At a Department of Defense news briefing on February 12, 2002, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was asked:
In regard to Iraq weapons of mass destruction and terrorists, is there any evidence to indicate that Iraq has attempted to or is willing to supply terrorists with weapons of mass destruction? Because there are reports that there is no evidence of a direct link between Baghdad and some of these terrorist organizations.
Secretary Rumsfeld replied:
Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.
I was inspired by the Zen metaphysics of the Secretary's response to set the section in red as a 4-part a cappella “Fuging-Tune,” composed in the rollicking, proto-Gospel style of The Sacred Harp and other 19th-century Southern tunebooks.
Download a printer-friendly PDF of the score of “Rumsfeld.” The tune can be performed in the usual SATB choral fashion, but it is traditional for both the first line (“Treble”) and the third line (“Tenor”) to be sung by both men and women, doubled at the octave, which results in a very rich 6-part harmony!! Note that the melody is in the Tenor line. So what's the deal with the oddly-shaped note heads?
Download a live recording (mp3, 2.8 MB) of “Rumsfeld,” performed by the Loose Canon Chorale at the Tribe Theater in Boston on April 1, 2006.
Download a field recording (mp3, 3.3 MB) of “Rumsfeld,” recorded live at a Sacred Harp singing in Newton, MA on October 11, 2004. The quality of the recording is less than stellar, but the singing isn't half bad for a group of amateurs, many of whom are singing the tune for the first time. Note that in keeping with Sacred Harp tradition, the singers go through the tune first singing just the notes (using a 4-syllable solfege: Fa, Sol, La, Mi), and then go through it again with the words added.
The score of “Rumsfeld” can be freely distributed for performance at Sacred Harp singings and other non-profit venues. Please contact me for other uses. Thanks!!
© 2004, Christopher J. Noren