EU Slammed as Beethoven Anthem Goes Hip-Hop

[Peter]

EU Slammed as Beethoven Anthem Goes Hip-Hop

By Chris Moncrieff, PA News


The new hip-hop version of the European Union anthem – based on Beethoven’s Ode To Joy from his Ninth Symphony – was denounced at Westminster today as “a nonsensical waste of money” and a “shameful” way to treat a great piece of music.

Now, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is to be questioned in the Commons about the cost of “this latest daft move” from Europe.

The Council of Europe CD, with new interpretations of the anthem, will be presented next Thursday at the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg.

It features a hip-hop version as well as techno, trance and jazz versions and new classical interpretations for piano, church organ and symphony orchestra.

Tory peer Lord Tebbit poured scorn on the idea.

He said: “I wonder how much it has cost to develop a hip-hop version of a Beethoven symphony.

“Certainly no-one other than the swindlers in Brussels could have conceived the idea.

“Most of us would rather have had a cut in our European taxes than have them spent on this.”

Tory MP Sir Teddy Taylor (Rochford and Southend East) commented: “I could scarcely believe my ears. This is typical of the nonsense and the nonsensical waste of money we get all the time from Europe.

“They seem to be concerned with spending as much money as they can on the daftest things in the world.

“Who is going to enjoy this kind of thing?” he asked.

“Before these people embark on this kind of nonsense they ought to tell us what it is going to cost and what possible advantage we can get from it.

“I shall be tabling a Commons question to the Foreign Secretary asking for details of this madcap idea and the extent to which the British taxpayer is involved.”

Sir Teddy added: “They would be far better occupied in trying to work out how to cut back on the massive bureaucracy in Europe and the things that really need attention.”


A Council of Europe spokesman said the object was to provide music for different European events and ceremonies and as background for radio and TV programmes with a European theme.

The hip-hop version was being played to people phoning the Council of Europe as they wait to be connected.

The anthem was adopted by the Council of Europe in 1972 and became the anthem of the European Union in 1986.

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'Man know thyself'

[Steppenwolf]

If this act of cultural vandalism is not enough to convince us to get the hell out of the EU while we still can, I don't know what will!

[Pastorali]

Typical EU! Such a nonsense. Really not an evidence of good taste...

[Beyond Within]

Oh my. I actually heard a butchery of Beethovens 5th once. It was in some rap song. Not only this, but also Fur Elise. Im not a violent person, but I got pretty worked up...especially when its played in school as promotional material.

1000x *shudders*

[Steppenwolf]

Originally posted by Beyond Within:
Oh my. I actually heard a butchery of Beethovens 5th once. It was in some rap song. Not only this, but also Fur Elise. Im not a violent person, but I got pretty worked up...especially when its played in school as promotional material.

1000x *shudders*

I'm sure Beethoven is spinning around in his grave 100 miles an hour as we speak.

[Joy]

Ummm, did they ever think about playing it the traditional way? Just a thought! Incidently, I have heard Fur Elise in rap also. Of course, it's awful! They repeat the opening few notes about a million times over and over!!

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[v russo]

Originally posted by Joy:
Ummm, did they ever think about playing it the traditional way? Just a thought! Incidently, I have heard Fur Elise in rap also. Of course, it's awful! They repeat the opening few notes about a million times over and over!!

musical sampling goes back some thirty years. Remember the use of Beethoven 5th in the dance tune in the movie 'Saturday Night Fever'? These things are usually done in bad taste. Hip hop artist are usually the ones getting rich off of other peoples endeavors... (thier "art" by its very nature is one of the get-rich-quick mentality)



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v russo

[Chris]

Truly ridiculous.

[Amalie]

Originally posted by Steppenwolf:
If this act of cultural vandalism is not enough to convince us to get the hell out of the EU while we still can, I don't know what will!

Right on Steppenwolf!
Every thing about it sums up the so called Union of Europe, a place where in fact cultue is degraded in favour of a toxic Euro sludge. The good news is that it looks like German tax payers have finally had enough of underwriting French Fantasies
and the pornographic waste of money through supporting inefficient French farmers, while third world farmers cannot earn enough to live and sell their excellent food stuffs on the European market.
The German economy is basically seizing up with rocketing unemployment, and once the Germans have decided they have had enough, we may hopefully see and end to this whole ridiculous and dangerous project, which far from bringing the people of Europe together, has only exacerbated tensions and rivalries. Indeed, Europe was only really united in the middle ages under something called Christendom, but that is another story. The lies we have had in Britian alone on the issue of Europe, should condemn the politicians in the UK, to everlasting shame. But again here, there is great hope that people in Britian just want to see an end of it all, and our independence regained.
Beethoven would resent the idea of a group of self serving corrupt European politicians, appropriating his music to their own ends, and pretending that this is for the good of the people of Europe.

[beetlover]

Originally posted by Joy:
Ummm, did they ever think about playing it the traditional way? Just a thought! Incidently, I have heard Fur Elise in rap also. Of course, it's awful! They repeat the opening few notes about a million times over and over!!

Yeah, I think that's Nas's "I Can" I don't like that song either. I guess it's supposed to be inspirational, but I don't like the idea of mixing the two genres together. Besides, do the rappers even apprieciate classical music or just think it's a "hot beat"? Probably the latter.

[King Stephen]

We are fortunate that we do not Have to listen to such garbage. What gets me is that the people that use classical music this way are usally the same people that think that the original music should have been buried with the composer.
Steve

[Steppenwolf]

Originally posted by Amalie:

Right on Steppenwolf!
Every thing about it sums up the so called Union of Europe, a place where in fact cultue is degraded in favour of a toxic Euro sludge. The good news is that it looks like German tax payers have finally had enough of underwriting French Fantasies
and the pornographic waste of money through supporting inefficient French farmers, while third world farmers cannot earn enough to live and sell their excellent food stuffs on the European market.
The German economy is basically seizing up with rocketing unemployment, and once the Germans have decided they have had enough, we may hopefully see and end to this whole ridiculous and dangerous project, which far from bringing the people of Europe together, has only exacerbated tensions and rivalries. Indeed, Europe was only really united in the middle ages under something called Christendom, but that is another story. The lies we have had in Britian alone on the issue of Europe, should condemn the politicians in the UK, to everlasting shame. But again here, there is great hope that people in Britian just want to see an end of it all, and our independence regained.
Beethoven would resent the idea of a group of self serving corrupt European politicians, appropriating his music to their own ends, and pretending that this is for the good of the people of Europe.

The British people have never been asked whether they wanted to enter the EU. They were just told. That useless old fool Ted Heath took us in without a mandate, without a referendum. And now it seems we won't even have a choice regarding the EU Constitution, which will finally extinguish any remnants of sovereignty left to us.

So our democratic freedoms have just been thrown away, just like that, and handed over to unelected and undemocratic EU beaurocrats. I look at the British soldiers who fought for their country in WWII and think "Why on earth did they bother?" Look at what has become of the place.

This latest stunt involving rapping up Beethoven and the 9th Symphony going hip-hop is so typical of the feeble-minded, politically correct lunacy that infects the brains of the sickening EU beauro-despots. We must dumb-down everything in order to make it 'inclusive'. We can't leave high art as it is, because that would be 'elitist', so we must drag it down to the lowest common-demoninator. It's like translating Shakespeare into ghetto-slang, innit!?

[Steppenwolf]

Originally posted by King Stephen:
We are fortunate that we do not Have to listen to such garbage.

Don't we? It seems that wherever I go thesedays I am forced to listen to this sort of stuff. I can't go into a London clothes shop anymore without being blasted with rap noise pollution. I feel it is my human right to be free from this sort of brutal aural rape!


[This message has been edited by Steppenwolf (edited January 28, 2004).]

[spaceray]

The all pervasive nasty music is EVERYWHERE and can not be avoided,it is useless to complain about it,shop owners aren't catering to classical music fans,the din in the CD shops make it nearly impossible for me to go in there.I get most of my music and videos and books of course from the excellent
and quiet library.

I think we have already had the hideous music at work discussion ,but there is another place where one seem powerless to get silence ,never mind choose music by consesus.

[v russo]

Originally posted by Steppenwolf:
Don't we? It seems that wherever I go thesedays I am forced to listen to this sort of stuff. I can't go into a London clothes shop anymore without being blasted with rap noise pollution. I feel it is my human right to be free from this sort of brutal aural rape!

[This message has been edited by Steppenwolf (edited January 28, 2004).]

I agree with you. It is the same here in the states. It is a western dilemma. Low brow pop-culture has infested everything!

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v russo

[This message has been edited by v russo (edited January 28, 2004).]