Steve Reich is featured on the latest episode of Studio 360, which looks at various artists' responses to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Reich discusses his piece WTC 9/11 and explains how, when asked by Kronos Quartet to write a new piece, he came to create a very personal piece that would reflect on that fateful day. Listen to the Studio 360 segment here. WTC 9/11 can be heard on the latest episode of Performance Today, whose host, Fred Child, calls it an "intense piece of music and a deeply moving piece of music as well."
Steve Reich is featured on the latest episode of Studio 360 from Public Radio International, which looks at various artists' responses to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Reich talks with host Kurt Andersen about his own artistic response, the new piece WTC 9/11, which he wrote for and is performed by Kronos Quartet on the composer's forthcoming album. You can hear the segment below.
Reich tells Andersen how, when asked by Kronos to write a new piece for group, he came to create a very personal piece that would reflect on that fateful day, when Reich and his family lived just four blocks away from the site of the tragedy. The piece is scored for three string quartets and the pre-recorded voices of NORAD air traffic controllers, as they raised the alert that the airplanes were off course; FDNY workers on the scene; friends and former neighbors of the Reichs, recalling that day; and women who kept vigil, or Shmira, over the dead in a tent outside the Medical Examiner’s office, reading Psalms or Biblical passages.
Listen to the Studio 360 segment here:
Listen to this week's entire episode at studio360.org.
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WTC 9/11 can be heard on the latest episode of Performance Today from American Public Media, which looks at the varied musical responses to the events of September 11. "In the days and weeks after the 9/11 tragedy, musicians responded in the only way they knew how. They played," says the show. "For the dead, for the injured, and for all of us who were struggling to cope with the enormity of what had happened."
On the show, Reich talks about the piece with host Fred Child, who calls it an "intense piece of music, and, I think, a deeply moving piece of music as well."
The latest episode of Performance Today, which also includes works by Strauss, Barber, Brahms, and Bach, among others, can be heard at performancetoday.publicradio.org. Reich's segment begins at about 13 minutes into the second hour.
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WTC 9/11, the title piece to Steve Reich's forthcoming album, is available as a digital EP. To pre-order the full WTC 9/11 album, which also features Mallet Quartet and Dance Patterns, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include a free download of the title piece now and the complete album starting September 20.
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