What a Beautiful Holiday Concert Idea!

Subject: RE: What a Beautiful Holiday Concert Idea!
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Nov 02 - 09:24 AM

Sorry, forgot to give their website:

http://www.swallowhill.com/concerts/fall/peace.htm

Subject: What a Beautiful Holiday Concert Idea!
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Nov 02 - 09:09 AM

Just came across this information at the Swallow Hill Music Association of Denver's website:

An Evening to Celebrate the Songs
from the Anti-War/Peace Movement
Presented in conjunction with
the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center,
Colorado Committee for Middle East Peace,
and the American Friends Service Committee
Saturday, December 14, 8:00pm
Free to the public

A wide range of regional musicians will perform well-known songs from the Viet Nam era conflict, tunes from past conflicts, and some new songs relevant to current events.


Folk songs, since the beginning of human civilizations, have expressed many themes emerging from the grass roots of societies and cultures. These themes have encompassed celebrations, mourning, religious beliefs, and resistance to the oppression of ruling classes and dictators.


The history of the United States has been intensely documented through folk music including labor movements, civil rights efforts, and opposition to wars. The idea for this concert emerged from many organizations very involved in the current events here and abroad.


The music of the American Anti-War movement we associate with the Viet Nam conflict produced many well-known folk artists and songs that live on today. Yet, the tradition of folk musicians expressing resistance to war and encouraging peace reaches far back into our history.


The moving song "Christmas in the Trenches", written by John McCutcheon, recounts The Christmas Truce of 1914 on the Western and Eastern Fronts. This remarkable moment may well represent the last time that the face of humanity would be seen in what was rapidly becoming the ultimate nightmare of the industrial revolution. The concept of total war would soon replace any outdated notion of chivalry.

The photo shows German and Russian soldiers together on the Eastern front, Christmas 1914.