Comments on: Truth, reconciliation and 100 voices

Truth, reconciliation and 100 voices

jbickers — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 17:26:17 -0800

"REwind: A Cantata for Voice, Tape and Testimony" debuts tomorrow night in New York. South African composer Philip Miller listened to hundreds of hours of audio cassettes from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings - the testimonies of torture victims, as well as their torturers who were given pardon in exchange for their testimony - and composed music around the samples he selected. It premiered in Capetown in late 2006; utterly haunting excerpts available here and here.

By: litfit

litfit — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:58:25 -0800

In a similar vein, a friend and I really enjoyed Amandla: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony a few years ago. I still pull the soundtrack up in iTunes every once in awhile.

By: Area Control

Area Control — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 20:03:40 -0800

Now that's the MetaFilter I'm talkin about. This would go well with John Adams or Steve Reich. I'd imagine that the full performance is quite obliterating. Powerful stuff. Thanks for posting.

By: foxy_hedgehog

foxy_hedgehog — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 20:40:36 -0800

Thanks so much for posting this- I live six blocks away and had no idea this was happening.

By: allaboutgeorge

allaboutgeorge — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 21:24:16 -0800

Kickass link. jbickers ftw

By: lorimer

lorimer — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 12:30:39 -0800

Another interesting example of this is the piece by Scott Johnson on the Kronos Quartet album Short Stories, using a recording of a talk about peace by I.F. Stone.

By: Area Control

Area Control — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:35:04 -0800

"Remember that guy? John, John somebody?"

By: Area Control

Area Control — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:41:39 -0800

Sorry, meant to do this. And it's been a long time. Maybe there really was just one John. Remember that guy...