For today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network, on the eve of Independence Day, we offer “Safe for Democracy,” a concert presented by the ensemble Ember. The thoughtfully structured program was one of several this season put together by Ember to reflect on the centenary and legacy of World War I – the so-called “War to End All Wars” – the contributions of veterans, the human impact of military conflict, and the social realities of post-War America.
Repertoire will encompass Charles Ives’ jingoist call to arms “He is there!” and the WWI popular song “How ya gonna keep ‘em down on the farm,” alongside music and poetry by Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Langston Hughes, and others, with some rather surprising discoveries. Deborah Simpkin King directs.
Then stick around as we attempt to tamp down the excessive temperatures with music of a somewhat cooling nature. The air waves will be full of water and ice and maybe even a little snow. We’ll wrap ourselves in the flag as we crank up the air conditioning, this Tuesday from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
PHOTO: The Iwo Jima flag-raising, one of the most iconic images to come out of WWII, rendered in snow in the parking lot of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, VA, in 2014