I'm back at school and, as always, shopping period is driving me into
Ross's final point: "I liked most of all the diverse picture of the classical world that the performers presented: an Israeli-born violinist, a Chinese-American cellist, a Venezuelan-born pianist, and an African-American clarinetist from the South Side of Chicago."
I mean, John Williams was kind of a lame choice - as some other critic said, they should have just played Copland - but it fit in well nonetheless. Other than that, I nearly cried several times, including during the swearing in when he said his full name. And also, you know, everything he said. I keep on pinching myself to find out if this really happened. Now, at some point in the months and years to come, people are going to inevitably be unhappy with him because there is no way he can live up to the expectations of every single person who has entrusted their hope and faith in his vision. But I'm an anthropologist, and I believe that symbolic events can carry a lot of weight. This one, I think, has the power to inspire the world. It's been fascinating to read the accounts of my friends who watched the inauguration from abroad.
I promise that I'll write at least the first installment of my New Mexico stories tomorrow. But now to bed, because I'm worn out already. Looking forward to this weekend, when I'll be seeing Kenny Garrett in Boston! He has such a gorgeous sound. Can't wait.
And now, your moment of Zen (courtesy of my brother):
I was actually pretty impressed with the John Williams arrangement-- coming from a composer not usually known for creating captivating interaction between individual voices in his music, it was a competent, if not life-shattering, effort.
ReplyDeleteI also thought the make-up of the quartet was great; it's really a shame how woefully underrepresented African-Americans are in classical music (and even jazz!) now. And music programs are basically nonexistent in South America now, save for Gustavo Dudamel's youth orchestra, which has received some publicity (and rightfully so).
Barring everything else, Yo-Yo Ma was adorable.
I can't wait to see pictures from your trip! :)
ReplyDeleteI totally agree - the John Williams was surprisingly good, I guess because it wasn't really what you expect to hear out of John Williams.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, the quartet's make-up was really cool to see. Especially Yo-Yo Ma and his adorableness. :)
Hi Sarah...it's Mrs. Mills...love love love your blog..it's such a cool layout.How did you get it to look so graphic? Anyway..the INAUGURATION!!! OMG! Everytime I watch the news and they say "President Obama" I get this thrill of excitement. You hit the nail on the head with your assessment of his strengths. Yes, we will!
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