The Star-Spangled Breiner

As readers of this site know well, I’ve long written about my Internet friend Peter Breiner.  For those new to the party, Peter is a remarkably accomplished musician -- composer, arranger and conductor.  And that that’s not hyperbole – he has made 291 recordings (Yes, really.  To put this in perspective, I don't even own 291 CDs...).  Moreover, he wrote a weekly newspaper column, is a book author, had a radio program, and hosted a talk show on Slovenska Televizia (with the great title, Do You Have Something Against That?) that had the honor of being briefly banned for being too controversial. 

(Happy, all was forgiven, because in 2018 Slovak President Andrej Kiska presented Breiner with the Order of Ludovít Štúr, the third highest Slovak state decoration.  Meanwhile, he lived in Toronto and then New York City for almost 30 years, and now resides in London.)
 
Most recently, I posted the video here when he conducted the Slovak Philharmonic with the world premiere performance of his piece, The Devil in Moscow, a 50-minute suite adapted from his new ballet The Master and Margarita, based on the classic novel by Bulgakov.
 
I bring all this up for because of a story that boggled me.  It turns out that I knew of Peter Breiner’s work before I even knew Peter Breiner!  And I’ll bet cash money that many people reading this (if not most) knew of him, as well.
 
And therein lies the tale.
 
A few weeks ago, Peter and I were discussing politics online (he grew up in Czechoslovakia, and has lived under repressive authoritarian governments, which drives much of his worldview.  But that’s another topic).  And in our text chat, he mentioned offhandedly having written a controversial arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner for the Athens Olympics. 
 
I didn’t know exactly what he meant and asked -- was it the anthem played for U.S. gold medal winners or used for some other purpose at the games?  His answer floored me.  He replied – “I wrote the anthem arrangements for all the countries.” 
 
Wait, what???!!  Yes, it turns out that Peter Breiner wrote all 204 of the official arrangements for the 2004 Athens Olympics!! 
 
Moreover, I remember the one he did for the U.S.  That’s because it was different and stood out, but absolutely beautiful and so moving.  The reason it was controversial was because the music didn’t get loud and bombastic at “and the rockets’ red glare,” like most arrangements, but instead he wrote that passage very soft and gentle with violins, interpreting the action (he explained to me) as if you were on shore, watching the battleships at a distance through the smoke filling the harbor.  I found it online.  You may remember it, too.  But even if not, I think  you’ll be fascinated by it.  Because by getting soft at that point, it allows the music to build and soar majestically at the end, making it all the more moving and impact, rather than hitting a high earlier and staying there.
 
For all those who hated it (and many did), my sense is that far more loved it.  I say that from my memory of the time, articles I've recently read and notably because the User Comments on YouTube for this are almost universally glowing.  How it’s their favorite version, that they wish it was used more, and how it brought them to tears.

I will add, too, for those who find the arrangement supposedly "sacrilegious," not only was there no "original" arrangement, since what Francis Scott Key did was write lyrics only to an existing piece of music -- but that music was a British drinking song!
 
And it turns out that Naxos released an 8-CD set of all 204 of his anthems he arranged for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

​(For anthem aficionados, Amazon has the full set on sale now at 50% off for $45, which you can get here.)

By the way, as “proof” of what he did for the Athens Olympics, and the controversy, and all the dealings with other countries and their interests and controversies, you can read a very interesting article here in the Washington Post that was written at the time.
 
(There’s a very funny story in all this.  New Zealand wasn’t happy with his arrangement, and sent his a few different versions done by others that they did like, preferring that he do an arrangement closer to them.  It turns out that one of those they sent…was Peter’s own arrangement of the New Zealand national anthem!!  So, that’s the one they went with.)
 
And arguably even more interesting, this here is another WaPo article from four years later at the 2008 Beijing Games when it became clear that China had actually stolen all his copyrighted arrangements.

 
Anyway, I found it all absolutely fascinating, and yet another of his many high talents I didn’t know. 
 
Here is that version of The Star-Spangled Banner he arranged.  I will add that I love it, and interestingly, the more I listen to it, the more moving I find it.  So, if you don’t quite know what to make of it at first, I would suggest you listen to it at least a couple more times.  For most of such people (I think…), it will grow on you, as what he’s doing in his arrangement becomes clear.  That said, I think there’s a good chance that many, if not most will love it at first hearing.  Because, yes, it’s different, but it’s also wonderful.

​O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.