December 06, 2006

War Is Peace; Freedom Is Slavery; Major Is Minor

I was poking around the National Archives the other day, and I came across this:

propaganda poster:Music Inspires
If you ever needed proof of federal indifference to the musical arts, there you have it; that is the most overcooked canned lima bean of a propaganda poster I've ever seen. Music inspires... what, exactly? Gazing into the sky? Greek revival fashions? And is that woman having a hallucination of a marching band? Good heavens.

Frankly, I expect more from our government fearmongers. For the taxes we're paying, they ought to be able to scare a few composers:

Marine with gun: TONALITY—if it's good enough for the National Anthem it's good enough for you
And singers:

man being clubbed with rifle—You call THAT a PURE VOWEL?
And audience members:

Mao and Stalin applauding—Remember! Only Communists Clap Between Movements
Ahhhh... being frightened into conformity is so comforting, isn't it?

2 comments:

Elaine Fine said...

These are great! I love your "Tonality" poster. Thanks for the link to the National Archives.

Princess Alpenrose said...

My favorite is the "You call that a pure vowel?" one.

I was thinking of you the other day, as I was watching a (1963 Schwartzkopf/ Jurinac/ von Karajan) Rosenkavalier.

Have you sung or do you plan on learning Oktavian?

Hugs & Happy New Year!
ariadne