LoveMusicHateTalk

Whoops, sorry I didn't quite finish my post... Spoken words are and have been part of the idea of 'music' for centuries...recitative for example. Recitative is NOT an example of spoken word...it is an example of speech set to the natural musical/rhythmic "ebb & flow" of the dialogue. In almost all cases, it should follow the natural rhythms and accentuation of speech and its pitch contours. It is a MUSICAL device. As for the example...I bet some DID walk out of the auditorium in awe of the narration if the person did a great job. I play in a commuity concert band, and we did a piee at our last concert that included a running narration as PART of the presentation. People DID exactly what I said, as the guy has an amazing voice...they left talking about the great job of narration the guy did as part of the piece with the winds/percussion. I agree...let's talk about other monumental pieces that actually incorporate the voice and narration effectively. Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" has been mentioned, how about his "Letter From Home"? Arnold Schoenberg's "Survivor from Warsaw" or Stravinsky's "L'histoire du soldat". Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" and (sometimes) Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra". Many of these pieces incorporate words of inspiration (and even, amplification) into the concert-hall quite effectively. BUT, these are the words of Abraham Lincoln or the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust...words of substance and weight, meaningful and powerful. I don't exactly find myself chortling or looking around in embarrassment during a performance of these pieces, as I did during the "Napoleon Dynamite" moments of the Cadets show. AND, by the way, I think the original reviewer was commenting on how he thought the Cadets' narration is simply excessive and unprofessional sounding...not a method of enhancing the show.

Spoken words are and have been part of the idea of 'music' for centuries...recitative for example. Recitative is NOT an example of spoken word...it is an example of speech set to the natural musical/rhythmic "ebb & flow" of the dialogue. In almost all cases, it should follow the natural rhythms and accentuation of speech and its pitch contours. AND, by the way, I think the original reviewer was commenting on how he thought the Cadets' narration is simply excessive and unprofessional sounding...not a method of enhancing the show. As for the example...I bet some DID walk out of the auditorium in awe of the narration if the person did a great job. I play in a commuity concert band, and we did a piee at our last concert that included a running narration as PART of the presentation. People DID exactly what I said, as the guy has an amazing voice...they left talking about the great job of narration the guy did as part of the piece with the winds/percussion.

Great review! Right on target. Having been at the Westminster show, couldn't agree with you more. Thanks for voicing your opinion.