Classical Club - 09/06 -Adams ~On the Transmigration of Soul
Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 6:22 am
It was a day many Americans will never forget - September 11, 2001.Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends Lyrics
Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends
Like my fathers come to pass
Seven years has gone so fast
Wake me up when September ends
Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are
As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when September ends
Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends
Ring out the bells again
Like we did when Spring began
Wake me up when September ends
Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are
As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when September ends
Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends
Like my fathers come to pass
Twenty years has gone so fast
Wake me up when September ends
Wake me up when September ends
Wake me up when September ends
It is seered in our memories - the horror of it, the courage of the rescue workers. And the loss of all those precious lives.
The New York Philharmonic Orchestra commisioned the American composer John Adams to compose a work to commemorate and honor those lost lives.
The commision resulted in a piece of music whose title was too long to fit in my thread title -
On the Transmigration of Souls
www.newyorkphilharmonic.org/adams/
www.newyorkphilharmonic.org/adams/interview.cfm
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1150272
In this piece of music, about twenty minutes long, Adams combines the orchestra with choirs and prerecorded materials such as the final cell phone messages from victims ("I see buildings and water..."), the reading of the names of the victims, and the text from some of the missing person signs ("I miss you... I love you... I miss you... I love you..."
It is a piece of music that I find to be rather ugly, but also very powerful. The first time I heard it, I ended up curled into a fetal position, crying my eyes out. Good thing I was alone.
Adams had wished to not only honor the dead of that horrible day, but also make a profound statement on death and loss. I feel that he succeeded in that.