Brad Beyenhof wrote:
On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 21:45:01 -0700, Richard Yates <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I like the arrangement that is being used in the Olympics this time around. The '..rockets red glare' section is sweet and peaceful. Not a good match for the words, but better than an a swaggering march.
There was a discussion recently on the mailing list of the Society for
Music Theory. Below are a couple of excerpts.
-Brad
****** I had heard that the American athletes were instructed to be low-key and respectful if they win, so as not to provoke anti-American sentiments during this wartime. Was this version of the SSB chosen for similar reasons? To be less aggressive and less militaristic? Interestingly, the arrangement becomes most obfuscating and divergent from the "standard" version when it gets to the line "bombs bursting in air". ****** Columnist Maureen Dowd wrote about this very thing in her column today. Her opinion was that the musical arrangement was tailored to put the USA in a "softer" light.
Interestingly enough, in a parallel discussion on orchestralist, it was pointed out that the official Department of Defense version has that section marked pianissimo, so it's still supposed to put things in a softer light. At least according to the official U.S. D.o.D. version, it's not supposed to be bombastic.
-- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
