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
Classical music: Today is Sept. 11. Here are 10 pieces by 10 different composers inspired by the terrorist attacks of 2001
3 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
Today is Sept. 11, 2018.
That makes it the 17th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the U.S.
Two of the attacks took place on the Twin Towers (below) of the World Trade Center in New York City.
One took place on the Pentagon (below) in Washington, D.C.
And one, with an unknown target but perhaps either The White House or The Capitol, was thwarted on board Flight 93 when passengers forced the plane to crash in a field (below) in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
In past years, The Ear has chosen certain pieces to play or link to.
This year he found a list of 10 pieces of new music, with photos of the composers and short paragraphs of background as a program note, on the website for Classic FM digital radio.
Some of the pieces and the composers he already knows – and suspects you do too. They include John Adams, Steve Reich, Joan Tower, Eric Ewazen, Ned Rorem and John Corigliano.
But there are also quite a few new titles and names, including Robert Moran, Anthony Davis, Howard Goodall and Michael Gordon. (You can hear Howard Goodall’s “Spared” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
You can find recordings on YouTube.
Here is a link to the story to help you to listen in remembrance – although silence is also perfectly appropriate:
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/occasions/memorial/classical-music-inspired-911/
Of course, lots of old music and historic composers can be suitable without being new music directly inspired by 9/11.
So please tell us: What music would you play to mark the occasion?
Leave your choice and the reason for it in the COMMENT section along with, if possible, a link to a YouTube performance.
Tags: #AnthonyDavis, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicFM, #DigitalRadio, #EricEwazen, #Flight93, #HowardGoodall, #JoanTower, #JohnAdams, #JohnCorigliano, #LivingComposer, #LivingComposers, #MichaelGordon, #NedRorem, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #RadioStation, #RobertMoran, #September11, #ShanksvillePennsylvania, #SteveReich, #TerrorAttacks, #TerroristAttack, #TheCapitol, #ThePentagon, #TheWhiteHouse, #TwinTowers, #WashingtonDC., #WorldTradeCenter, #YouTubevideo, Al-Qaeda, Anthony Davis, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Capitol, Chamber music, choral music, Classic FM, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, digital, Early music, Eric Ewazen, Flight 93, Franz Schubert, George Frideric Handel, historic, Howard Goodall, Jacob Stockinger, Joan Tower, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Adams, John Corigliano, Living composer, living composers, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Michael Gordon, Mozart, Music, New Music, New Rorem, New York City, NPR, opera, Orchestra, Piano, Radio, Robert Moran, Sept. 11, Sonata, Steve Reich, symphony, terror attacks, terrorism, The White House, Twin Towers, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, White House, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, World Trade Center, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 