Posted on 06/08/2002 7:42:04 AM PDT by TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!
By TODD HARTMAN DENVER - Poudre High School's decision to play the World anthem for its graduation ceremony sparked an angry reaction from a parent who wanted to hear the national anthem and stirred a dust-up on talk radio this week. Gail Wagner, whose daughter graduated May 24, wrote a letter to the school principal, the district superintendent and the Denver Rocky Mountain News calling the anthem "an insipid little song about a world of peace and love" and an insult to America. She said it took the place of the national anthem. It did not, said Poudre High Principal Sandra Lundt. Lundt said she was surprised to find the decision scolded on Mike Rosen's KOA talk show and Peter Boyles' KHOW show Thursday morning. Lundt said the Fort Collins school has never played the national anthem at its graduation. "This was never meant to take the place of the national anthem," Lundt said. "It's an anthem that really celebrates every nation." Wagner's husband, Fred, and daughter, Erin, also opposed the playing of the world anthem. Erin said she was surprised "The Star Spangled Banner" wasn't played. "It didn't make much sense," Erin said. "We live in America, so they should have played it. I guess I would say I was offended." Lundt said the school's senior class council, a group of 15 to 20 students, participated in the decision to play the world anthem. The school's orchestra, band and choir teamed to perform the piece. The senior class council "was very excited about the opportunity," Lundt said, noting that one of the people who helped promote broader performance of the anthem, Ed Goodman, is a 1973 graduate of Poudre High. The world anthem was conceived in 1996 and completed by 2000. The idea behind the piece, according to the Web site www.worldanthem.org, is this: "We believe there is a wonderful way to bring a message of hope, healing, peace and unification to all people through the universal language of music ... to give the world a gift, to bring about a symbol for peace and a common spirit of trust toward the idea of one people, one world." Its creation, even those involved acknowledge, borders on the bizarre. Music from the anthems of every country in the world were combined in a computer. Using musicology software, a blended creation emerged. The same technique was used to produce the lyrics, according to Goodman. "This is not two bars of 'The Star Spangled Banner,' then a bar of 'O Canada,'" Goodman said. "It's more like if you took all the melodies, harmonies, rhythms and tempos and somehow were able to average them. ... It's very, very sophisticated; it took years of work to accomplish." This means, Goodman said, that the piece wasn't composed by any one person or any one nation. "The point of it was to have one song that all nations could share," he said. The piece has a significant history in Colorado. It was heard for the first time at the Denver Millennium Celebration on Dec. 31, 2000, at the stroke of midnight in conjunction with fireworks, according to historians of the anthem. In November 2001, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra provided the first live performance of the piece. Goodman said that even Air Force's Band of the Rockies is taken with the piece and arranging its own version. It's slated to be played at an upcoming global peace conference in Croatia and at a ceremony celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Peace Corps this summer. The Wagners are not impressed. "No matter how much the principal gushed over the privilege of being one of the first to hear this piece performed, we did not feel privileged or find it inspirational, heartwarming or moving," Gail Wagner wrote to the News.
Debate over anthem surprises principal
Scripps-McClatchy Western Service
June 07, 2002
No, and if I'm lucky I never will hear it.
They are, after all, a product of inane, imbecilic leftist "teachers' whose mission in life (before they die and go to hell and meet their god) is to indoctrinate the little mush heads into radicalized marxism.
It must be that Coca-Cola song.
How could a public school employ America-hating lefist extremists like this? What gave them the right to advocate an agenda like this? What have they being doing/advancing that the right thinking people of the school district don't yet know about?
Oh. Well. I suppose it's all right, then.
I wonder what they played before this piece was written? The Internationale? The Coca Cola theme song?
Neither is Bunker.
Was the UN band their to perform also?
Oh, I wish that I was in the land of cotten,
Old times there are not forgotten...
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FEBRUARY 5, 2002 - 09:12 EST
The Universal Languages of Music and Technology Merge to Create `The World Anthem'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA--A new universal musical creation, "The World Anthem," has been composed to bring together people and countries around the globe.
The inspiring ballad is not only a musical creation intended to internationally unite people in song, but also a composition created entirely by artificial intelligence computer technology, which honors and blends the anthems of 193 countries into one piece that encompasses the recurring themes and sentiments of all nations equally.
"The World Anthem" began its global reach in January 2002, when the music was recorded by the Prague Studio Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic while linked "live" to the producers in Los Angeles via a high-speed Internet connection.
The idea for combining all the anthems into one World Anthem was conceived by Denver music producer John Guillot who had been involved with a compilation CD project of anthems of the world for the Atlanta summer Olympics. As he listened to all the music and lyrics he became aware of similarities among the compositions.
"I decided to talk with David Cope who is a noted music professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz," explained Guillot. "He has spent over twenty years developing an innovative software program that combines various musical scores and lyrics and arranges them into one piece."
The sophisticated program, called Experiments In Musical Intelligence, evaluated the common musical elements of all the anthems in terms of melody, rhythm, tempo and lyrics, among other factors, to create the composite "World Anthem." Gary Guttman, a renowned Los Angeles composer and arranger then formalized the score and added orchestration but did not alter the basic musical form.
Joining with the creators of "The World Anthem" to spearhead the effort to globally launch the anthem is The MindShare Institute and Foundation; a Colorado-based non-profit idea and think tank. "We knew this project was something that could truly change the world by creating a spirit of unity for a troubled time," said Ed Goodman, a MindShare founder.
"Our organization is a place where unrestricted creativity and integrated thinking are our most revered values. We are passionate about improving the human condition. 'The World Anthem' has the potential to create hope and promise for people everywhere and our ultimate goal is to have it proclaimed as the world's official anthem. It not only honors the musical heritage of all nations, but is a celebration of our common bond of peace."
MindShare has also begun a fund-raising effort to finance the distribution of "The World Anthem" along with developing worldwide cultural outreach programs in conjunction with the project. "Our plans include the creation of a Student Ambassadors of Peace Program and a Web site that will provide cultural exchange to help bring this gift of music to the world," said Goodman.
The Tommy E. Short Charitable Foundation of Fort Collins, Colo., has provided the initial seed grant for the project. "We hope to raise enough money to have the ability to showcase the anthem at special events around the world, create a unifying music video and present the song on television and radio, as well as showcasing it in the press and on the Internet," said Goodman.
"What better way is there to generate understanding and peace than through the international language of music."
An audio preview of "The World Anthem" can be heard at the MindShare Institute and Foundation Web site at: www.mindshareinstitute.com.
The following are the lyrics:
NOTE: An Audio Clip relating to this story will be available for journalists to download beginning today at www.newstream.com and at www.businesswire.com.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: The MindShare Institute and Foundation
Ed Goodman
970/407-9195
www.mindshareinstitute.com or Santoli Communications Lorraine Santoli 949/888-9336
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