Kevin Sutton wrote:

>That heap of dreck, the Testament of Freedom". . .
>
>I know exactly why he wrote it.  That still doesn't make it good music.
>I find the texts to be poorly set, static both in rhythm and harmony and
>frankly, the piece is a crashing bore.

I suppose it takes a certain kind of shamelessness to admit liking a piece
so dumped on, but clearly several of us do.  (Having it imprinted on one
when young, I suppose, could make a difference.)  I suspect that the real
reason Kevin calls this dreck is that he finds it embarrassing, and I could
understand that.  That reaction could easily mask as boredom;  in either
case a listener reacting that way cannot wait for the piece to be over.
There is nothing subtle about the piece, for sure, and the harmony is
basic.  I wouldn't call the rhythm static, or the texts poorly set;
rather, the former are designed to belt out the latter.  Many march rhythms
are more "static," but does it make musical sense to call them that?  Nor,
contrary to what someone else said, is shutting out the meaning of the
texts the way to go with this piece, and that is hard to do anyway.  Both
the Enlightenment in general and Jefferson in particular are going through
a bad patch right now--but they will endure.  At a time when so many people
are killing and oppressing one another over religion,  perhaps the musical
setting of Jefferson's text is as timely now as when Thompson set it, for
humane audiences.

A while back someone inquired about the appeal of the Warsaw Concerto,
which I can imagine someone calling dreck also.  The Thompson and the
Addinsell have the same kind of adrenalin-pumped excitement.  The WC has
an emotional context of fear, the Testament of Freedom has the context of
defiance--of an analogous sort to that the 1812 Overture has (might as
well really make myself a target here).  None of these are works for quiet
detached listening, obviously.  They are obvious works, and they perhaps
manipulate--or maybe just threaten to unhinge--the listener emotionally,
which is why I suppose one might find them offensive aesthetically.  They
were also "occasional pieces," and should be heard in that context if they
are to be heard.  Of course, I have no objection to anyone refusing to
listen to any of them, or not being able to stand them.  But I'd still play
this for Thompson's birthday.   (Also the Frostiana, as Steve Schwartz
suggested.)

Jim Tobin