Musical condolences mark anniversary of JFK tragedy

A selection of condolence letters and never-before-heard musical compositions will be revealed at a special event at the 成人大片 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of John F. Kennedy鈥檚 assassination.

JFK

President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy arrive at Love Field, Dallas, Texas.聽Wiki Media Commons.

Dear Mrs Kennedy: Music and Mourning on the Death of a President will be held at Elder Hall on Tuesday, 28 November.

Professor Katie Barclay, Head of the Department of Historical and Classical Studies in the School of Humanities at the 成人大片 is one of the event鈥檚 organisers.

鈥淭he sixtieth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy falls on 22 November,鈥 she said.

鈥淭he President鈥檚 violent death was of enormous political and social significance. It elicited an outpouring of grief from people of every class and every age.

鈥淭he president鈥檚 widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, received over one and a half million condolence letters from all over the world, including Australia. Hundreds of these letters contained music and songs written spontaneously by mourners for whom composition was a way of processing their shock and sadness.聽

鈥淢ost of this music has never been performed publicly.鈥

"The President鈥檚 violent death was of enormous political and social significance. It elicited an outpouring of grief from people of every class and every age."Professor Katie Barclay, Head of the Department of Historical and Classical Studies in the School of Humanities at the 成人大片

Dear Mrs Kennedy: Music and Mourning on the Death of a President aims to change this by premiering music written for the US President鈥檚 widow.

The evening will present readings from the condolence letters and the performance of a selection of compositions. It will explore the wider significance of the correspondence and the music as expressions of collective grieving and loss.

鈥淕rief is a particularly absorbing emotion to explore,鈥 said Professor Barclay.

鈥淚t takes different forms for different people at different times in history. But this is also true of many of our emotions.

鈥淭oday, we live in a time of considerable uncertainty, and public outpourings of emotion of all kinds are all around us.

鈥淯nderstanding what motivates such mass expressions of emotion and why they take particular forms helps us better understand what it is to be human and how we can live better in a changing world.鈥

Dear Mrs Kennedy: Music and Mourning on the Death of a President will be held on the opening evening of the biennial international conference of the Society for the History of Emotions, the theme of which is 鈥楿nsettling Certainties鈥.

The conference brings together academics who are interested in how people understand, express, and manage their feelings.

To learn more about this event, please visit this page on the 成人大片 website.

When

Tuesday, 28 November 2023. 6:00pm.

Where

Elder Hall, 成人大片

Free Event

No registration is required, please arrive to Elder Hall for a 6:00pm start. General seating.

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