Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Dated Music?
I am interested in your thoughts about "dated music." For example, I am choosing a show about the Civil War for my 5th graders to perform. In this show is a couple of verses from "The Blue Tail Fly." What are your thoughts on this? I have mixed feelings myself. I could use some wisdom. My Principal and Academic Dean are fine with it because of the historical context. What do you think? I have the same problem with "Dixie." It is really difficult for me to perform it because of the connotation.
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6 comments:
Honestly, I think you have to look at this music in its historical context. Play it, and use it as an opportunity to learn about the time when it was written. Times were different -- and to understand where we are now, we need to understand how things used to be.
So true. I guess I should ignore the Heebie-Jeebies that I get when I perform it. It is a learning experience.
I agree with Kelly.
Also, have you looked at the music of Stephen Foster? He had such an idyllic view of the Antebellum south, yet he was on the Union side during the Civil War. There's a lot of history there.
There was a time when people tried to ban "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn," but I think we need to read those books and talk about why Twain wrote Jim and other African-American characters the way he did. We can't learn from our mistakes if we ignore them.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic and please some spiriuals.
If you talk about spiritules, please include that many of them were coded directions for escaping slavery.
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