September 11, 2021
Joan Tower In Memory
Steve Reich WTC 9/11
Samuel Barber “Adagio” from String Quartet Op. 11
Anthony Davis Restless Mourning (texts by Quincy Troupe and Allan Havis, West Coast premiere)
Lyris Quartet; Jacaranda Chamber Ensemble & Chamber Singers; Anthony Parnther, conductor
Twenty years ago, most of us remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when the planes struck the buildings. One year later Joan Tower memorialized the tragedy with a single elegiac movement – passionate but stoic. Four years later, the recent Pulitzer Prize-winner Anthony Davis composed a chamber oratorio that investigated the 9-11 void through an African American jazz-infused perspective using contemporary texts and Biblical quotes. On the tenth anniversary, Steve Reich, who lived near the Twin Towers at the time, offered a harrowing journey of actual audio clips fused to string quartet rhythms. Since its ubiquitous beginning on live American radio as accompaniment to FDRs funeral, Samuel Barber’s Adagio has been a cathartic touchstone of remembrance – “America’s secular hymn for grieving the dead.” As we struggle to adjust to the challenges of 2021, Jacaranda offers this Twentieth Anniversary observance of 9/11 in the spirit of healing.