Music fit for a president
By coincidence of schedule, yesterday was a day off for me, which meant many hours glued to Inauguration coverage on an endless assortment of news channels (although, I must say, for no-frills production and the ever-amusing/enlightening/frightening call-ins, no-one beats C-Span!).
An absolutely extraordinary and historic day in so many ways (when was the last time you heard a president discuss the importance of personal and collective responsibility in an Inaugural Address??), more so for the musical highlights. Aside from the usual lineup of military bands and singing sailors (the national anthem was sung by the aptly named "U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters"), things got off to a soulful start thanks to a great "My Country Tis of Thee" from the incomparable Aretha Franklin.
What I'd been looking forward to, however, was the performance that immediately preceded the presidential swearing-in, a John Williams work/arrangement performed by Itzhak Perlman, Anthony McGill, Yo Yo Ma and Gabriela Montero, the first time in memory a quartet of classical musicians has been presented as part of the ceremony:
I was surprised to see Ma playing a conventional cello (I'm wondering, was he playing his Montagnana??) rather than the much-touted carbon fiber instrument. Kudos to the quartet for performing under unideal conditions - outdoors, exposed, in sub-freezing temperatures. And a special congratulations to Anthony McGill, a Curtis classmate of mine, who I saw last about a month ago at an after-hours party in Philly (at the Russian United Beneficial Association hall - a story for another time...).
Another bit of alma mater pride came during the post-Inaugural parade:
The Punahou School JROTC and marching band proudly participated in the event (during which President Obama gleefully waved a shaka sign or two). Punahou is, now famously, Obama's alma mater, and mine as well (and the President and I also share that whole growing-up-in-Hawaii thing). Having come from a place where the average January temperature is 81 degrees Fahrenheit, I can only imagine how the kids in the band felt, but they did themselves proud, playing an upbeat version of "Aloha 'Oe" by Queen Lili'uokalani, the last monarch of Hawai'i.
A historic day.
An absolutely extraordinary and historic day in so many ways (when was the last time you heard a president discuss the importance of personal and collective responsibility in an Inaugural Address??), more so for the musical highlights. Aside from the usual lineup of military bands and singing sailors (the national anthem was sung by the aptly named "U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters"), things got off to a soulful start thanks to a great "My Country Tis of Thee" from the incomparable Aretha Franklin.
What I'd been looking forward to, however, was the performance that immediately preceded the presidential swearing-in, a John Williams work/arrangement performed by Itzhak Perlman, Anthony McGill, Yo Yo Ma and Gabriela Montero, the first time in memory a quartet of classical musicians has been presented as part of the ceremony:
I was surprised to see Ma playing a conventional cello (I'm wondering, was he playing his Montagnana??) rather than the much-touted carbon fiber instrument. Kudos to the quartet for performing under unideal conditions - outdoors, exposed, in sub-freezing temperatures. And a special congratulations to Anthony McGill, a Curtis classmate of mine, who I saw last about a month ago at an after-hours party in Philly (at the Russian United Beneficial Association hall - a story for another time...).
Another bit of alma mater pride came during the post-Inaugural parade:
The Punahou School JROTC and marching band proudly participated in the event (during which President Obama gleefully waved a shaka sign or two). Punahou is, now famously, Obama's alma mater, and mine as well (and the President and I also share that whole growing-up-in-Hawaii thing). Having come from a place where the average January temperature is 81 degrees Fahrenheit, I can only imagine how the kids in the band felt, but they did themselves proud, playing an upbeat version of "Aloha 'Oe" by Queen Lili'uokalani, the last monarch of Hawai'i.
A historic day.
Labels: music and politics
posted by Sarah at
10:55 AM
3 Comments:
I too was surprised yo-yo opted out of the L&C cello. The entire military orchestra (44 strings) played on these carbonfiber instruments. Darth Vader would have been proud. Yo-Yo's cello looked rather new, never seen it before.
I heard (on MPR?) that the quartet actually played playback and that the music that we heard was from a recording of the day before, at milder temperatures indoors. Does anyone know if it is true?
Peter, it is true, and our commenters discussed it extensively in a later ItC blog post, here:
http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/insidetheclassics/blog/2009/01/busted.html
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