Klarinet Archive - Posting 000018.txt from 2005/05

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Musical vacuum
Date: Sun, 01 May 2005 23:31:39 -0400

At 07:56 PM 5/1/2005 -0700, Ormondtoby Montoya wrote:
>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.

Of course, one major reason is that, in wars subsequent to WW II, the
entertainment industry has been AGAINST the war effort, rather than a part
of it. Remember that during WW II there were patriotic movies, cartoons,
radio shows, etc., etc., and virtually the entire country was united and
pursuing the "inevitable victory" both on the job and in their free
time. More recently, except for a brief period immediately post-9/11,
during which "Proud to Be an American" enjoyed renewed popularity, people
are at best ambivalent toward whatever the current conflict might
be. Maybe we could USE some of that entertainment industry support (read
"propaganda") again!

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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