Condolences and Commemoration

 September 11, 2001 – one song featured in many memorial services was “God Bless America”, composed by Irving Berlin in 1938  Arrangement by Daniel Rodriguez, a former NYC firefighter 

 Taps – a song frequently heard at memorial services for fallen uniformed personnel (military, police, firemen, etc.), short piece usually played by a single trumpet or bugle   Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 

 Bagpipe music – esp. at memorial services for firefighters and police officers, tradition from Scottish immigrants who became firefighters when they came to America  Drone – a continuous note of fixed pitch serving as permanent bass 

 – JFK’s funeral, musical selections were Chopin’s Funeral March and Navy Hymn (Eternal Father, Strong to Save)  Opus – a term designating a musical work or set of works  

 Music cultures of European descent, African Americans, and Creoles  Funeral parades were documented as early as 1820  March to the graveside is accompanied by a DIRGE – a slow, mournful hymn or lament  March from the graveside is upbeat and celebratory

 After a period of burial, the bones of the dead are collected and prepared for cremation. Coffins are brightly colored and made to resemble bulls, cows, or other animals  Music is provided by gamelan gambang – a Balinese sacred instrumental ensemble

 Many are about coping with loss and “crossing over to the promised land”  Many of the spirituals have a double meaning – “promised land” could mean Heaven, but it could also be “code” for freedom, Northern land  River Jordan – Ohio River (freedom)  “band of angels” – people along the Underground Railroad that helped slaves reach freedom  Moses – Harriet Tubman

 Loss in Wartime – after the Civil War especially remembering soldiers who died “Vacant Chair” by George Frederick Root  Death of a Princess – Princess Diana (1997) – Elton John’s tribute – took “Candle in the Wind” and changed the lyrics to fit Princess Diana “Goodbye England’s Rose”  Contrafactum – compositional technique of writing new lyrics to an existing melody

 Loss of a Child – Eric Clapton – for his son “Tears in Heaven”, Steven Curtis Chapman – for his daughter “Heaven is the Face”

 Written by teacher from the Bronx, Abel Meeropol in response to a photograph of the lynching two African Americans “Strange Fruit” as a poem, later as a song  Meeropol introduced the poem/song to Billie Holiday, jazz singer, she later released