Today, Corey and I took our first trip to Orchestra Hall to see the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and it was awesome! Much like the city, their funding is suffering, but you'd never know it from the spirit of the players and audience.
We (meaning Corey) chose this performance for our maiden concert because if the program. The DSO, along with the UMS Choral Union and the Michigan State University Children's Choir, performed "On the Transmigration of Souls" by John Adams and Brahms' "Ein deutsc
hes Requiem." Both are favorites of Corey's. The somber theme of the program did not seem to dampen the spirit of the concert-going experience for anyone.
"On the Transmigration of Souls" was commissioned by the New York Phil for their 2002-03 season to remember those lost in the September 11th attacks. The piece uses orchestra, choir, children's choir, and a prerecorded track of city sounds and voices reading names and texts from homemade missing signs.
From the program notes: "Adams had in mind something different from the standard requiem or memorial; rather he envisioned a "memory space" where listeners could reflect on the event."
Both the piece and the performance were deeply moving. I was literally brought to tears when the choir was singing text describing some of the deceased in the words of family members, specifically "she had the voice of an angel, and she shared it with everyone." The sadness was fleeting as the music signaled a shift from loss to hope.
From the program notes: "Adams explains the the word 'transmigration' refers to the 'movement of the soul from one state to another...' not just 'from living to dead, but also the change that takes place within the souls of those that stay behind, of those who suffer pain and loss, and then themselves come away from that experience transformed.'"
Simply broken down, the piece allows you to fully feel the grief, then brings you to a place of peace and acceptance and hope. "Memory space" is eerily accurate.
Personally, children's choirs always get to me. There is something so profound in the complexities of the world expressed through innocent voices. The kids performing on this piece today were either too young to remember 9/11, or not born yet; and I don't think that invalidates their expression of the emotions surrounding that event, I think it comments on the hope for the future.
The Brahms was also very well done. It wasn't as moving to me as the Adams, but it was a great performance. I was excited to see that the DSO streamed this concert live on their Web site and launched a conversation on Twitter under #DSOLive. With their current financial situation, I'm please to see that this established organization (4th oldest orchestra in the U.S.) has embraced new media.
You can check out their schedule of streaming concerts at www.dso.org.
Great post. I would have loved to see the 9/11 piece. I don't know what it is but anything written for that day brings me to tears. My high school choir took a trip to ground zero a few months after 9/11 when it was literally still smoldering. We sang to the firemen who had reported to duty there. It was the most powerful and emotional day of my life, to date.
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