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.
As I just commented in another note, the arrangement was written in 1994. It may have been selected for political reasons (although I doubt it), but it clearly was not written for political reasons.
John
-- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
