Leland wrote: I'm starting to think that recordings used at the Olympics should have been performed by an ensemble native to that medalist's country.
Which brings something else to mind. Was anyone else as disappointed as I that they used a DJ while all the teams were entering at the opening ceremony? That seemed a perfect slot for some live music!!!
Today's Chicago Tribune (Worlds Greatest Newspaper) had an interesting article about the National Anthem at the Olympics (the Music Critic must be reading the tubenet).
David C. Ellis
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Crystal Lake Concert Band
Northwest Symphony Orchestra
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McHenry County College Band
Wessex TE665 "Tubby" Eb
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It's not my favorite rendition, but it beats hearing mediocre singers at ball games trying to Soul-sing it, dragging the tempo to death, and making the melody almost unrecognizable.
Leland wrote:Which one? I'd say the band down the hall from me (even though they're moving down the street), but I'm just a tad bit biased...
If you are biased, then so am I. The Marine Band playing the national anthem would be Just Right. If they don't play it too slowly, that is.
Rick "not needing to hear an arranger show off" Denney
Yup, that's the one. I hear it nearly every day (either live or as a recording that the parade staff uses in practice), and it's always seemed that it just IS the Banner. Everything else sounds like an interpretation, and I can't really explain why.
Speaking of interpretations, I really liked the Hendrix version recorded at Woodstock -- a really involving integration of sounds, music, and lyrics. I think it was only the second time he performed it, but once it got "set in stone" by being recorded at such a highly visible event, there'll never be another one like it.
Oh, say, can you hear an appropriate national anthem at the Olympics?
By John von Rhein
Tribune music critic
If you're watching the tape-delayed coverage of Olympic sports, you might be wondering: Why do those national anthems, ours included, have so little to do with the true culture of the countries they are supposed to represent?
I listened to the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" last weekend as Michael Phelps, the U.S. swimming star, appeared to struggle with the words to the national anthem as he was awarded his first gold medal. As I did, I had to remind myself that the tune began as a British drinking song that had nothing to do with the Stars and Stripes or the infant Republic. It was only after Francis Scott Key outfitted it with patriotic words, in 1814, that it became as indelible a symbol of American patriotic pride as the flag, the Fourth of July and Donald Trump.
It's not like this country doesn't have enough troubles. Do we really need, on top of that, some stodgy march from the Old World whose words nobody can get right (is it "through the perilous fight" or "perilous night"?), and whose vocal line is almost impossible for ordinary folks to sing? How much better it would be if we adopted the late Ray Charles version of "America the Beautiful" or James Brown's "Living in America," as the nation's celebratory hymn. Wouldn't that or some other pop classic be a better, politically and culturally hipper reflection of today's American society to send around the world? Sadly, other countries haven't done much better. With few exceptions, none of their national anthems contains indigenous musical elements, and most of those are mired in the bloated pomp of the 19th Century. Listening to most of them is as much of a snooze as watching synchronized swimming.
Ah, but wouldn't it be great if an Olympic medallist from Argentina were saluted with a tango? Or a Jamaican with a Bob Marley song? Or a Cuban with a salsa number?
How thrilling it would have been for even non-Australians to hear the band strike up "Waltzing Matilda" when swimmer Ian Thorpe got his medal. Instead, we were treated to the dull anthem, "Advance Australia Fair" -- this despite the fact that many Aussies have long recognized "Waltzing Matilda" as their true anthem. Of course, not all old anthems are bad anthems. The good ones are good because they salute the soul of a nation, not just its flag, people or traditions; they do so with words and music that resonate in the mind with a fervor and sincerity that leap across national boundaries.
Think of the noble, swelling hymn that is Britain's "God Save the Queen." It's the world's oldest anthem, dating to 1745. The tune is so good that it has been adopted by other countries, including Liechtenstein; indeed, when Liechtenstein faced England in a recent European Football Championship qualifying game, fans had to listen to the same anthem played twice.
Think of the French "Marseillaise" This smart, vigorous, unabashedly patriotic call-to-arms moves proudly up the scale like a tricolore thrust to the heavens. Even when a French athlete loses, just playing the French national anthem will send consoling shivers down the spines of every red-blooded French spectator. Or think of China's catchy, fanfare-like anthem, "March of the Volunteers," which sounds rather like an Asian riff on Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" march. Yes, it was a bit disconcerting to see the young and petite Chinese synchronized divers, Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia, accepting their medals while an anthem bearing such belligerent lyrics as "Brave the enemy's gunfire, march on!" was playing in the background. But the image did serve as a reminder that most anthems, including our own, were born of bloodshed and strife, forged from the nationalistic spirit of the Romantic century.
Many such anthems celebrate victory over oppression. Many are overtly political in substance. And they are difficult to change: according to a Reuters report last week, athletes from Serbia-Montenegro would have to endure a "widely despised" anthem after their Parliament at the last minute rejected a substitute for the Socialist-era song.
Never mind catchy tunes and stirring lyrics. When it comes to national anthems, achieving a tone of high seriousness and boosting the authority of the state have long been deemed more important than artistic worth.
The result is that most anthems -- even when they take the form of hymns, marches, songs or fanfares -- come off as pompous dirges.
Even the ones that stick in the ear sound as if they belong in some other country. Nineteenth Century Italian opera strongly influenced the anthems of Central and South America and the Caribbean, which is why the anthems of El Salvador, Dominica, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay all sound like early stage works by Giuseppe Verdi.
Others have texts that sound positively bloodthirsty to an outsider. Uday Hussein may no longer be around to "inspire" failing Iraqi athletes with torture, but the country's anthem, adopted in 1981, still urges citizens to "advance to a certain victory, bringing terror." (What, no weapons of mass destruction?)
Others lose something in translation. The opening of Ukraine's anthem reads: "Ukraine has not died yet." A key line in the Republic of Congo's anthem seems to deal more casually (or is that existentially?) with the concept: "And if we have to die/Does it really matter?"
The only great composer associated with a great anthem was Franz Joseph Haydn, whose String Quartet, Op. 76, No. 3, supplied the tune for Germany's, once known as "Deutschland ueber Alles" before Germans cleaned up the words in the wake of World War II.
Ironically, many of the African countries that won independence in the 1950s hired Europeans to write their anthems. None of these post-colonial hymns and marches is likely to top the international hit parade. A possible exception might be South Africa's "Nkosi sikele l'i Afrika" ("God bless Africa"), with its piquant folk melody, adopted at the end of apartheid.
To find anthems independent of the European tradition, you must look primarily to Asian countries such as Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Japan's stately anthem, "Kimigayo," has the oldest words, dating from the 9th Century. The other three Eastern nations all have jaunty, quickstep anthems that resist the plodding anonymity of so many others.
Finally, let's consider the Russian national anthem, sung to the same tune as that of the former USSR's anthem, but with new words.
President Vladimir Putin reportedly was upset by the lack of passion in the athletes' singing of the Russian anthem at a recent soccer championship in Portugal. Through an intermediary, he told them that other teams not only sing but also look as if they are pumped for competition. By comparison, Russian players only "smile and chew gum."
Might I suggest that the Russian anthem has a lot to do with their apparent lack of patriotic and/or competitive fervor? Frankly, comrade Putin, it's a dull piece of work.
I'll bet if someone came up with a catchier anthem -- perhaps set to the tune of "Moscow Nights" -- they would lose their smirks and their wads of gum and would raise their voices as lustily as the assembled delegates surely will do when "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played at the opening ceremony of the Republican National Convention later this month.
It's not Ray Charles or James Brown. But the GOP will like it.
Five interesting anthems getting little air time in Athens
1. ITALY. Adopted in 1946. Opening line: "Brothers of Italy, Italy has awoken." Italy's first official national anthem is a tuneful little march in B-flat that Giuseppe Verdi might have composed if a certain Michele Novaro hadn't already done so.
2. GREECE. Composer: Nicolaos Mantzaros. Adopted in 1864. Opening line: "I shall always know you by the fire in your eyes." The host country's anthem is the longest in the world -- 158 stanzas, of which only the first two are normally sung as the anthem. The tune boasts sprightly dotted rhythms and a swaggering, Italianate accompaniment.
3. URUGUAY. Composer: Francisco Jose Debali. Adopted in 1848. Opening line: "Uruguayans, the country or the tomb!" This long (more than five minutes) anthem is an Italian opera overture without the opera. It's fun to hear, quite apart from the patriotic feeling it's meant to inspire.
4. THE PHILIPPINES. Composer: Julian Felipe. Adopted in 1898. Opening line: "Beloved land, pearl of the Orient." A jaunty march in G Major with a built-in oom-pah band. The tune threatens to break into "La Marseillaise" by the end.
5. INDIA. Composer: Rabindranath Tagore. Adopted in 1950. Opening line: "Thou rulest the minds of all people." An unusual key (E-flat Major) and an unusual melodic line, combined with repeated notes and grace notes tied to Hindi speech inflections, make this patriotic song one of the most intriguing of all the anthems.
I understand that Teddy Roosevelt wanted "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" as the national anthem. On that note (sorry ) I was heartened to hear that the chorus that sang at Reagan's funeral got the last verse right!
Sorry, the Olympic version is wimpy, wimpy, wimpy. To me, the best version was Whitney Houston's, done in the Super Bowl some years ago, arr. by superb bassist John Clayton.
TMurphy wrote:...The forceful, march-like band arrangements just don't do it for me. The olympic version does.
While the SSB would be a bitch to march to, personally I sort of like it in a march and militaristic style. At the very least it should be played with a lot of brass (read this a more TUBA).
Actually, hearing this the other night on the TV....was the first time I EVER heard ANY tuba in SSB. I was thinking, "Wow! finally some BASS in this piece!" But that was at the beginning and then it went to the wimpy part.
GC wrote:It's not my favorite rendition, but it beats hearing mediocre singers at ball games trying to Soul-sing it, dragging the tempo to death, and making the melody almost unrecognizable.
Just be happy we don't have to listen to the Rosanne Barr version.....
MA
"Maybe we should make fouling up the National Anthem a capital offense." I believe this would be a huge mistake. Our prison system is already overloaded.
[quote="IkeH"]To me, the best version was Whitney Houston's, done in the Super Bowl some years ago, arr. by superb bassist John Clayton. /quote]
Ah yes! I remember THAT one. THAT, IN MY OPINION, is the 2nd worst rendition of The Star Spangled Banner... right behind the one by Hendrix. The arrangements might have been OK, but the stylizing by these artists SUCKED! They should have been shot at sunrise! Roseanne doesn't even count. She's a fat-axxed idiot!
The national anthems being played at the Olympics aren't the greatest, but they are in the true spirit of The Games. The real shame is that it's obvious that most of the athletes don't even know the words to their anthems!
Dan Schultz
"The Village Tinker" http://www.thevillagetinker.com" target="_blank
Current 'stable'... Rudolf Meinl 5/4, Marzan (by Willson) euph, King 2341, Alphorn, and other strange stuff.
) I was heartened to hear that the chorus that sang at Reagan's funeral got the last verse right! 