[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 163 (Wednesday, August 24, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: X94-110824]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 24, 1994]



 


                         Classical Music Month, 1994




               By the President of the United States of America



                                A Proclamation



      In the symphony halls of our great cities across America, in the 
      community centers of our small towns, on radio and in recordings, 
      a note is played that began centuries ago and resounds to this 
      day. At the heart of classical music is continuity and tradition. 
      What was heard in a Vienna opera house was heard again in a 
      colonial theater in Charleston, South Carolina, was echoed at the 
      inauguration of President Lincoln, was repeated in turn-of-the-
      century Chicago, and is played again today by a range of 
      musicians from the most skilled of virtuosos to the youngest 
      student struggling with the complexities of the violin.
      Classical music is a celebration of artistic excellence. Great 
      art endures through the ages, and in the United States we have 
      embraced that great music and incorporated it into the American 
      experience. Our best art reflects our Nation's spirit--that 
      mixture of discipline and improvisation, the combination of 
      strong individual voices working together at the same time, the 
      bravado, the inventiveness, the dynamism of the American 
      character. Classical music plays in harmony with that energy and 
      spirit to become reinvigorated and reinvented with each new 
      orchestra or chamber group, with every performance that rings out 
      new and fresh.
      This month we exalt the many talented composers, conductors, and 
      musicians who bring classical music to our ears. These artists 
      carry on a great tradition of musical achievement, and we are 
      proud of their outstanding accomplishments. Whether in new 
      American works or in the masterpieces of the great composers of 
      old, music is a unifying force in our world, bringing people 
      together across vast cultural and geographical divisions. 
      Classical music speaks both to the mind and to the heart, giving 
      us something to think about as well as to experience.
      The Congress, by House Joint Resolution 239, has designated 
      September 1994 as ``Classical Music Month,'' and has authorized 
      and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance 
      of this month.
      NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United 
      States of America, do hereby proclaim September 1994 as Classical 
      Music Month. I urge all Americans to observe this month with 
      appropriate ceremonies and activities.
      IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-
      second day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred 
      and ninety-four, and of the Independence of the United States of 
      America the two hundred and nineteenth.