The Walking Song originated in the 17-minute documentary Tuesday in November, made by John Houseman and Nicolas Ray for the United States Office of War Information in 1945. The film explains how the American election process is supposed to work. Sylvia Marlowe's long-time friend Virgil Thomson, who wrote the music for the soundtrack, was in the audience the night of our concert in 1972. In the movie, the Walking Song [beginning at 9:10 and lasting 2'18"] is sweetly orchestrated, with a lovely clarinet solo over pizzicato strings (there's even a quiet fugal setting of Yankee Doodle), and is somewhat more up-tempo than Sylvia's lyrical version, suggesting that American elections may have been a cheerier affair back then.