Thanks to Randy for alerting me to this NPR segment of music by composers who immigrated to America after he read my blog entry:
#4 and #6 are Stravinsky’s version of the Star Spangled Banner. The first (#4) is the orchestral arrangement, the second (#6) the choral. Randy suggests that the version on the video I posted isn’t what we hear here. Anyone? Since the video is men singing, and since I’m horrible at hearing things clearly when orchestration is different, I’ll let you decide.
In the middle 1970’s I was librarian for the San Jose Symphony for a spell.
My first duty was to acquire a set of parts for the Star Spangled Banner. I looked in the catalog and found the Stravinsky orchestration, which was used for that season’s opening concert.
It was very badly received, and I had to scramble to borrow a traditional set from somewhere for the next night’s show…
I love that, Bob! I wonder if we still own it, then? I don’t recall seeing it when I was librarian, but of course my memory isn’t the best. I’ll have to ask Vickie!