or stay and seemed to do things out of spite. Beau lit the house on fire but Stewart brushes this off as not being all that important. The loss of material things always seems less significant in retrospect.

I got to say Wrigley was similar. He would come when I called only if there wasn't something more interesting around. If I called him when he was taking a nap he would open up one eye to check on me, realize that I didn't have anything and then stretch out even more in an attempt to take up as much floor space as possible.

As crazy as Beau’s evening walks were, Stewart describes how Beau would stop every so often to make sure that Stewart and his wife were there. Every time my wife would leave the condo Wrigley would start whining, I would call him over to let him know that I was there and he would curl up around my desk chair as I sat. Then he would start licking the legs of my chair, which was just a little weird but anyways he just wanted to know that he wasn’t alone.

At night Beau sometimes lied in bed with Stewart and other times he would just sit there and watch his owners and softly sigh and Stewart feels that knows why.

He would wake up at night
And he would have this fear
Of the dark, of life, of lots of things,
And he’d be glad to have me near.

Sometimes, Wrigley would wake up from a nap find me in another room, and settle down to take a nap near me. On some level like Beau, he just felt better knowing I was near. In describing what Beau’s fears, Stewart is describing his own fears, telling us how Beau comforted him in the same way that Wrigley comforted me.

I asked my mom what she thought about me and Diana getting a dog. To my surprise, she immediately said it was a great idea. My mom believe all people benefit from having a dog in their life if they accept the responsibility of having a pet and view the dog as a part of the family. My wife and I are a family. We may be a small family and on the short side but we are a family. Getting a dog means that our family is getting a little bigger and that's exciting.

I know that there will be some times that our dog will be a pain. I’m sure she will have accidents, get sick and need to be walked when I just don’t feel like it. There will come a time when our dog will have to leave us, like Beau left Stewart and I know that is going to be hard. However, I have no doubt that it will all be worth it.

To our puppy: I can't promise that we'll do everything right in raising you but I can promise that Diana and I will do the best we can to care for you and that we will always love you. You are in our dreams right now as we look forward to meeting you. You will be in our thoughts as we share our lives together and you will be in our heart long after you leave us.

We can't wait to welcome you into our family.