Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony was graced with two sensitive musical performances. First, Aretha Franklin delivered a powerful, rousing version of “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” (aka “America”). In 1831, Samuel F. Smith set new words to the tune of the British national anthem “God Save the King/Queen,” and the song served as a de facto national anthem for the U.S. for much of the 19th century. Aretha’s rendition transformed the rather tepid lyrics into something profound, proving that she still deserves the title Queen of Soul (take THAT, “Hey, Nineteen”!).

John Williams, well known for his Star Wars and Indiana Jones movie scores, wrote “Air and Simple Gifts,” the second musical offering for the ceremony. Based on the same traditional Shaker hymn made famous by Aaron Copland in Appalachian Spring, the music stylistically (you might say yearningly) looks back to the 19th century. It was a tender, if unadventurous, setting, beautifully performed by Itzhak Perlman on violin, Yo-Yo Ma on cello, Anthony McGill on clarinet and Gabriela Montero on piano — a multicultural quartet that aptly reflects the America of the 21st century. Tim Smith of The Baltimore Sun reported this telling tidbit about the music:

Williams’ use of the Copland reference provides a kind of poetic justice. In 1953, Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait was cut from a pre-inaugural concert by the National Symphony Orchestra for Dwight D. Eisenhower after a Republican congressman from Illinois suggested that the popular composer was too liberal and possibly a Communist. Bringing a touch of Copland into the Obama inauguration, Williams told Variety last week, offers “a completed circle of events.”

Media comments about the composition seem to be largely favorable, as reflected by this sampling:

“The remarkably intimate interlude opened with a sober, almost melancholy theme, as if to recall the many challenges facing the country” — Baltimore Sun

“The song conveys a joyous romp filled with confidence and hope” — CBS

“The sweet and yearning strains of Williams’s piece was an apt introduction to the president’s address” — The Guardian

Oprah commissioned a song for this historic occasion, which she premiered on January 19, but unfortunately good intentions do not equal good music. The song, pretentiously titled “America’s Song,” is a disaster — a conventional, bland “We Are the World” type of song dull enough to make your eyes glaze over before the end of the first verse. Roger Catlin (TV Eye) describes the song as a dirge, commissioned from “David Foster (pop schlock songwriter now on public TV) and Will.I.Am (the Black Eyed Pea who is suddenly U.biq.uitous this whole season).”

San Francisco Bay Area Bassist Ajamu Akinyele was also inspired by Obama’s election, which is reflected in two songs recorded by his jazz/funk fusion quartet Gemini Soul (with which I play keyboards) for the band’s new CD Dark Skin Babies : The Movement. Metro Silicon Valley says the CD “adds social commentary to the groove, exploring American history, from slavery to the election of Barack Obama.” You can listen below to the song “Pick It Up (America),” which opens with Obama reciting the Pledge of Allegiance: