Klarinet Archive - Posting 000016.txt from 2005/05

From: ormo2ndtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: [kl] Musical vacuum
Date: Sun, 01 May 2005 22:57:37 -0400

I noticed a 4-disc set "World War II" music at Costco, and I couldn't
resist buying it.

Of course, there is a large repertoire of "Civil War" music and
"American Revolution" music as well. But as I listened to this "WW II"
set, it struck me that similar bodies of 'war music' (propaganda,
protest, etc) haven't evolved during any subsequent war. A few protest
songs, a piece or two about 9/11 (including Sean Osborne's piece), but
no large body of music which talks explicitly about a particular war.

I can think of several reasons why not --- including that we haven't had
a war as large as WW II since --- but still, I couldn't help noticing
that war doesn't seem to summon (or inspire) music to the same extent as
apparently it did 50+ years ago.

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