Anthem

An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short sacred choral work and still more particularly to a specific form of Anglican church music.

Etymology

Anthem is derived from the Greek ἀντίφωνα (antíphōna) via Old English antefn. Both words originally referred to antiphons, a call-and-response style of singing. The adjectival form is "anthemic".

History

Anthems were originally a form of liturgical music. In the Church of England, the rubric appoints them to follow the third collect at morning and evening prayer. Several anthems are included in the British coronation service. The words are selected from Holy Scripture or in some cases from the Liturgy and the music is generally more elaborate and varied than that of psalm or hymn tunes. Being written for a trained choir rather than the congregation, the Anglican anthem is analogous to the motet of the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches but represents an essentially English musical form. Anthems may be described as "verse", "full", or "full with verse", depending on whether they are intended for soloists, the full choir, or both.

Anthem (Chess song)

"Anthem" is a song from the concept album and subsequent musical Chess by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The song describes the feelings of Soviet Russian challenger, Anatoly Sergievsky, when he defects. The song was originally sung by Tommy Körberg on the original concept album]] and as Anatoly in the original West End cast. It was later covered by various artists including Josh Groban on his album Stages and Kerry Ellis.

Plot

Distracted by the loss of Florence's love, Freddie flounders in the chess tournament, leaving himself just one more loss away from losing his title. Florence leaves Freddie, who sends The Arbiter a letter of resignation, resulting in Anatoly's becoming the new world champion. Anatoly immediately defects from the Soviet Union and seeks asylum at the British embassy. Florence, accompanies Anatoly, reflecting on their newfound romance. Walter tips off the press about this scandal. When the mob of reporters ambush Anatoly to ask why he is deserting his country, he tells them in this song that he will never truly leave his country because his land's only borders lie around his heart.

Anthem (Iced Earth song)

"Anthem" is a song by American heavy metal band Iced Earth from their album Dystopia. Since its release it has become one of the most popular tracks of the album. The song "Anthem" was described by vocalist Stu Block as a celebration of "people, the human spirit and life". A shorter version the song was also featured on the extended play 5 Songs which was released on September 19, 2011.

Music video

Produced and directed by Kosch Fabian Film, the music video for "Anthem", was released on January 24, 2012. The video was filmed at the Essigfabrik in Cologne, Germany on December 7, 2011, during the band's Dystopia World Tour. It switches between live scenes and the band on the road which are in filmed in black and white.

Jon Schaffer commented on the video on Century Media Records:

Critical reception

Caj Källmalmm, from Swedish website Hallowed named "Anthem" as one the album's best songs and Chad Bowar from About described it as "appropriately enough, anthemic." Keith Chachkes of Metal Army America also called "Anthem" "a rousing call to arms against hypocrisy and sycophants who seem to be overrunning the world these days."

Haunted (Poe album)

Haunted is the second album by American singer/songwriter Poe, released in 2000 (see 2000 in music) after a five-year hiatus from her debut album Hello in 1995. The self-produced album was created as a tribute to her father, and counterpart to her brother Mark Z. Danielewski's novel House of Leaves.

History

Haunted found Poe combining traditional pop notions with electronic, dance and hard rock music. A critical success and largely adored by her existing fanbase, it nonetheless flopped commercially, largely due to the manner in which it was marketed. The song "Hey Pretty" was released as a promo single, but Poe's vocals had been replaced with a chapter reading from her brother, as alternative radio of 2001 was not very willing to play female artists. It reached #13 on Billboard's US Modern Rock chart. The music video for the song was deemed too racy for MTV (it showed Poe writhing around in mud in nothing but a bra.) A follow up promo single, "Walk the Walk", was released because it had been chosen as the theme song to a new TV drama called Girls Club. However, the show was canceled after two episodes. "Wild" was released as a third single, garnering some radio play in the Chicago area. The single was never released commercially, but featured a shorter radio mix in addition to an acoustic/rock version of the song. The title track was used as the theme song to the film Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, a box-office failure. The commercial failure of Poe's second album contributed to the loss of her distribution contract with Atlantic Records.

Wild (TV series)

Wild is a one-hour American documentary television series that premiered in 2006 on the National Geographic Channel.

External links

Nine Muses (band)

Nine Muses (Korean: 나인뮤지스, often stylized as 9MUSES or NINE MUSES) is a South Korean girl group under Star Empire Entertainment. The group derives its name from the nine Muses of the Greek Mythology. The group composed of eight (formerly nine) members: Hyuna, Euaerin, Sungah, Kyungri, Hyemi, Minha, Sojin, and Keumjo. They made their debut in 2010 with the single "No Playboy" from the single album, Let's Have a Party.

History

2010–2011: Debut, line-up changes and Figaro

The formation of Nine Muses was announced on March 26, 2010. Their first release was on August 12, 2010 with the single album Let's Have a Party. The lead track "No Playboy" is a song produced by composers Rainstone and Park Jin Young. In October, Jaekyung dropped out of the group to focus on her modeling career and was replaced by Hyuna. To advance into the Japanese market, on December 26, 2010, Nine Muses performed six songs on Seoul Train, an event in which K-pop artists and groups perform for their Japanese fans, alongside V.O.S. and ZE:A.