DIANA JOHNSTONE ON SERBIAN MUSIC AT THE U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Friday, 25 January 2013
Here I am forwarding some music that was intended as a message of international friendship.
I hope you can enjoy it.
However, the story has a bitter ending.
As current President of the UN General Assembly, Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic conformed to tradition by hosting a display of his country’s culture at the UN headquarters in New York. He chose to invite the a cappella choir “Viva Vox”, dedicating their concert to peace among nations and hopes for a peaceful world.
I suggest that you skip Ban Ki-Moon’s speech on the YouTube recording and start at around minute 12, to get Jeremic’s introduction, and then listen to the songs. They were international, with a predominance of songs in the English language. Among them, John Lennon’s “Imagine”.
In response to enthusiastic applause, the group sang as an encore a classic composition from the First World War, “the March on the River Drina”, an invigorating tune sung without words. It was composed in 1914 in commemoration of Serbian soldiers’ heroic resistance to the Austro-Hungarian invasion, in which Serbia lost a third of its male population. The spirited march is well-known in the region, and was performed for example at a 1987 New Year’s concert in Vienna conducted by Herbert von Karajan.
Ban Ki-Moon seemed carried away, and the concert ended in a happy mood.
Serbs everywhere thought that at last, they were being welcomed back into the world as a normal people.
But this illusion was soon shattered.
Leaders of the “Congress of North American Bosniaks” (meaning Muslims) and kindred organizations, claiming to represent 350,000 Bosnian (Muslim) Americans, and 50,000 Bosnian (Muslim) Canadians, promptly addressed a protest to the UN Secretary General stigmatizing the concert as “a scandalous insult to the victims of genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina because the orchestra played the infamous and offensive Serb nationalist song ‘March on the River Drina’.”
(By the way, there was no orchestra, as the concert was a cappella, using voices as instruments.)
The Bosniak militants, in their status as official victims, claimed that: “The genocide that occurred in Srebrenica and Zepa, and other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was conducted by Serbian aggressors while blasting this song as they raped, murdered, and ethnically cleansed the non-Serb population. This particular fascist song is used to inspire ethnic and nationalist hatred against everything non-Serb and was used as a tool to inspire the murder of thousands of non-Serb civilians at the hand of Serbian nationalists.”
This was a preposterous falsehood, conjuring an image of the Bosnian civil war as a sort of macabre musical comedy.
It was profoundly dishonest about the song, about the 1992-1995 civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and about the spirit of the UN concert.
And yet, the office of the UN Secretary General humbly issued an apology!
This was a slap in the face of the young Serbian choir members, who from their appearance were mostly small children at the time of the war in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina and the 1999 NATO bombing of their own country.
But the Serbs have had to become used to such treatment.
In the tragic disintegration of Yugoslavia, the United States, for geopolitical reasons, decided to adopt the Muslim side. As a result, nearly some two decades later, the Muslims enjoy the privileged status of “official victims”, and Serbs are stigmatized as the guilty party. All in the name of “multiculturalism”, “human rights” and “our common Western values”.
This scandalously cowardly reaction of the UN Secretary General’s office makes it practically a duty to listen to this concert.
Diana Johnstone
I hope you can enjoy it.
However, the story has a bitter ending.
As current President of the UN General Assembly, Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic conformed to tradition by hosting a display of his country’s culture at the UN headquarters in New York. He chose to invite the a cappella choir “Viva Vox”, dedicating their concert to peace among nations and hopes for a peaceful world.
I suggest that you skip Ban Ki-Moon’s speech on the YouTube recording and start at around minute 12, to get Jeremic’s introduction, and then listen to the songs. They were international, with a predominance of songs in the English language. Among them, John Lennon’s “Imagine”.
In response to enthusiastic applause, the group sang as an encore a classic composition from the First World War, “the March on the River Drina”, an invigorating tune sung without words. It was composed in 1914 in commemoration of Serbian soldiers’ heroic resistance to the Austro-Hungarian invasion, in which Serbia lost a third of its male population. The spirited march is well-known in the region, and was performed for example at a 1987 New Year’s concert in Vienna conducted by Herbert von Karajan.
Ban Ki-Moon seemed carried away, and the concert ended in a happy mood.
Serbs everywhere thought that at last, they were being welcomed back into the world as a normal people.
But this illusion was soon shattered.
Leaders of the “Congress of North American Bosniaks” (meaning Muslims) and kindred organizations, claiming to represent 350,000 Bosnian (Muslim) Americans, and 50,000 Bosnian (Muslim) Canadians, promptly addressed a protest to the UN Secretary General stigmatizing the concert as “a scandalous insult to the victims of genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina because the orchestra played the infamous and offensive Serb nationalist song ‘March on the River Drina’.”
(By the way, there was no orchestra, as the concert was a cappella, using voices as instruments.)
The Bosniak militants, in their status as official victims, claimed that: “The genocide that occurred in Srebrenica and Zepa, and other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was conducted by Serbian aggressors while blasting this song as they raped, murdered, and ethnically cleansed the non-Serb population. This particular fascist song is used to inspire ethnic and nationalist hatred against everything non-Serb and was used as a tool to inspire the murder of thousands of non-Serb civilians at the hand of Serbian nationalists.”
This was a preposterous falsehood, conjuring an image of the Bosnian civil war as a sort of macabre musical comedy.
It was profoundly dishonest about the song, about the 1992-1995 civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and about the spirit of the UN concert.
And yet, the office of the UN Secretary General humbly issued an apology!
This was a slap in the face of the young Serbian choir members, who from their appearance were mostly small children at the time of the war in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina and the 1999 NATO bombing of their own country.
But the Serbs have had to become used to such treatment.
In the tragic disintegration of Yugoslavia, the United States, for geopolitical reasons, decided to adopt the Muslim side. As a result, nearly some two decades later, the Muslims enjoy the privileged status of “official victims”, and Serbs are stigmatized as the guilty party. All in the name of “multiculturalism”, “human rights” and “our common Western values”.
This scandalously cowardly reaction of the UN Secretary General’s office makes it practically a duty to listen to this concert.
Diana Johnstone
Sound of Serbian Choir Rings Out at the UN
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbian-choir-stars-at-the-un
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbian-choir-stars-at-the-un
14 Jan 2013: Viva Vox Choir (Belgrade) - New Year's Concert of the 67th Session of the General Assembly
Viva Vox is a choir which mainly performs a capella arrangements of world pop/rock and classical music, accompanied by beatbox. Television announcer Zoran Baranac served as the Master of Ceremonies.
VIDEO (01:03:30): http://webtv.un.org/search/viva-vox-choir-belgrade-new-years-concert-of-the-67th-session-of-the-general-assembly/2094291812001
Remarks by H.E. Mr. Vuk Jeremić, President of the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the concert featuring Viva Vox Choir from Belgrade.
VIDEO (00:07:12): http://webtv.un.org/search/vuk-jeremić-viva-vox-choir-belgrade-new-years-concert-of-the-67th-session-of-the-general-assembly/2096423984001
Remarks by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the concert featuring Viva Vox Choir from Belgrade.
VIDEO (00:05:27): http://webtv.un.org/search/ban-ki-moon-viva-vox-choir-belgrade-new-years-concert-of-the-67th-session-of-the-general-assembly/2096394864001
Il giorno 20/gen/2013, alle ore 00.16, Coord. Naz. per la Jugoslavia ha scritto:
(espanol / english.Reazioni demenziali all'ONU per la esecuzione - da parte del coro Viva Vox di Belgrado in un concerto alla Assemblea Generale nell'ambito dei festeggiamenti del Capodanno Ortodosso - della "Marcia sulla Drina", nota splendida melodia la cui origine risale alla I Guerra Mondiale. Una lettera di protesta spedita al Segretario Generale da parte di ambienti bosgnacchi, che lamentavano l' "offesa" per l'esecuzione della melodia tradizionale serba, ha indotto il portavoce del Segretario Generale a scusarsi - non si sa di cosa - ed il quotidiano Washington Post a scrivere amenità dipingendo la "Marcia sulla Drina" come una specie di inno nazionalista o fascista. E' stato fatto giustamente notare, però, che con la vittoria nella I Guerra Mondiale - pagata a carissimo prezzo dai serbi con la morte di un terzo della popolazione maschile - essi poterono sedere assieme agli altri paesi e popoli vincitori fornendo il loro importante contributo proprio alla creazione della Società delle Nazioni! Davvero l'ignoranza storica e la fobìa antiserba dominano e dettano l'agenda di quel poco che della Società delle Nazioni ancora rimane. [I.Slavo])March to DrinaNewspaper "The Washington Post" published a story yesterday with an interpretation of the Serbian patriotic song "March on the Drina" as a nationalist and fascist, just because of the protests of Bosnian Muslims who had sent a protest letter to the UN saying that this song insults the victims of the war from the 90's. We'd just like to remind "The Washington Post", but also all those who have forgotten, "March on the Drina" is a song written over a century ago and which occupies a central place in the memory of the Serbs of the defense from the Austro-Hungarian invaders in World War I, during which Serbia has lost a third of its male population in many battles in which they fought on the side of the Allies. In World War I the Drina river was the site of major battles between Serbia and Austria-Hungary in which Serbia defended its freedom. Serbia is proud of its great and rich history and its centuries-old struggle for freedom in which it has always been on the side of goodness and justice, no matter the high cost it had to pay. Our message to the reporters of these newspapers is - take a book and try to educate yourself a little before writing about something you don't know nothing about! Read the article and write your opinion about it in the comment.(source: http://www.facebook.com/Meet.the.Serbs )Link:UN apologizes for ovation given to Serb militant song “March on the Drina” at UN concertBy Associated Press, January 17, 2013---LA ONU REESCRIBIENDO “LA MARCHA SOBRE DRINA”18/01/2013
El presidente de la Asamblea General de Naciones Unidas, Vuk Jeremic (Serbia), defendió hoy la interpretación de la Marcha de Drina durante un concierto celebrado el lunes en el plenario del máximo órgano de la ONU.
El también excanciller serbio rechazó los intentos de falsear el significado de la presentación de esa obra por parte del coro Viva Vox de Belgrado y los consideró como una profunda ofensa al pueblo de Serbia.
Destacó la importancia de la pieza musical que rinde tributo a quienes defendieron la libertad frente a los agresores durante la Primera Guerra Mundial, que costó la vida a la tercera parte de la población masculina serbia.
Estamos muy orgullosos de ella y queremos unirla al mundo con un mensaje de reconciliación para la presente y futuras generaciones, apuntó Jeremic.
La declaración del presidente de la Asamblea General fue emitida poco después que el vocero oficial de la ONU, Martin Nesirky, pidió disculpas porque el secretario general, Ban Ki-moon, aplaudió la obra tras su interpretación por el coro visitante.
Lamentamos sinceramente que hubiera gente que se ofendiera con esta canción, que no estaba incluida en el programa oficial, precisó.
Dijo que el titular de Naciones Unidas “no era consciente del uso que ha sido dado al himno”, en referencia a (dudosas y nunca comprobadas) versiones sobre su utilización por parte de grupos nacionalistas vinculados a la masacre de Srebrenica en 1995.
original AQUI: http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&idioma=1&id=1021981&Itemid=1---"MARCH TO DRINA RIVER" AND BAN KI-MOON APPOLOGY
The Honorable Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary General
760 United Nations Plaza
United Nations
New York, NY 10017REF: The Drina March apology
Your Excellency,
The first Allied victory of the World War I, The Battle of Cer [Mountain], opened the door towards the end of The Great War and creation of The League of Nations, predecessor of The UN.
That is exactly what The Drina March represents, fighting for freedom regardless of the odds. Individuals who objected to The Drina March belong to a group that fought against the Allies in both World Wars.
UN apology for The Drina March being performed in The UN is an affront to millions of Allies who gave their lives in WWI for freedom.
Serbs as people never demographically recovered from the loss of 56% of male population in WWI, leading to the additional loss of up to one million in WWII. By UN Genocide Convention, it is Genocide by attrition. That is what the complaint about The Drina March was all about - the fear that the truth will come out.
Media battle cry "Serben Muss Sterben" (The Serbs must die) in 1914 announced this genocide and such racist cries continue to the present day. UN apology is creating a new wave of anti-Serb media reports bordering on racism.
Living behind barbed wire is already reality for the Serbs in UN-governed Kosovo. After this apology, what Serbs can expect next from The UN, a new text of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights that adds "except Serbs" to all articles?
Your Excellency, UN apology to anti-Serb racists who prefer to goose step to the tune of Die Fahne Hoch was misguided, factually inaccurate and morally wrong.
You owe an apology. To the Serbs and all Allied nations.Yours Sincerely,
Bob Petrovich, Canada---Orthodox New Year Celebration in UN
Jan 18th, 2013 | By De-Construct.netOrthodox New Year in United Nations
Belgrade’s Viva Vox choir, performing a capella – without instruments, ushered the New 2013 Year with a concert in United Nations General Assembly in New York, on January 14, the first day of the New Year according to the Julian calendar.
An arrangement of traditional Serbian songs, mixed with world pop/rock and classical music was greeted with standing ovations. Among the best received was the famous Serbian First World War March to Drina.
The glorious March was composed by Stanislav Binički in 1914, in honor of the bravery of the Serbian Army, after winning a triumphal Battle of Cer, the first victory for the Allied forces in WWI.
VIDEOS:UN New Year concert by the Viva Vox choir from BelgradeMARCH TO DRINA, A CAPELLAViva Vox choir, UNMARCH TO DRINA, THE ORIGINAL: BELGRADE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRANew Year concert at Belgrade Kolarac University, frula (traditional Serbian flute) Bora Dugić, conductor Boban ProdanovićMARCH TO DRINA, POP/ROCK STYLEBritish pop group The Shadows, guitar Cliff RichardMARCH TO DRINA, ROCK & ROLLGuitar Radomir Mihajlović Točak, bas Lola Andrijić, drums David Moss, keyboards Laza RistovskiMARCH TO DRINA, JAZZJames Last Big BandMARCH TO DRINA, TRUMPETS100 Trumpets Concert, Belgrade Central Square