What is the true price of [celebrating] freedom?
Watch Star Wars lately? How ’bout an Indiana Jones film? Maybe a James Bond movie? What reader did not reflexively – without thought – automatically hear the iconic theme music when thinking, even for a second, when read these famous movie references? Seriously, can anyone see a shark’s dorsal fin break the water (even in a documentary) and not hear the quickening rhythm of John Williams’ Jaws theme?
Daaaaa dah……….Daaaaa dah………Daaaaa dah…..Daa Dah…..Daa dah…Da dah…Da dah…Dadah..Dadahdadahdadahdadah
I can’t! And apparently neither can Portland’s July Fourth without the Portland Symphony Orchestra! Thankfully, the silent movie version of Portland’s July Fourth last year had been upgraded to a talkie again – or at least has a musical score.
Music excites, music inspires, music invigorates, sets a tone (often literally), and builds an emotional connection between the listeners and the audience. Most people would rather listen to a radio show than watch a silent movie. Even soundless TV shows with closed captions frustrate me – the drama is in the tone of voice, the delivery, the MUSIC! Our imaginations can create the images sound evokes with less effort than conjuring up the sound an image implies. But if we are blessed to have both, all the better!
This was evidently clear last year when the City of Portland celebrated our Independence from Britain with a traditional fireworks extravaganza on the Fourth of July. The demonstration was spectacular as always, and met with gasps of admiration. After about 15 minutes, the responses were more muted, and by the second half of a generously long display, the audience actually seemed…bored?
“Wow, this is a really long fireworks show,” I overheard a nearby reveler say, but the comment was more complaint than compliment.
It was long, and wonderfully extravagant, but as I looked around people who had waited hours – literally HOURS for this – were beginning to chat, check the time, and leave! I had never seen this before. It suddenly struck me, there was no “soundtrack!”
Since 2010, the Eastern Promenade flooded the harbor with melodies from the grandeur of the Portland Symphony Orchestra by the greatest composers of the past three centuries from Mozart to Gershwin to Williams, delighting patrons, patriots, and partiers…even boaters. This past year’s July, nothing.
Sure, we had the deafening, chest-thumping booms of the brightly colored explosions, but it became abundantly clear after 10 minutes that something was lacking, and painfully clear after 20 minutes it was the lack of music. Where was the PSO?
The swelling pride in hearing our military themes, the giddy nostalgia listening to Yankee Doodle Dandy, the bittersweet memories of those who serve and sacrifice in the notes of Taps, and of course the rousing rendition of the 1812 Overture was lost, leaving the audience lackluster and unfulfilled by the celebration – some not even knowing why.
Why did Portland allow our Fourth of July soundtrack to be silenced? After all, it was current City manager Jon Jennings that started the Portland Symphony Orchestra accompanying the fireworks display eight years ago. Completely frustrated when the skies remained dark on Independence Day for years after the city ceased funding fireworks, the then-private-sector CEO galvanized businesses and organizations to (literally) save the day. While his public sector job may present a conflict of interest in asking to support the city’s holiday concert, he most certainly was aware of the irony.
Having been spoiled with many years of the symphonies in the colonial cities of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia accompanying their fireworks with dramatic waterfront backdrops, I knew we had them all beat cold when conductor Robert Moody took the stage in front of a the sweeping harbor views of Casco Bay at sunset. I did not miss these patriotic concerts because we had ours – but now…no music.
But as cash is king, our world-class city comes with a cost, so many aspects this upcoming year are not free, but its still better than losing this concert on July Fourth and having Portland, Maine revert in status for its impending bicentennial into again being the “northern frontier” for Massachusetts as we were during the actual Independence Day? It’s really up to us.
Robert Witkowski is the Creative Director for Visit Portland, a, freelance designer, and author of “100 things To Do in Portland, Maine Before You Die.” Having lived in Chicago, Boston and New York City, Robert has discovered that urban life is exciting and fun, making his home in Portland’s West End.
