I. 9/11
They came from Boston -
Goin' to L.A. -
and they're headed South
They're going the wrong
They're going the wrong way
Boston
L.A.
headed South
going the wrong
going the wrong way
no contact
no contact with the pilot
no contact with the pilot whatsoever
No
contact
with the pilot
whatsoever
FDNY:
Go ahead
Plane just crashed
Plane just crashed into the World Trade
every available
every available ambulance
the plane was aiming
the plane was aiming towards the building
there's been a major
there's been a major collapse -
Mayday! Mayday! Liberty and West, I'm trapped
I'm trapped in the rubble -
the second plane
the second plane
a second plane!
Mayday! Mayday, mayday!
I can't breathe
I can't breathe much longer
Other tower just collapsed
II. 2010
Neighbour residents, FDNY officer, first ambulance driver to arrive at World Trade Center
I was sitting in class
four blocks
four blocks north of Ground Zero
I was taking my kids to school
the first plane went straight
went straight over our heads
went straight over our heads and into the building
My eyes just kind of shot up
flames
one of the towers
one of the towers just in flames
but we all thought
but we all thought it was an accident
accident
I knew it wasn't an accident
I knew it wasn't an accident right away
Everyone was running
running
Everyone was running and screaming
Then
Then
The second plane hit
The second plane hit
It was not an accident
It was not
It was not an accident
People
People
jumping from the building
jumping from the building
people
The first ambulance
The first ambulance to get there
it was chaos
chaos
nobody knew
nobody knew what to do
nobody
The ground
The graound starded shaking
The graound starded shaking
You could feel it
The building came down
came down
Run
Run for your lives
Run
Suddenly
Suddenly it was black outside
Suddenly it was black outside
You could not see in front of you
You could not
Debris engulfed everybody
Debris engulfed everybody that was there
Everybody thought we were dead
Everybody
thought we were dead
Totally silent
silent
just dust in the street
just dust
Three thousand people
Three thousand people were murdered
What's gonna happen here?
What's gonna happen here next?
III. WTC
Neighborhood resident, women who sat with 9/11 bodies saying Psalms 24-7 until burial, a cellist with a good voice, a cantor:
The bodies
The bodies were moved to large tents
large tents
On the east side of Manhattan
I would sit there
I would sit there and recite Psalms all night
recite Psalms all night
Simply sitting
sitting
Hashem yishmor tzaytcha uvoecha may atah va-ahd olahm *
Hashem yishmor tzaytcha uvoecha may atah va-ahd olahm
Hashem yishmor tzaytcha uvoecha may atah va-ahd olahm
The world to come
I don't really know what that means
Hiney ahnochi sholayach malach lephaneycha lishmorcha badarech valahaviahcha el-hamahkom asher hakinoti**
Hiney ahnochi sholayach malach lephaneycha lishmorcha badarech valahaviahcha el-hamahkom asher hakinoti -
and there's the world
and there's the world right here
They came from Boston -
Goin' to L.A. -
and they're headed South
They're going the wrong
They're going the wrong way
Boston
L.A.
headed South
going the wrong
going the wrong way
no contact
no contact with the pilot
no contact with the pilot whatsoever
No
contact
with the pilot
whatsoever
FDNY:
Go ahead
Plane just crashed
Plane just crashed into the World Trade
every available
every available ambulance
the plane was aiming
the plane was aiming towards the building
there's been a major
there's been a major collapse -
Mayday! Mayday! Liberty and West, I'm trapped
I'm trapped in the rubble -
the second plane
the second plane
a second plane!
Mayday! Mayday, mayday!
I can't breathe
I can't breathe much longer
Other tower just collapsed
II. 2010
Neighbour residents, FDNY officer, first ambulance driver to arrive at World Trade Center
I was sitting in class
four blocks
four blocks north of Ground Zero
I was taking my kids to school
the first plane went straight
went straight over our heads
went straight over our heads and into the building
My eyes just kind of shot up
flames
one of the towers
one of the towers just in flames
but we all thought
but we all thought it was an accident
accident
I knew it wasn't an accident
I knew it wasn't an accident right away
Everyone was running
running
Everyone was running and screaming
Then
Then
The second plane hit
The second plane hit
It was not an accident
It was not
It was not an accident
People
People
jumping from the building
jumping from the building
people
The first ambulance
The first ambulance to get there
it was chaos
chaos
nobody knew
nobody knew what to do
nobody
The ground
The graound starded shaking
The graound starded shaking
You could feel it
The building came down
came down
Run
Run for your lives
Run
Suddenly
Suddenly it was black outside
Suddenly it was black outside
You could not see in front of you
You could not
Debris engulfed everybody
Debris engulfed everybody that was there
Everybody thought we were dead
Everybody
thought we were dead
Totally silent
silent
just dust in the street
just dust
Three thousand people
Three thousand people were murdered
What's gonna happen here?
What's gonna happen here next?
III. WTC
Neighborhood resident, women who sat with 9/11 bodies saying Psalms 24-7 until burial, a cellist with a good voice, a cantor:
The bodies
The bodies were moved to large tents
large tents
On the east side of Manhattan
I would sit there
I would sit there and recite Psalms all night
recite Psalms all night
Simply sitting
sitting
Hashem yishmor tzaytcha uvoecha may atah va-ahd olahm *
Hashem yishmor tzaytcha uvoecha may atah va-ahd olahm
Hashem yishmor tzaytcha uvoecha may atah va-ahd olahm
The world to come
I don't really know what that means
Hiney ahnochi sholayach malach lephaneycha lishmorcha badarech valahaviahcha el-hamahkom asher hakinoti**
Hiney ahnochi sholayach malach lephaneycha lishmorcha badarech valahaviahcha el-hamahkom asher hakinoti -
and there's the world
and there's the world right here
* Psalm 121:8 - The Eternal will guard your departure and your arrival from now till the end of time.
** from The Wayfarer’s Prayer (Exodus 23:20) - Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.
הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ מַלְאָךְ, לְפָנֶיךָ, לִשְׁמָרְךָ, בַּדָּרֶךְ; וְלַהֲבִיאֲךָ, אֶל-הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר הֲכִנֹתִי.
יְהוָה, יִשְׁמָר-צֵאתְךָ וּבוֹאֶךָ-- מֵעַתָּה, וְעַד-עוֹלָם.
** from The Wayfarer’s Prayer (Exodus 23:20) - Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.
הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ מַלְאָךְ, לְפָנֶיךָ, לִשְׁמָרְךָ, בַּדָּרֶךְ; וְלַהֲבִיאֲךָ, אֶל-הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר הֲכִנֹתִי.
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WTC 9/11
Steve Reich
Performed by the Kronos Quartet
Recorded February 21-24, 2011, at Studio Trilogy, San Francisco, CA
Mixed at John Kilgore Sound, New York, NY.
Commissioned by the Kronos Quartet.
World Premiere: March 19, 2011, by Kronos Quartet, at Duke University, Durham, NC.
Anche la sua WTC 9/11 inizia con una voce, oltre che con una pulsazione inquietante. È una delle tante usate da Reich: si tratta di registrazioni dei dialoghi del Comando di Difesa Aerospaziale del Nord-America e del New York Fire Department, oltre a interviste realizzate ad hoc a cittadini che vivevano in quella zona di Manhattan. Il gigante del minimalismo americano le usa non solo per accompagnare, ma soprattutto per plasmare la musica che reagisce alle voci: gli archi infatti armonizzano i racconti degli intervistati.
La terza parte della composizione è forse la più forte dal punto di vista emotivo. “I corpi venivano trasferiti sotto grandi tende”, recita una delle persone intervistate. Si riferisce a quel che accadde dopo l’attentato ai resti delle vittime. Reich evoca la tradizione ebraica della shmira che prevede che prima della sepoltura i corpi vengano vegliati recitando salmi o passaggi della Bibbia. Si sentono le voci di due donne che hanno effettivamente vegliato a New York i resti delle vittime e quella di un cantore di una sinagoga newyorchese: “Il Signore ti proteggerà, quando esci e quando entri, ora e sempre”, “Ecco, io mando un angelo davanti a te per custodirti sul cammino e per farti entrare nel luogo che ho preparato”.
RollingStone.it - Come lo metti in musica l’11 settembre?