C. K. Harris, "Climb a tree with me" (1912)

From March 2026: A post with information and links to galleries of simple ascending lines and to other essays of mine published on the Texas Scholarworks platform: link.

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Charles K. Harris, "Climb a tree with me" (1912). It might not seem very promising to begin a song on climbing with an octave's worth of descending tonic-chord arpeggio, but there is a clue in the answering phrase, "As we climbed long years ago." The lower ^5, as Eb4, goes up to a firmly held ^6, and "all the birds sang" with ^7 suggests going further. In the end, the proto-background interval of the octave (shown with the unfolding in bars 1-4 and again later) maintains Eb5 while its lower element Eb4 closes to Ab4. This is not a wedge--Eb5 stays put and the principal line is the one that proceeds from Eb4.

Given the intervallic frame, it's not surprising that the common expressive ascent in the upper register should be easy to manage. Here is my alternate or second ending, following the model of songs discussed in a previous post: link.

Harris, "Don't Blame Me"

Charles K. Harris, "Don't Blame Me" (1911). Another instance of a clearly defined proto-background, ^5/^3 here. Note the nicely presented interruption (bars 6–8) where both elements are cleanly positioned in the voice-leading--and there's even a direct resolution of the ninth in V9/V! (See bar 7, last beat, into bar 8.)

I am, however, primarily interested in the final cadence, which is one of those awkward lines that's not a line, as a very strong rising scale figure to begin the final phrase breaks as ^6 goes *down* to ^7. 

The alternate ending I have made below would have been very likely in performance, in the manner I have mentioned a number of times now based on what we know about singers' practices during this era. This song, indeed, really asks for that ending with its long scale followed by the emphatic "Don't blame me."

Harris and Williams, "What's the Matter with Father?"

 Charles K. Harris and [ ] Williams, "What's the Matter with Father?" (1910) A pronounced proto-background ^5/^1 and a simple ascending line. Note ^9 as a suggested alternate for ^7 over the dominant in the final cadence.

Harris, "Somewhere"

 Charles K. Harris, "Somewhere" (1906).  An unusual feature of this publication is the inclusion of a version for a male ("barbershop") quartet. I've used it here because it is a nicely concise rendering of the music. Remember that the second tenor carries the melody (see arrow). A clear focal tone ^8 is maintained and a line moves from and to it in an incomplete mirror, or ^8-^7-^6-^7-^8 (this happens twice). I've also provided the solo voice version for the last eight bars.

Voice, final section:

Alternate endings

Toward the end of his lecture on register in popular songs from c1900-1950, Michael Buchler summarizes his main points as a list of "Some Suggestions." For information on the lecture, see my post from 16 March: link. 

The fifth of his suggestions is: "Embrace a broader notion of obligatory register. The upper register is the most likely space for closure in certain types of music- especially vocal music."  An extended segment of the talk--starting at 27:00 and going to 35:00--is given over to this, the songs being "Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'" from Oklahoma! (1943) and "It's Been A Long, Long Time" by Jule Styne (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) 1945. 

Here are six more with written-out alternative high-register endings:

Charles K. Harris, "Just Behind the Times" (1896).  Copy uploaded to IMSLP from the University of Wisconsin Libraries.

Richard Whiting, "Throw Me a Kiss (From Over the Sea)" (1917). Copy uploaded to IMSLP from the Ohio State University Libraries.

Charles K. Harris, "The Last Farewell" (1906). Copy uploaded to IMSLP from Duke University Library. 

Egbert van Alstyne, "Because You're Irish" (1917). Digital copy from the Library of the University of Maine. 

Ray Henderson, "I wonder who's dancing with you tonight" (1924)

          M. Tennent, "Tomorrow Morning" (1926). 

Harris's "Just Behind the Times" comes from fairly early in his career, and that's obvious from the old-style (and low-quality) print. But the performance practice of ending high is clearly taken for granted (as it probably was on the musical stage much earlier in the 19th century).

Richard Whiting, "Throw Me a Kiss (From Over the Sea)" (1917). 

Charles K. Harris, "The Last Farewell" (1906). This and the remaining examples are remarkable for their fully written-out upper-register second endings. I haven't shown it but ^5 is a particularly clearly defined focal tone earlier in the chorus.

Egbert van Alstyne, "Because You're Irish" (1917) digital copy from the Library of the University of Maine. Fully written out upper-register second ending.

Ray Henderson, "I wonder who's dancing with you tonight" (1924). Fully written out upper-register second ending.

H. M. Tennent, "Tomorrow Morning" (1926). Fully written out upper-register second ending.

Charles K. Harris, "After the Ball" and "The Last Farewell"

I have published the essay Text and Music in Two Songs by Charles K. Harris on the Texas ScholarWorks platform. Here is the link: Harris.

Here is the abstract:

 In 2021, SMT-V, an online journal of the Society for Music Theory, published a video essay by Michael Buchler, Professor of Music in the College of Music, Florida State University. It’s titled "I Don’t Care if I Never Get Back: Optimism and Ascent in 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game'.” In this essay I examine similar songs from the era: Charles K. Harris, “After the Ball” (1892) and “The Last Farewell” (1903).

See also the post on this blog: "Michael Buchler on 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'." Link.