When an effort to sing it to the
tune of ``Auld Lang Syne'' proved unsuccessful, Karl A. Langlotz,
who taught German in the college and directed a choral group,
was persuaded to write music for it. Langlotz had studied music
in Weimar under Liszt and had once played the violin in an orchestra
conducted by Wagner. He wrote the music for Old Nassau
on the porch of his house at 160 Mercer Street one fine spring
afternoon.
The words and music appeared together
for the first time in Songs of Old Nassau, published in
April 1859. A few days after this collection appeared, a group
of students gathered near the Bulletin Elm at the northeast corner
of Nassau Hall, after evening prayers, to try some of the songs.
Most of the college had assembled to hear the singing; when the
group had finished their singing of Old Nassau, the listeners
responded with an enthusiastic skyrocket cheer, which forecast
the devotion with which succeeding generations of Princetonians
would sing ``in praise of old Nassau.''
There has been some change in the
words over the years.
- The opening line, originally ``Tune
every harp and every voice,'' became ``Tune every heart and
every voice'' early in the 1890s.
- Peck wrote seven verses, but three
-- those about ``virtue's amaranthine wreath,'' ``a zeal beyond
compare,'' ``a flowery chaplet'' -- had dropped out of use by
1914.
- Once female students began matriculating,
the final line of the chorus that had originally read, "Her
sons shall give," became gender neutral in its current rendition,
"Our hearts shall give." This official act of the Alumni Council
took place in 1987, much to the confusion of thousands of Princetonians
of both genders who had learned different lyrics.
[See Henry Martin '48 Cartoons]
[The words and music of the first
verse and chorus are displayed below.]
Tune every heart and every voice,
Bid every care withdraw;
Let all with one accord rejoice,
In praise of Old Nassau.
[Chorus]
In praise of Old Nassau we sing,
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
Our hearts will give while we shall
live,
Three cheers for Old Nassau.
[The words of the other three verses
are as follows: ]
Let music rule the fleeting hour,
Her mantle round us draw
And thrill each heart with all her power,
In praise of Old Nassau.''
CHORUS
And when these wallls in dust are laid,
With reverence and awe,
Another throng shall breathe our song,
In praise of Old Nassau.
CHORUS
Till then with joy our songs we'll bring,
And while a breath we draw,
We'll all unite to shout and sing,
Long life to Old Nassau.
FINAL CHORUS
In praise of Old Nassau we sing,
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
Our hearts will give while we shall live,
Long Life to Old Nassau.
There is a plaque in front of the
house at 160 Mercer Street in Princeton, commemorating Karl Langlotz's
composition of the music for Old Nassau and the piano he
used in now in Prospect House on the campus.
N.B. A few doors down also on Mercer Street was the Princeton
home of Albert Einstein; there is no similar plaque at that address
indicating his many contributions to the world.
See also Old
Nassau, the Lyrics, where you can also print out the
text and music of Old Nassau as it is currently sung..
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