On the Transmigration of Souls

On the Transmigration of Souls

On the Transmigration of Souls, for orchestra, chorus, children’s choir and pre-recorded tape is a composition by composer John Adams commissioned by The New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers (and an anonymous but prominent New York family) shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Adams began writing the piece in late January 2002 for a requested tribute for September 11. The music was premiered by the New York Philharmonic on 19 September 2002 at Avery Fisher Hall. It is approximately 25 minutes long.

In an interview Adams explained: "I want to avoid words like 'requiem' or 'memorial' when describing this piece because they too easily suggest conventions that this piece doesn't share. If pressed, I'd probably call the piece a 'memory space.' It's a place where you can go and be alone with your thoughts and emotions. The link to a particular historical event - in this case to 9/11 - is there if you want to contemplate it. But I hope that the piece will summon human experience that goes beyond this particular event."

The title itself carries a certain heaviness of thought and meaning. According to Adams, “Transmigration means ‘the movement from one place to another’ or ‘the transition from one state of being to another.’ But in this case I meant it to imply the movement of the soul from one state to another. And I don’t just mean the transition 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.”[1]

Adams received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in music for the piece. Its premiere recording (with Lorin Maazel conducting the New York Philharmonic, New York Choral Artists, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus), received the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Classical Album, Best Orchestral Performance, and Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Its sheet music is published by Boosey & Hawkes.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • On the Transmigration of Souls — Colonnes lumineuses sur le mémorial du 11 septembre Genre musique contemporaine Musique …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Transmigration of the soul — (sometimes given simply as Transmigration) is similar and foreign in some ways to the philosophy of reincarnation. The idea of transmigration of soul comes from the ancient Greeks. In Transmigration after death, the soul or, shade of a living… …   Wikipedia

  • The Anugita — is part of the Asvamedhikaparva a book of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. It contains Krishna s conversation with Arjuna when Krishna decided to return to Dwaraka after restoring to the Pandavas, their kingdom. The main topics discussed are… …   Wikipedia

  • Philosophy (The) of the Italian Renaissance — The philosophy of the Italian Renaissance Jill Kraye TWO CULTURES: SCHOLASTICISM AND HUMANISM IN THE EARLY RENAISSANCE Two movements exerted a profound influence on the philosophy of the Italian Renaissance: scholasticism and humanism, both of… …   History of philosophy

  • Popular culture about the September 11 attacks — The September 11 attacks have been the subject of numerous films and other works of art and literature, including:FilmInitial reactionHollywood s first reaction to the September 11 attacks was to alter, delay or even cancel films that… …   Wikipedia

  • The Brothers Lionheart — This article is about the novel. For the film, see The Brothers Lionheart (film). The Brothers Lionheart   …   Wikipedia

  • Cities of the Red Night — by William S. Burroughs (1981)    This first book in a trilogy of novels was published in the 1980s that also includes The place of dead roads and The western lands. Although written late in William S. Burroughs’s life, these three novels are… …   Encyclopedia of Beat Literature

  • The Spirits Book — ( Le Livre des Esprits in original French) is one of The Five Fundamental Works of Spiritism, and was published by the French educator Allan Kardec in 1857 April 18. It was the first and remains the most important spiritist book, because it… …   Wikipedia

  • From the beginnings to Avicenna — Jean Jolivet INTRODUCTION Arabic philosophy began at the turn of the second and third centuries of the Hegira, roughly the ninth and tenth centuries AD. The place and the time are important. It was in 133/750 that the ‘Abbāssid dynasty came to… …   History of philosophy

  • Didymus the Blind — Coptic Icon of Saint Didymus Didymus the Blind (c. 313 – 398) was a Coptic Church theologian of Alexandria, whose famous Catechetical School he led for about half a century. He became blind at a very young age, and therefore ignorant of the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”