Somewhat related to the Global Anthem idea, but in this work, all of human history from roughly 5000 BC onwards is represented in three, four, maybe five movements. Think of the musical score as a "timeline" that begins with the city of Jericho, one of the oldest upon Earth. An ethnic drum solo is heard, representing the primitive instruments of the time. Later, themes representing Shang China and Mesopotamia are both played, for both of these civilizations were active during these times. In "800 CE", an Arabian theme predominates, for the Abbassid empire was very powerful in this century.
The basic idea is that each region of the earth is allocated a certain theme, and depending upon the period in World History that the orchestra is currently playing, different themes rise above others.
Hopefully, the final movement of the piece would combine all themes in perfect harmony.
Or alternatively, a thunderous crash of the cymbals, and complete silence thereafter...-- WordUp, Feb 22 2004 Kinda reminds me of the opening cutscene music to 'Civilization.' Starts out with just a primitive drum, and builds upon that into increasingly modern music styles.-- RayfordSteele, Feb 22 2004 I've never heard of the Abassid empire and Mesopotamia was a distended piece of desert who's only purpose was to supply army's travelling through with pillage, loot and rape. The only civilisation of any worth which you have mentionned was the Shang dynasty which frankly did not play a very large part in the development of human history.
I'm wonderring, have you heard of places such as the middle east, europe and the mediterranean?-- 0_owaffleo_0, Feb 22 2004 The history of the world, in music? A dissonant piece, to be sure...-- TerranFury, Feb 22 2004 Shirley a part of it would include the 1812 Overture, with cannon?-- RayfordSteele, Feb 22 2004 Ohhhh! Stop nitpicking about what cultures [WordUp] mentioned, [0_owaffleo_0]! You get the idea! Two buns up!-- spacecadet, Feb 23 2004 Heh... If he'd take it back any further than that, he'd have to start giving rights to women, for it was around 800-900 ish that the veil and the harem started to appear. Actually, prior to Islam's spread, some Bedouin women actually had multiple husbands. It was only when the empire spread into different areas that held different values that women began to lose status.
Heh... this also would allow some white folks to realize that, during the "dark ages" of Europe, the rest of the world was bustling with activity. Up until about 1500, honkies were kinda savage compared to everyone else.-- WordUp, Feb 24 2004 I can hear the oboist sounding the traditional "A" tuning note. The other orchestra members then begin playing madly at will, as violently as possible, with no regard for key, style, or tempo. Meanwhile, the conductor slips out the rear exit and flies off to Maui for the weekend. When he returns, the musicians have passed out from exhaustion. They are carried away by brawny military types in camouflage pants and white T-shirts emblazoned with the anagram "HCOW" and garish renderings of eagles and other predatory animals. When the stage is cleared, new musicians enter, the oboist sounds an "A," and the whole thing starts over.-- Ander, Feb 24 2004 Orchentropistra.-- bristolz, Feb 24 2004 random, halfbakery