Posted on 08/10/2012 11:23:42 AM PDT by Renfield
The dreams of dozens of Norwegian girls ended in disenchantment on Saturday when organizers axed part of their show at the UN General Assembly in New York, citing concerns over lyrics listing some of history’s worst tyrants.
The 46 members of the Norwegian Girls Choir had long looked forward to performing their song about war and peace at the General Assembly Hall, newspaper Aftenposten reports.
But the girls, aged 12 to 19, never got to realize their ambition after the organizers of the Rhythms of One World Festival took fright on hearing the choir sound-check.
As conductor Anne Karin Sundal-Ask worked out some of the details for the stage show with a lighting technician, the choir shrieked out the names of infamous tyrants from Hitler and Mussolini to Quisling, Stalin, Lenin, Castro, Tito, Maria Antoinette and Papa Doc.
“The mood changed quickly at that point and they wanted a list of all the names,” Sundal Ask told the newspaper.
The choir leader said she was willing to compromise and remove some of the names but the organizers at the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation eventually told her the girls were not going to be allowed to perform the piece.
“They said the UN wouldn’t sanction it,” said Sundal Ask.
The choir instead sang its folk music repertoire, but having to resort to the fallback plan left a bitter taste for the girls, the composer and the conductor.
“This is freedom of speech, and the piece is about war and peace,” said Sundal Ask.
“It’s a very unifying piece. It doesn’t feel good to be censored or to not be allowed express oneself artistically.”
With its ultimate message of peace, the conductor said it was “absurd” for the piece to be to be kept out of the UN headquarters.
Written specifically for the Norwegian Girls Choir, the piece has been performed all over the world since winning a competition in Japan five years ago.
Composer Maja Ratkje said she was shocked that the piece had been struck off the programme in New York.
“As far as I’m aware, this is the first time my art has been censored,” she said.
She’s History’s Greatest Monster!
She’s History’s Greatest Monster!
Do you see now why the UN intervened???
This song would cause debate, disagreement, disputes leading possibly to conflagrations, attacks and war, and further UN intervention???
They were just trying to maintain the peace.
The UN is all in favor of despotism.
I think she actually DID say something like “Let them eat cake,” but it didn’t mean what people think it means.
Cheap bread was price controlled in Paris, and, if the bakers ran out, they had to sell more expensive items, like cake, at the same price as the cheap bread. Hence “Let them eat cake.”
100 years before her it was reputedly said by Marie-Thérèse, the wife of Louis XIV; and this was most likely the “great princess” that Rousseau was making reference to.
Whatever the translation of the french - nothing of the kind was reportedly said by Marie Antoinette during her lifetime - even by the French Revolution (mia culpa) which had every reason to demonize her.
The misattribution of the quote is apparently a modern invention based upon Rousseau's comment and an anachronistic understanding that the “great princess” was her, rather than Marie-Thérèse.
She was of the 1%, the rabble 99%... Some things never change, off with her head!
Sigh...
Regards,
GtG
...infamous tyrants from Hitler and Mussolini to Quisling, Stalin, Lenin, Castro, Tito, Maria Antoinette and Papa Doc.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.