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Williams to compose new piece for Obama's Inaugural Ceremony (the Air And Simple Gifts thread)


Ollie

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The CBS Evening News just aired an interview with Yo-Yo Ma in which he discusses, briefly, the new composition and plays a snippet of "Simple Gifts." Nothing new is revealed (other than that the "Simple Gifts" melody will emanate first from the clarinet), although we do see footage of a certain sandy-haired gentleman conducting music from Star Wars.

Meanwhile, Gabriela Montero, in an AP interview, leaves us this unsurprising tidbit about the new Williams piece:

The 38-year-old Montero said the piece composed by Williams is special. "It's very much his sound — let's say contemporary classical," she said.

I suspect she will rein in her (splendid) improvisationalist tendencies for this occasion. :(

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Obama is indeed biracial, but he identifies as black (or African American). [And the very fact that you were compelled to make this distinction is suggestive of the degree to which his social identity has been shaped by the one-drop rule.

I'm more concerned by the fact that, to qualify as white, one has to be completely white. But the slightest hint of color gets you branded as being black.

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I predict some of the TV presenters will talk during the piece, at least in the beginning, doing some obvious comments on Williams, Ma, Perlman... and the piece itself.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm worried about... :P

For those of us in the States, I'd recommend C-SPAN as being the least likely to have chatter over the performance. (Typing this will hopefully remind me to set up my DVR to record Tuesday's festivities.)

Mine is set...

I just hope C-SPAN has no commentaries. I did have it on FOX NEWS until you reminded me of C-SPAN

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I'll record from the BBC. They're never so rude as to talk over important stuff :)

BBC America? That's the only channel I appear to get.

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when is the Williams piece played exactly?There seems to be some concert going on today

Between 11:00 and 12:00 a.m., I think (20th of January).

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when is the Williams piece played exactly?There seems to be some concert going on today

Between 11:00 and 12:00 a.m., I think (20th of January).

Damn, I'll be at school.

I have a Delayed Start on Tuesday....

I'm ill on Tuesday. Oh wait, not necessary, I can watch it at 6:00 pm local time ;)

what's that playing behind Tom Hanks. Sounds John Williams-ish

It was an Aaron Copland piece.

Called 'A Lincoln Portrait'. Yes, Williams owes a lot to Copland as it comes to American musical idiom.

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I'm worried I'm going to miss this...

Broadcasts in Australia start at 2am/3amDST, so I hope that is a broadcast of the main event that includes the performance, or else it's just the very start of a whole 10 hour block of proceedings or something...

*nervous*

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I believe the ceremonies start at 11:30 A.M. and the president's swearing in is at 12. So I would expect the piece to air around 11:50ish.

I just found it's beginning at 10 AM EST? Ok so 10 AM is 4 PM in Western Europe here, right.

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Actually I've just figured out that generic coverage starts an hour from now, and apparently the swearing in happens about 3 hours after that, before which the piece is played.

Only question I guess is, how many hours of this damn thing do I want to sit and watch?

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I'm still very certain that this will be performed just before 12pm EST, probably around 11:50. It happens right before the swearing in (AT 12) and right after the vice president's swearing in.

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I plan to try and tune in as there's a slingbox attached to my brother's sky box so I can watch it from work.

I'm sure a lot of people around here (my workplace) don't care about anything more than Bush is leaving, but I want to see the performance, and given that this is a pretty defining moment for a country I really like, I want to see it live. It's at 5pm over here so I should be in a good position to catch it.

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Let's not forget this isn't the first time that "Simple Gifts" serves as inspiration to Williams. He quoted it briefly in the American Collection theme. A theme played, again, by Yo-Yo Ma :D

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I'm recording,I just don't know what channel to pick. Who is the less blabbermouthed TV commentator?

I'll go with ABC since they just talked about JW

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