The Music Goes Round and Round
Phronesis – a timely observation
May 21 was Armed Forces Day, a national holiday for honoring the men and women of our military services.
On the morning of May 22, supplies of baby formula from Europe arrived in the US thanks to a military cargo plane. Especially given the scenario that the supplies were placed on board on May 21, was it a happy coincidence—or a largely unnoticed script—that the holiday placed on our collective radar a symbol of soldier-civilian bonding? A reason for moms across the country to thank the military for help in addressing our current shortage of the product, plus a reason for our service men and women to honor civilians with a gesture emphasizing peaceful public service?
By the way (#1): I have seen some disagreement online about whether we should speak of our service men and women, or servicemen and women. In earlier, more hyphen-friendly days, would we have preferred service-men and -women? Actually, the semantic solution I saw was to remove the binary references, indeed all references to gender, and to say “service members.”
By the way (#2): The US Armed Forces Medley has been revised and made more inclusive. It now reminds us that, at least musically, the US now has six branches of the armed services. The medley includes the official song for the US Space Force, as well as the songs for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. (A White House statement about Armed Forces Day adds another set of forces to this distinguished list: the National Guard and Reserve.) Here’s an updated version of the Armed Forces Medley from You Tube—admittedly a patchwork rendition, but it helps us to “note” our need to keep our respect for, and consciousness of, our armed services always updated, engaged, and appreciative.
By the way (#3): You can learn a bit more about Armed Services Day from the “National Today” website, which is a handy and interesting source of information about a panoply of national commemorative days throughout the year. The meanings of these days range from the profound to the silly—a little bit like the days of our own lives. For example, the website tells us that May 22 is the International Day for Biological Diversity, as well as National Vanilla Pudding Day, among others.
“Pandevotional” Prayer/Reflection
The website of the Victorious Missionaries gives us this reflection:
Things God Won’t Ask On That Day:
God won’t ask what kind of car you drove. God’ll ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transportation.
God won’t ask the square footage of your house. God’ll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet. God’ll ask how many you helped to clothe.
God won’t ask what your highest salary was. God’ll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.
God won’t ask what your job title was. God’ll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
God won’t ask how many friends you had. God’ll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived. God’ll ask how you treated your neighbors.
God won’t ask about the color of your skin. God’ll ask about the content of your character.
(-- Author unknown)
I learned that the Victorious Missionaries are a nationwide Catholic group devoted to nurturing the spiritual life of persons with disabilities.
Chewing on This – a story I heard
As a fan of Star Trek, especially the original series (TOS) and the “Next Generation” series, I was browsing around You Tube for music from those programs. One person, upon listening to a collection of nostalgic sequences from TOS, commented that this music was the soundtrack of his youth. Another fan (his name is “lotusholder”) offered an intelligent analysis from a musicologist’s perspective:
I'm hearing lots of Stravinsky (Rite of Spring) and elements from Shostakovich's symphonies in the darker, more dramatic passages early on in this. People who like the darker-sounding TOS music but don't know its references from 20th C. classical repertoire (the composers mentioned above, plus others) may want to check out the latter's works (particularly the Rite of Spring- Bernstein's earlier recording of it being one good place to start online). The Rite itself may be the most influential piece of music for the 20th C. Adventure-themed soundtracks in general draw a lot on Holst ("The Planets," particularly "Mars, the Bringer of War"), Wagner, plus Stravinsky, Shostakovich's symphonies, Ligeti (directly used in '2001'), and modernists like the latter.
It's wonderful that music, even if it accompanies a mere TV science fiction program, can be so evocative, so complementary to the richness of an experience. Our society needs to keep music alive as an edifying complement to our experiences of public life, such as sporting events, as well as our personal lives.
I remember hearing that, in the case of the ever-evolving Star Trek universe, the Desilu and Paramount studios did yeoman service to our earliest experiences of that universe; production companies’ investments in imagination and talent helped the original series stand out as musically memorable.
Fans of “The Next Generation” who want to savor the impact of soundtracks might prefer the movies that featured Captain Picard and his crew, rather than the TV series. A good collection of symphonic music taken directly from the TNG films is titled The Astral Symphony.
By the way (#1): Television tastes and marketing have downplayed the role of music in the programs of recent decades—except in the substantial number of shows where music/singing/dancing plays a starring role. Even the theme songs of programs are generally shorter and less effective in setting a distinctive tone or making a show stick in our heads. A GQ story on this subject states this as the bottom line: Without music, TV is simply less fun.
By the way (#2): Let’s not forget the term “yeoman service.” It deserves to be remembered as an energizing principle; it refers to the demanding work we must do, often without much personal glory or gain, for the sake of a noble cause or important project. We can still seize opportunities to thank people for their yeoman service. (Warning: There does not seem to be an option to say “yeoperson.”)
Word’s Worth – a word that’s news to me
Young Adult. I saw that a Catholic diocese, in describing its ministry to young adults, defined these people as in the age group of 21-39. This reminded me of the quote from someone: “Life begins at 40. Up til then, you’re only doing research.”
Infokeeper – something from current affairs worth pondering
“We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women were created by, the, go, you know, you know, the thing.” – Speech by President Biden
Do we know the thing? Hannah Hoffman, a clever and talented writer of philosophy-themed music, has put this idea, or lack of same, into a song you will enjoy while laughing under the influence. I discovered this on a website that I plan to revisit: dailynous.com – news about the philosophy profession.
Just kidding – some witty thing waiting to be used
Two witticisms relayed by a friend. Thank you, Barbara.
The more I get to know people, the more I realize why Noah only let animals on the ark.
My train of thought derailed. There were no survivors.