And the President Said...

And the President Said…

London Symphony Orchestra, Jefferey Silberschlag, conductor; Ben Bradlee, narrator; Victoria Griswold, piano obligato For whatever moments of horrified distraction George W.’s new vocabulary words have offered the world’s populace, some of our other presidents have managed to string an inspired sentence together when the occasioned called for celebration or the nation was in need of… Read more »

Written By

NewMusicBox Staff

London Symphony Orchestra, Jefferey Silberschlag, conductor; Ben Bradlee, narrator; Victoria Griswold, piano obligato

For whatever moments of horrified distraction George W.’s new vocabulary words have offered the world’s populace, some of our other presidents have managed to string an inspired sentence together when the occasioned called for celebration or the nation was in need of a rallying cry. Composer (I am not making this up) William Thomas McKinley has woven together bits of inspiration as trimmed from the quotable quotes of this country’s past century of leaders, as well as some of their lesser moments (Bush’s famed “No new taxes,” and the Clinton classic “depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.”) The music itself also offers some clever patriotic thematic pastiche, making for a fun, largely satirical piece. Though probably not a great idea for the national holiday pops concert, it’s a work that puts a new twist on the Copland-style musical portrait of the P.O.T.U.S.

—MS