Rock is legal, but Poulenc's Gloria isn't? After attending another South Carolina Philharmonic concert ("Heaven and Earth," with the Columbia Choral Society, Coker College Singers, and Dawn Marie Wolski, soprano), and hearing the strains of Poulenc's Gloria (the piece that I heard but knew years ago I wasn't qualified to sing choral music yet; it took me five more years of vocal training to finally go over the hump and now it's two gigs a year since then, but still no church singing because of the attitude of certain leaders in churches who prefer the dippy junk), I thought about how secularism has run rampant in the country, even in churches.
We have seen secularism run rampant when the odds of Poulenc's Gloria are more to be heard in the symphony hall than in the church, which is dead-set on rock or karaoke (gasp!) settings of (don't laugh) "The Climb," "It's My Life," or the latest hit from a Sony television series (Granger had their congregation vote on which tune from Glee to perform there) in today's Warrenist Life Enhancement Centre every church wants to become.
And oh, by the way: Dawn Marie would lap the entire Grammy field wit that ethereal voice that made me understand in both Mahler's Symphony Nr. 4 and Poulenc's Gloria why I first was hooked on this type of music! Any reason why I've gone classical?
Wait a Minute, I thought NFL Season is Over! During the broadcast of the InBev Shootout Saturday, the strains of a certain piece played -- and it didn't sound prim and proper there, did it? It was the Garrod-Hays-Scheer Fox NFL march. And that's the All Sports theme. Meanwhile, Clay Matthews III is a Grammys presenter, and much to the chagrin of CBS ("Posthumus Zone," from ES Posthumus, 2006-present, but may change with the group's breakup following the death of a member), the Fox Sports Theme Song played. Every pitch and swing and every lap on the track on Fox will hear that. Just wonder if we'll hear it on UEFA broadcasts too. Seemingly, the timeless theme song has now proven to be timeless.
The End of the Beginning. The Heritage Foundation has a report on the Egypt crisis. It's a must-read.
Watson's Time. IBM's "Watson" supercomputer obtains its Jeopardy! shot Monday-Wednesday in the classic two-game, total point format. It will have two opponents -- the great Brad Rutter and the great Ken Jennings. Game show greats versus a computer should be as much fun as Kasparov vs Deep Blue.
25 Grand Here, 25 Points There. The top of the popular music charts have become a place where John Darby would be calling artists to the Oval Office and burnishing huge 25-point penalties along with $25,000 fines for the use of "money and points words". ◙
Monday, February 14, 2011
