Concert for U.N. Day, 2013 Oct 24: Songs by Sri Chinmoy + Words of Secretary-Generals Part 2

Below are some additional photos, links and text from the Programme:

Singers:

UN Day Concert – 24 October 2013, Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium

Remarks by Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary General of the U.N.

– read by Adhiratha Keefe:

UN Day observances have traditionally included music.

Following are excerpts from Secretary-General

Dag Hammarskjöld’s statement

on 24 October 1960 – his last United Nations Day

– when the Philadelphia Orchestra
performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

I quote:

…This concert is in celebration of United Nations Day
and it has been felt that a few words may remind us
of the purpose for which we have assembled….

On his road from conflict and emotion to reconciliation
in this final hymn of praise,
Beethoven has given us a confession
and a credo
which we,
who work WITHIN and FOR this Organization,
may well make our own….

The road of Beethoven in his Ninth Symphony
is also the road followed by the authors
of the Preamble of the Charter.
It begins with the recognition of the threat
under which we all all live
speaking as it does of the need
to save succeeding generations
from the scourge of war
which has brought untold sorrow to mankind.

It moves on to a reaffirmation of faith
in the dignity and worth of the human person.
And it ends with the promise to practice tolerance
and live together in peace
with one another as good neighbors
and to unite our strength to maintain peace

We are indeed still in the first movements.
But…we have too much in common,
too great a sharing of interests,…
ever to weaken in our efforts
to surmount the difficulties
and not to turn the simple human values,
which are our common heritage,
into the firm foundation
on which we may unite our strength
and live together in peace….

UN Day Concert – 24 October 2013, Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium, UN

Remarks by U Thant, the third Secretary General of the U.N.

– read by Pragati Pascale

U Thant also drew a parallel between music and the United Nations

in his remarks on United Nations Day, 24 October 1967,

during a concert in the General Assembly Hall by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

At a time when international relations are marked by discord and disharmony,

it is a pleasant respite to all of us to listen to the kind of music that we are hearing today.

Such music not only pleases the ear, but also elevates our spirits.

Besides, it also points to an important lesson.
The functioning of a major orchestra requires cooperation on the part of the performers and leadership from its conductor…. In the field of international relations, the performers are the member states.

The score is the Charter of the United Nations.

If we are to replace the present dissension by harmonious cooperation,

we have to be faithful to the score: we have to observe not only the letter,

but the spirit of the Charter in our international relations.

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