Forgoing the usual celebratory fanfare, the program opened with John Adams’ On the Transmigration of Souls, a piece premiered a year after the events of Sept. 11, 2001.Meade and I attended last night's performance, and if the audience objected to the national anthem, you could not tell. Playing the anthem has been a tradition and omitting it because of the 9/11 remembrance is, presumably, even in Madison, almost unthinkable. And the orchestra, augmented by the choir, produced real thrills, especially when they hit the high note — with descant — on "free."
Drawing its texts from the missing-person posters that populated New York immediately after the terror attacks, the piece is filled with recorded speaking voices and live singing....
The piece closed as it opened, with recordings of the most quotidian of street sounds, and the audience held a space of contemplative silence, as conductor John DeMain had requested before starting.
I’m going to say something here that will no doubt get me hot water: I am disappointed that, at this point in the concert, DeMain chose to insert a rousing rendition of the national anthem.
Where the Adams composition creates a space for personal reflection and tenderly holds the names of people who perished, the anthem demands a particular feeling. Surely the sense of nation was implied in the Adams piece and need not have been followed by sounds so linked to politics.
September 18, 2011
A grand performance of the national anthem in Madison... and a complaint about it.
Jessica Courtier in the Capitol Times, describing the program that opened the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s new season:
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The National Anthem is a waltz.
I don't know how the British ever drunk to it.
Is Courtier completely unaware that she is acting like a caricature? Since when is the national anthem "linked to politics"? I thought liberals insisted that they were patriots, too.
The Anthem is also played at the opening of the Milwaukee Symphony's season--or at least has been. Don't know what they did this year.
The anti-American Americans hate the National Anthem. They especially hate rousing renditions of it. They believe we should be shamed for being Americans.
This is just a music critic using her bully pulpit to demean.
There ya go. Republicans and conservatives find the flag, patriotic displays and the anthem moving, emotional and fulfilling. The "others" see such things as politics.
Bah. Go take a hike on the Iranian border.
The National Anthem should have been played first, not only because the National Anthem should always be played first but also because of the artistic and emotional statement made by playing in order first a song of one war and then another, memorializing events that happened 197 years apart, almost to the day (the British began bombarding Fort McHenry on September 13, 1814). The message of playing the songs in that order is that the Republic endures and that we play a role in history greater than ourselves.
(By the way, am I the only one who can't see the word verification the first time through?)
Well of course! When you hear the National Anthem you're supposed to think of all the blood and sacrifice that has gone into making the most free society in the world! That most definitely gets in the way of getting psyched up for the orgy of narcissistic public emoting over the 9/11 victims. No wonder Ms. Courtier's evening was ruined!
Patriotism is NOT cool.
You may say I'm a dreamer, but someday all these national anthems, pledges of allegiance and moments of silence will be relegated to the dustbin of history.
The Yakima Symphony always playing the national anthem to open season. Last nite the Memphis Symphony opened their season with the national anthem--The audience sang along and applauded enthusiastically after it was over. This is new to the Memphis Symphony and was very well received.
Of course Memphis isnt Madison, WI
I would just say that if your politics are such that listening to the national anthem makes you uncomfortable, maybe you need to question your politics.
"Go take a hike on the Iranian border."
LOL
+1
"By the way, am I the only one who can't see the word verification the first time through?"
Been getting that, too. Happened with Blogger some time ago as well and eventually ceased. Either Blogger fixes it or, at least this time, I was thinking I may need to update my version IE.
Out sailing the upper reaches of the beautiful and semi-tropical St. Johns River. The National Anthem just came up on the ipod. Chet Atkins. Then "Waltzing Matilda" by Chet and Tommy Emmanuel and "Dixie" by Bobby Horton.
Hate-America leftists always link the Anthem to politics, because the Anthem celebrates America, as do the lefts arch-enemy: the conservatives.
I would just say that if your politics are such that listening to the national anthem makes you uncomfortable, maybe you need to question your politics.
Nah. If celebrating your country makes you uncomfortable, maybe you need to move.
I guess she has a point. A lot of young people hear the anthem, eventually grow up and join the military. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that most veterans end up as conservative. Can't have that, can we?
That the Anthem is played in Madison with no complaint is news?
Wow.
The Jessica Courtiers worry when they hear the National Anthem, "What will the Europeans think?" To them, the National Anthem should celebrate the things they think made America great: community organizers, Grievance Studies professors, Assistant Deputy Directors for Diversity, mimes.
What the Madison Symphony should have done to give Ms. Courtier apoplexy would be to have sung the third verse on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of 9/11:
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
PS Read the review and noted the rest of the musical program. Typical for today. Orchestras are so desperate for audience that have to only play the "standards"
I love Beethoven's 5th but c'mon!
Considering that it was following a remembrance of 9/11, the critic should be thankful it was ONLY the National Anthem. My pick would have been the Battle Hymn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHVZK7nFYRQ
I found listening to On The Transmigration Of Souls nearly unbearable. It droned on and on, mistaking heaviness for solemnity. And where were the tunes, or if you prefer themes? I know, tunes are for squares, modern sophisticates are so beyond that simple stuff...har har har.
The National Anthem is a waltz.
I did not know that! I looked it up, and sure enough, the time signature is 3/4.
I don't know how the British ever drunk to it.
I think you'd have to be pretty drunk to waltz to that melody.
WV: forsurge
OK, we've got Christmas displays and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Why am I thinking that the next big PC thing is going to be the lone Lefty who is "offended" by the playing of the National Anthem?
jimbino said...
You may say I'm a dreamer,
No, but a lot of people will say he's an idiot who quotes an overrated songwriter and singer.
but someday all these national anthems, pledges of allegiance and moments of silence will be relegated to the dustbin of history.
Originally written by Vladimir Plotkin, third sub-basement, Lubyanka Prison, 1936.
You sat through an entire John Adams choral piece?
What, did you lose a bet?
You may say I'm a dreamer, but someday all these national anthems, pledges of allegiance and moments of silence will be relegated to the dustbin of history.
I don't say you're a dreamer.
I'd vote for idiot, however.
I'm always disappointed that The Battle Hymn of the Republic isn't played by the orchestra, with a chorus singing Blood on the Risers. But, that's just me.
It droned on and on, mistaking heaviness for solemnity. And where were the tunes, or if you prefer themes?
Ric, to some extent minimalism is oriented to people who are musically sophisticated in jazz, like the old line about "hey, I'm listening to the notes that aren't there." You let your mind wander and listen to the riffs your brain makes in the chord progression.
Unfortunately, John Adams' notes that aren't there are usually boring too.
Here's a great performance of the National Anthem, done but the whitest white girl I ever heard.
The National Anthem is a waltz.
No it isn't. The walzen was still a folk dance in Vienna; it's a modern error to think all music in 3/4 time everywhere is a waltz.
I miss hearing the Anthem before the movies.
"sounds so linked to politics"
The national anthem is politics, the flag is offensive, especially after 911.
If would be better if Adams told Courtiers that he was drinking to our comeuppance for our imperialistic arrogance over the hapless Muhammadans.
Somehow I double posted on an earlier thread and I have absolutely no idea how it happened.
There are lots of objections to the knee-jerk patriotic songs and slogans forced on Amerikans.
It's not just that the words of anthems are bellicose when not hypocritical and inscrutable, but that they are all so hackneyed. Hardly any of our Blacks and Hispanics have ever seen the purple mountain majesties, but instead are finding tears and little brotherhood in our gleaming Alabaster City.
No, the huge objection is to the compulsion to participate that is so violative of the long-forgotten sentiments in this once-free country. These patriotic exercises are nothing more than am enforced state religion. Only the brain-damaged genuflectors among us can be happy with this national liturgy.
Did the Founding Fathers engage in such groupy anthems, oaths and pledges? How would you feel having to stop work to pray five times a day?
The least you can say about these forced groupy exercises is that they are un-Amerikan (whatever that can possibly mean nowadays).
In place of the sickening patriotism, I have a dream of holding a concert as a paean to Amerikan individualism and independent thinking, but of course nobody would come.
In lieu of that, why not a concert at long last celebrating our greatest national anthem:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Hardly any of our Blacks and Hispanics have ever seen the purple mountain majesties,
Damn right! We keep our darkies on a short leash to keep them out of trouble.
Did the Founding Fathers engage in such groupy anthems, oaths and pledges?
On the way to his first inaugural in NYC, before every town, Washington would get out of his carriage and mount a white horse for the parade in his honor. No doubt he found it annoying but useful.
Why is patriotism sickening to you?
I'm always disappointed that The Battle Hymn of the Republic isn't played by the orchestra
___________
Sadly, those times when it is played, they all too often change the words to the less-militaristic "As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free," rather than the original and more appropriate "As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free."
There is no greater love than this, to lay down one's life for another, as Jesus did. Changing the word to "live" kind of misses the point there, as well as implying that Jesus did it wrong.
jimbino said...Did the Founding Fathers engage in such groupy anthems, oaths and pledges?
Yes.
Tyrone Slothrop said...I thought liberals insisted that they were patriots, too.
Only if there's a conservative in the room. She probably thought that only liberals would read her review.
Traditionally, the Houston Grand Opera plays the Star Spangled Banner at the beginning of the opening night of the opera season. While Houston is in a red state, the opera crowd is pretty mixed politically and culturally liberal. Never heard a complaint there. Madison seems like a not-very-fun college town.
The Detroit Symphony Orchestera has traditionally begun its season-opening concerts with The National Anthem. It always gives me chills, when a first-rate symphony orchestra plays it. (Particularly when the DSO was led by Naeme Jarvi, of Estonia.) In that setting, it is an order of magnitude different, from hearing it casually at a ball game.
The example here of the Anthem being played within a program is different. Still, if listeners can't deal with that, they've got some other serious issues.
Thelast serious playing of The Battle Hymn of the Republic was as the most perfectly appropriate moment imaginable; it was as the congregation exited the National Cathedral, led by Presidwent Bush, after the national prayer service commemorating the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Yo Joanna:
My search on "anthem" and "pledge" on the work you cited yielded no results. I also found no reference to groupie oaths.
Interesting though, is that all oaths have long been considered religious exercises:
After all, the presidential oath of office as prescribed in Article II of the Constitution simply states:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
But overlooked by many today is the fact that the Framers of our government considered an oath to be inherently religious – something George Washington affirmed when he appended the phrase “So help me God” to the end of the oath.
I would have played the Anthem after an intermission or before the Adams, perhaps with an intervening piece. Not right after.
"but someday all these national anthems, pledges of allegiance and moments of silence will be relegated to the dustbin of history."
The Kellog-Briand Pact, backed by the full force of the League of Nations, will surely see to it. Any day now.
Seriously though, someday we will all come together as one under the red star of the Solar Federation. Until the Elder Race of Man returns...
I can dream too.
The last serious playing of The Battle Hymn of the Republic was as the most perfectly appropriate moment imaginable; it was as the congregation exited the National Cathedral, led by President Bush, after the national prayer service commemorating the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Actually, Battle Hymn of the Republic was played and sung by the U.S. Army Chorus when Pope Benedict came to the White House in April 2008 (and they sang the original line "let us die to make men free"). See YouTube video (quality so-so).
Our daughter picked out a beautiful variation of the National Anthem to play for her piano recital a few years ago. Her piano teacher asked her to pick something else as she didn't want it making anyone uncomfortable. You know, bringing up images of fighting and war and such.
We were at Ft. McHenry in '07 for the Defender's Day festivities the second weekend of Sept. After a community band played an hours worth of period music there were fireworks and the raising of a huge flag while the band played the Anthem. Most moving patriotic moment in my 50 years experience.
Next year will be a very big deal at Ft. McHenry on that weekend as they celebrate the 200th anniv. of the writing of the National Anthem and the holding of the Fort.
jimbino wrote: No, the huge objection is to the compulsion to participate that is so violative of the long-forgotten sentiments in this once-free country.
I am going to guess that jimbino is a left-leaning individual, given that he calls us "Amerikans".
I find it ironic that a lefty is complaining about "compulsion to participate" when the left is all about compelling me to "contribute" something between 30 and 40 percent of my income to their "redistribution"/scoal justice schemes. I truly have no choice whether to participate in that - the IRS makes sure of that.
But they can complain about a concert where the national anthem is played - as though that is "compulsion to participate"! Simply listening to the national anthem is some great imposition on their freedom, but the government making some of us 40% slaves doesn't faze them at all - in fact they want us to pay even MORE of our earnings.
Amazing.
I think the audience deserve praise for not resorting to Doubletree antics.
Personally, I would like to see The Star Spangeled Banner become th emilitary anthem, while America the Beautiful become the civil anthem. Of course, that would risk an ACLU explosion, as the song mentions God, but so what.
The real issue is the recent study that found seeing the National flag acts to increase a person's desire to vote Republican.
The really remarkable thing about our "Amerikan" visitor, is that he apparently thinks the "alabaster cities shine/Undimmed by human tears" is supposed to be about the present.
Dude. That's not about the here and the now. It's about life on the new Earth, after the Second Coming, the General Resurrection, and the General Judgment. "Our alabaster cities" is a line speculating that the "new Jerusalem" will also be accompanied by other new and improved versions of our favorite places.
(Goes in line with Papias and other chiliastic early Christians, who were fairly sure that only the saints who produced "a hundredfold" would actually live in the New Jerusalem, although the entire New Earth would be very nice to live in.)
"Purple mountain majesties" and "fruited plains" were off the beaten path for the songwriter, too. That part's a travelogue.
"I'm going to say something here that will no doubt get me [sic] hot water. . ."
Oh, please, sugar tits. 'Brave columnist risking reputation by refusing to submit to popular opinion' is the most hackneyed of lefty tropes. Courtier (such an apropos name) is a musical illiterate indulging in the cheapest sort of mental masturbation for her oh-so-enlightened readership.
"Demands a particular feeling"??? Wow, these people really can't think for themselves.
Suburbanbanshee
Just to make clear, I am an American living in London. Not an Englishman in the US.
I am well aware of the reasoning behind America the Beautiful -- and the fact that the author wrote it while on a trip. Still, I prefer it as a national anthem because, for one thing, I find it easier to sing that our current one. A national ANTHEM is supposed to be sung with one voice. That is impossible with the Star Spangeled Banner.
If you want a violent national anthem, try the French.
I think of major countries the most beautiful is the German and the Canadian. Let's face it, most anthems are rubbish.
As for Jerusalem, yes it is about aspirations, not reality, but I think the sentiment, the words and the music would make it a wonderful anthem if England ever gets its own (like Scotland and Wales do now). My wife was on the Mall during the royal wedding and I have been at Wembley when large crowds start to sing it, and it makes a chill run down your spine.
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