I've gotten a ton of emails asking me what I thought of the swearing-in ceremony. No, I didn't. But I'll review it, anyway.
Warren's prayer was fine. Too bad it was by him. Obama's speech was magnificent, his delivery less so. He's not a great speaker. The John Williams arrangement of the Shaker hymn Simple Gifts (Elder Joseph Brackett, 1848) was fabulous, as was the performance. I can almost forgive Williams for his awful soundtrack music and that stupid NBC Nightly News theme.
Elizabeth Alexander's moving inaugural poem was terrific, but poetry isn't (and has never been) very popular. Even the great intellects at Beware of the Blog didn't dig it, so (naturally) they're ridiculing it in their usual distinguished fashion: The Inaugural Poem Remix. Not that Ms. Alexander isn't used to that level of response.
Dr. Joseph Lowery was masterful. Beyond masterful, maybe.
Obama's swearing-in ceremony was no let-down. And that's my review.
Lee
8 comments:
Randi Rhodes, arbiter of culture, called the Williams fantasia a dirge, because everything she knows about music she learned coming up through Morning Zoo radio, where anything not on the playlist is irrelevant. My wife, Cynthia, a retired chorister, whose afternoon routine includes auditing Randi's radio program, lost all patience for the broadcaster every time she bitched about the music at the inauguration ceremony.
The only substantial criticism I heard of the piece was a lament that Simple GIfts had been deprived of its simple virtue by Mr. Williams' filigreed arrangement. I found the piece compelling and have enjoyed listening to it a few more times. It was playing at noon when the legal transfer of power occurred, and will have a special place in my heart.
Someone opined that GWB wasn't offended by the presentation until afterward, when it was translated for him by minds more familiar with subtle condemnation; a caller to Randi's program counted fifty-one such remarks that justifiably could have irked the outgoing president after the fact.
The yellow-mellow part reminded me too much of our California water shortage mnemonics from a quarter century ago, but the old man was putting it down. I could not resist his request for an "Amen."
You didn't mention Aretha Franklin and her rather dismal of 'My Country Tis Of Thee'
Oh if we still had Mahalia Jackson, that would have been a performance.
Well, I love Aretha Franklin, and I'd rather talk about the Ahmet Ertegun years than about Tuesday. Nuff sed.
I agree. Voices lose their power with time, especially when such a robust style is required. She no longer has her magnificent R&B/gospel pipes, and I love her, anyway. She deserved to be up there.
Oh, I love her too. It was just a opinion of the day, not of her career.
Elizabeth Alexander's speech may have been ok, but as a poem, no. Most everyone loathed it. Check out a typical review:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/jan/21/elizabeth-alexander-obama-inauguration-praise-song
She is to poetry what Ferrante & Teicher are to Horowitz & Rubinstein. Only lacking F&T's technical skills. Her poem was corny and derivative. (You remember them, Corny and Derivative? Always wanted to write that: Corny and Derivative!)
Oh yes. And darn that Huffington Post! Bet she doesn't play religious 78's on Sunday either.
I'd tell you where you can park your attitude, but why waste the key-strokes? Thanks for taking the time to insult me--I'm honored.
I don't think we can judge the quality of the poem by reviews in the media, not known for love of poetry. She is an established poet, a serious poet, one whose work is not suitable for greeting cards, that's the problem. Public interest in poetry is flatline, so I am not surprised to see that her work was not appreciated. What is great is that Obama chose someone like her.
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