Did you know: President number three, Thomas Jefferson, was a top-notch amateur violinist? He played a little ditty with the U.S. Marine Band that would later have words added to it by Francis Scott Key — and would later be sung to varying degrees of success at thousands of sporting events (it's "The Star Spangled Banner.")
President number 16, Abraham Lincoln, couldn't hold a tune, but he attended the opera regularly during the Civil War to clear his head.
President number 33, Harry Truman, could read music like a newspaper, so he took miniature scores with him to the National Symphony and followed along.
And maybe most notable was President number 37, Richard Nixon, who played piano like a pro and even wrote his own music.
On this week's Learning to Listen, find out more about our nation's top leaders and their musical interests on Presidents Day.
Program Playlist
Hail to the Chief
Williams/Air and Simple Gifts
Sousa/ Easter Morning on White House Lawn
Haydn/Piano Sonata
Joplin/Maple Leaf Rag
Bach/Prelude
Shostakovich/Symphony No. 1 (1st mvt)
Barber/Adagio
Ibert/Sax Concerto (mvt 1)
Copland/Lincoln Portrait (excerpt to end)
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