Trivia 9-1-2021 Sing a little song for me

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Question:

True or false?

Ulysses S. Grant loved music and was an a accomplished singer. Often when in camp, he would entertain his officers by giving private concerts, singing both patriotic songs like Yankee Doodle and well known arias from popular operas.

credit: @FarawayFriend
False. Grant suffered from Congenital Amusia: his "neurological wiring prevented him from being a music lover. In fact, it made him a music hater."
Source: Jonathan L. Friedmann, "Pots and Pans", Thinking on Music. https://thinkingonmusic.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/pots-and-pans/
 
Question:

True or false?

Ulysses S. Grant loved music and was an a accomplished singer. Often when in camp, he would entertain his officers by giving private concerts, singing both patriotic songs like Yankee Doodle and well known arias from popular operas.

credit: @FarawayFriend
This is false. U.S. Grant admitted that his knowledge of music was very limited. He once said that he knew only two tunes, one was Yankee Doodle and one was not.
 
TRUE.... if you are talking about the Philip Glass opera "Appomattox" and its leading character Ulysses S Grant .

Edit - I looked through the synopsis of Glass's opera and found that, although Grant is, indeed, listed as a leading character, there is no indication that there was any scene depicting Grant as giving a concert to his men in camp. Therefore, the question was not asking about that opera.

Thanks for bringing the opera to our attention, though. Probably very few CivilWarTalkers were aware of its existence.

hoosier
 
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Sounds familiar, but I don't think it was Grant.

Edit - I interpret this to mean that you think the answer is "False," which is correct.

As I advised another player, when we have a "True or False" question, either the word "True" or the word "False" should appear prominently in the player's answer.

hoosier
 
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False.
Grant suffered (?) from a condition named "congenital amusia" and said of himself that he knew only two songs: one was the aforementioned "Yankee Doodle" - and the other wasn't. Although later in life he was proud to have added "Hail to the Chief" to his repertoire.

Sources:

and

  • "The appreciation of music was to him a lost sense; the musician’s score was a sealed book. He used to say he knew only two tunes; one was “Yankee Doodle,” and the other wasn’t. In the days when he was received on all occasions to the music of brass bands he would say with mock pride that he really believed he had added a third tune to his repertoire–“Hail to the Chief!” https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/12/26/two-tunes/amp/
 
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