Aside | Formats | EOIPIEDRALAVESMERCURY

A Catchy Little Tune

Read the story and then answer the questions.

This simple four-line ditty was written as a classroom greeting in 1893 by two sisters. Mildred Hill, a teacher at the Louisville, Kentucky Experimental Kindergarten, and Dr. Patty Hill, the principal of the same school, together wrote the song for their five year-old pupils.

The melody of the song was composed by Mildred, who was born in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A, on June 27th, 1859. The song was first published in 1893, with the lyrics written by her sister, Patty, as Good Morning To All.

Mildred was an expert on spiritual songs and played the organ in her local church, while Patty, who later became a professor at Columbia University, specialized in kindergarten education. Although the song was published in 1893, it wasn’t copyrighted until 1935. The copyright was taken out under a different name and it wasn’t renewed until 1963.
The song was popularised in the late 1930’s when it was sung in the Broadway production of As Thousands Cheer, and has since become the mega-classic hit of all time.
In 1988, Birch Tree Group Ltd, the original publishers, sold the rights of the song, and all their other assets, to Warner Communications for an estimated $25 million.
During the 1980s, the song was believed to generate about $1 million in royalties annually. Along with Auld Lang Syne (sung at midnight on New Year’s Eve) and For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow (sung to celebrate someone’s achievement), it is among the three most popular songs in the English language.
It continues to bring in around $2 million in licensing revenue each year, according to current publisher Warner Chappell.

Answer the questions:
1. In which city was Mildred born?
2. The song was originally titled Good ______ To All.
3. What’s the word for a short, simple song or poem?
4. Which musical instrument did Mildred play?
5. Which US state were the sisters from?
6. Which sister wrote the words of the song?
7. What do Americans call a school for 5 to 6 year-olds?
8. Which sister wrote the music for the song?
9. The Broadway show which made the song famous was called As ______ Cheer.
10. Money or property that a person or company owns.
11. You get paid this if someone uses your work.
12. What was Patty’s position at her school?
13. What was the name of the university where she later worked?
14. On New Year’s Eve, people sing Auld Lang ______.
15. If something is your intellectual property, it means you own the ______.
16. What kind of songs was Mildred an expert on?
17. The publishers who now own the song are called ______ Chappell.
18. The publishers who first owned the rights were called __________ Tree Group.

Answers:

1. Louisville 7. kindergarten 13. Columbia
2. Morning 8. Mildred 14. Syne
3. ditty 9. Thousands 15. copyright
4. organ 10. assets 16. spiritual
5. Kentucky 11. royalty 17. Warner
6. Patty 12. Principal 18. Birch