The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Today is Sept. 11, 2020. Here is music to mark the 19th anniversary of the terrorist attacks during the coronavirus pandemic. What would you choose?
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
CORRECTION: The Virtual Gala fundraiser for the Handel Aria Competition started last night, and will end on Thursday, Oct. 1 – NOT on Oct. 11, as mistakenly stated in yesterday’s blog headline. Here is a link with more information: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/09/10/classical-music-the-worldwide-virtual-and-online-gala-fundraiser-for-the-handel-aria-competition-starts-today-and-runs-through-oct-10-donations-will-be-matched-up-to-2000/
By Jacob Stockinger
Today marks 19 years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
For the basic information, here is a Wikipedia summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks
There are many ways to remember and honor the dead and the injured in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and Shanksvillle, Pennsylvania. And in past years, The Ear has offered many different ones.
There are the well-known requiems by Mozart, Brahms, Verdi and Faure; passions by Bach; and other works.
There are also the pieces especially composed for the commemoration, including “On the Transmigration of Souls,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning work by John Adams that incorporates police tapes and phone calls, and Steve Reich’s “WTC 9/11.”
But this year there is the coronavirus to deal with and complicate the commemorations.
Here is a story from NBC News about how the official commemorations, both real and virtual, will be affected by the pandemic.
And somehow in such circumstances, it feels like back to basic is a good approach.
So here, in the YouTube video at the bottom, is the most universal piece of mourning that The Ear knows: American composer Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” as played by Leonard Slatkin conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
It serves to mark 9/11 but perhaps also the more than 190,000 American deaths so far from the Covid-19 pandemic.
You can find other versions and other pieces on YouTube:
What piece would you want to hear to mark this sad and solemn occasion?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AdagioforStrings, #Al-Queda, #AmericanComposer, #BacktoBasics, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChoralMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DetroitMichigan, #DetroitSymphonyOrchestra, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FaureRequiem, #Flight93, #GabrielFaure, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GiuseppeVerdi, #HandelAriaCompetition, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnAdams, #LeonardSlatkin, #NBCNews, #NewYorkCity, #OntheTransmigrationofSouls, #PulitzerPrize, #SamuelBarber, #September11, #ShanksvillePennsylvania, #SteveReich, #TerroristAttack, #TheEar, #ThePentagon, #TwinTowers, #VirtualConcert, #WashingtonD.C., #Wikipediaentry, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldTradeCenter, #YouTubevideo, 2001, 9/11, Adagio for Strings, Adams, Al-Qaeda, American, approach, Arts, attack, audience, Bach, back, back to basics, Barber, Baroque, basics, blog, choose, choral music, circumstances, commemorate, complicate, Concert, conductor, coronavirus, correction, D.C., dead, deadly, death, Detroit, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Facebook, Faure, Flight 93, fundraiser, Gabriel Fauré, gala, George Frederic Handel, Giuseppe Verdi, good, Handel, Handel Aria Competition, hear, honor, information, injured, injuries, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Adams, last, Leonard Slatkin, like, link, Madison, marks, Michigan, modern, mourning, Mozart, Music, NBC News, New York City, night, occasion, October, official, On the Transmigration of Souls, online, Orchestra, pandemic, Pennsylvania, Pentagon, performer, piece, post, posting, pre-recorded, Pulitzer Prize, real, Reich, remember, Requiem, sad, Samuel Barber, Sept. 11, September 11, Shanksville, share, solemn, start, Steve Reich, summary, symphony, tag, terror, terrorist, The Ear, today, Twin Towers, United States, Verdi, virtual, vocal music, want, Washington, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, World Trade Center, WTC, years, yesterday, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Polly Kuelbs on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
| welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Ann Boyer on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 