The world-famous orchestra, the Boston Pops, marked the Bicentennial in 1976 as America’s birthday should be celebrated, with music sure to rouse patriots no matter what their politics.
Legendary conductor Arthur Fiedler had led the orchestra to greatness for over half a century, and his biggest moment came as a crowd of 400,000 gathered in Boston on a perfect Fourth of July evening at the Hatch Bandshell on the Charles River. The offerings ranged from classical—including Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, complete with National Guard cannons—to patriotic, naturally including the national anthem.
Along with “The Star-Spangled Banner,” there was also “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” A rendition of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was so rousing that a video of the crowd singing along is liable to cause a true patriot to well up five decades later. The footage shows that at the final chorus, people are on their feet, smiling and hugging and swaying arm in arm, hoisting their kids aloft. They come to a word that stands out as we approach the nation’s 250th birthday.
“His truth is marching on.”
Our current president has hijacked that word for Truth Social, the social media platform through which he posts falsehood after falsehood after falsehood.
One result has been that most of the artists who signed up for the supposedly non-partisan “Freedom 250” series of concerts scheduled from June 25 to July 10 for the National Mall in Washington, D.C., withdrew when they came to realize it was part of an attempt by President Donald Trump to conflate a celebration of the nation’s birthday with his own.
The first big event is a UFC match at the White House, coinciding with Trump’s 80th birthday, to be preceded by a weigh-in for the contestants at the Lincoln Memorial. (“The Battle Hymn of the Republic” happens to have been President Abraham Lincoln’s favorite anthem.)
Trump has even proposed a commemorative $250 bill bearing his signature and a mugshot of him taken at the Fulton County jail in Georgia when he was arraigned on 13 felony charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. The case has since been dropped.
In withdrawing from Freedom 250, country star Martina McBride—who had been scheduled for the first day—posted on X that “I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.”
“I’ve spent my entire career singing songs about real people with real issues,” she continued. “It greatly upsets me that any fan who has been moved by my music may now feel like I’m abandoning the meaning behind those songs. I assure you, that is not the case.”
Trump responded on Truth Social by going overtly MAGA.
“We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain. Cancel it.”
Trump knew exactly who should step in.
“So I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP.”
He added, “I am ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally… Only Great Patriots invited—It will be a Wild and Beautiful Celebration of America!”
That message disturbingly echoed his Dec. 19, 2020, tweet calling for his followers to attend a “Stop the Steal” rally that would lead to a storming of the Capitol, the injury of more than 140 police, and the pardoning of all those convicted of assaulting them.
“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”
Anybody who can get to Boston on Independence Day can hear the Boston Pops marking America’s 250th birthday much as it did for the Bicentennial, with Keith Lockhart conducting in the place of Arthur Fiedler, who died at 84, six days after the Fourth of July in 1979.
Among the musical artists scheduled to appear are Emmy winners Lainey Wilson, Chance the Rapper, and Trombone Shorty. They were signed with music, not politics in mind. And, as this celebration of the nation’s birthday has to do with the nation and not the current president, nobody in the lineup is expected to withdraw. This year’s crowd is expected to be even bigger than the 400,000 people who attended in 1976.
“The Battle Hymn of the Republic” is not on the 2026 list of patriotic tunes... But you can count on hearing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” There will also be the “1812 Overture” featuring real cannons. The concert will, as always, culminate with a fireworks display.
Chance the Rapper, acclaimed rap emcee.
Jonathan Leibson/Getty ImagesIf you cannot get to Massachusetts, you can catch the Boston Pops concert on CNN. You can also summon a YouTube video from the Bicentennial event in 1976 and watch a unified, joyful crowd sing of truth’s march. A panning camera shows a baby continuing to smile amidst tumultuous applause, cheers, and whistles.
The footage also shows Fielder giving a humble nod and gesturing for the orchestra members to stand and take a bow. His son, Peter Fielder, was at the concert and told the Daily Beast on Sunday that his father’s unassuming air at the Boston Pops’ Bicentennial moment of triumph reflected the spirit that had guided him from that first concert by the Charles River in 1929.
“There was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that went into what he did,” the son, now 74, said. “He gave a lot of himself and didn’t get a lot back from it in terms of money or anything like that. He was a very conservative guy, and he just wanted to play good music and bring it to people and have fun, and that’s what he did.”
The son reported that along with music of all kinds, Arthur Fiedler also had a passion for firefighters and cops.
“He just had so much respect for the police and fire departments, and they loved him,” Peter Fielder said. “Everywhere he’d go through the city of Boston,[they] would see him and wave.”
His father and the orchestra’s executive producer, philanthropist David Newgard, would chase fire calls.
“He always said the fire chief is like a symphonic conductor,” Peter Fielder said. “(The chief) knows where to focus the attention to put the fire out. And when he’d go to these big fires in Boston, he’d always meet up with the chief and talk to him.”
Fifty years after the historic concert that showed how a landmark national birthday should be celebrated, the great conductor who bonded with first responders continues to serve as a unifying example of actual patriotism for Americans to follow.
And all the more so when we have a narcissistic president who acts as if his birthday and the nation’s birthday were a conjoined cause for celebration.
Trump will be singing “Happy Birthday to me,” as his lies keep marching on.
