Rapunzelina wrote: ↑January 6th, 2024, 7:03 pm
I certainly wouldn't want to complicate it further; this project is complicated enough as it is! But it's not my decision to make, I think MaryAnn is acting BC, and we can wait for her counsel
Unfortunately, PD in the US is based on publication date, not the death of the author/composer.
It's confusing ... this link indicates that Bates used this as a Christmas card in 1937:
https://abbiebetinis.com/writings_burtcarols.html Even if that counted as "published" for copyright purposes, it would be too recent for a clear PD determination (the current cut off in the US is published before 1927). So, assuming Bates use as a Christmas card counts as "published", then at best, it's confusing what year this particular card was sent.
So I think we are better off using the melody from the book over at CCEL that rapunzelina linked to because we know for sure it's PD. No need to add extra lines of text that might be in the CCEL version, and try to use the CCEL melody as best you can to sing the text in our play. Slight variations to make it fit the words are just fine.
It would have been so much easier if the author of this play had included sheet music in his book! How anyone figured this out to stage the play when this was first published is beyond me ... but by the time we are finished, it will be a lovely little PD work that folks can enjoy (and maybe even stage themselves)!
MaryAnn
