On Aug 28, 2004, at 9:32 AM, Matthew Hindson Fastmail Account wrote:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/ RTGAM.20040824.wxanthem24/BNStory/specialTheGames/Peter Breiner arranged (orchestrated, castrated, whatever!) all 204 anthems at the Olympics. Here are a couple of articles about him (they may not last much longer on their respective servers):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33967-2004Aug25.html
FWIW, he did a good job on the Australian anthem as well. It's normally
butchered by people wanting to do too much with it, putting in wacky
harmonies and mucking around with the tempo. It's been nice to hear it
simple, straightforward and effective.
Matthew
There are two versions of O Canada arranged by Peter Breiner playable as MP3's at the second link. Apparently the first is the one used at the Olympics, while the second was a version he arranged soon after he moved to Canada, which was rejected by the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Honestly, I liked both as musical works, but neither one was suitable as a national anthem at a sporting event, I thought. There are some surprising left turns in the harmonies that are unsettling in both versions, and the second one sounds more suitable for a military funeral, in my opinion, though I liked it better.
The version of O Canada I like the best is the one that is played in the wee hours as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation goes off the air each night. (I don't like to say how often I have heard that particular one!) I wasn't able to find a clip of it, though, for interested members to compare.
Christopher
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