Word: odes
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...once again asserted itself over the background clamor. Beginning with an hysterical "Witchbusters" sequence, the second act launches into a string of Murrayisms worthy of the Man-of-the-Year. From there, the plot meanders down to hell for a breakdancing scene, then back on high, first for lustful ode from Alexis, and then for a Last-Judgement-as-beauty-contest scene to distinguish the true sinners and get the whole cast in tights. The crowd is impressed enough to forget to take center stage...
...basically breezy 1940s tonality, which is leavened by a few more recent technical advances. In An American Oratorio, Rorem's style works effectively with gentle poems like Poe's To Helen, but it misses the force and majesty of Crane's bitter War Is Kind or Lazarus' noble ode to the Statue of Liberty, The New Colossus. The reach of the texts generally exceeds the composer's grasp. "The music was written in Nantucket during July of 1983," Rorem explains in a program note. "That July, as it happens, contained a houseful of guests; like 18th century female novelists...
...reminded audiences that "during these past four years, not one inch of territory has been lost to Communist aggression." He ticked off his accomplishments in cutting taxes and lowering inflation and interest rates. He claimed credit for creating 6 million new jobs. And he invariably concluded with an ode to youth and a paean to the American spirit: "We were born to a special place between these two great oceans with a unique mission to carry freedom's torch to a tired and disillusioned world. We have always been a light of hope, where all things are believed...
...current age--the collection's title not-withstanding. Breathed's message lacks coherence, largely because he seems impatient to get on to the next sequence rather than fully developing the one at hand. One of the most irritating examples is a sequence in which Milo sings the rambling, garbled ode to our times called "the eighty-three blues...
...ode to color, culture and tradition, the opening ceremonies began when 1500 athletes from 49 countries marched in a magnificent procession to pop and disco, to Beethoven, Mozart and Bach...