[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 34 (Monday, August 29, 1994)]
[Page 1699]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6716--Classical Music Month, 1994

August 22, 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.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:09 a.m., August 23, 
1994]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on August 
24.