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Music After the Fall
Sept. 24, 2001
It has been a hellish couple of weeks in America, bringing out the best and worst in people. The World Trade Center collapsed into rubble on Sept. 11. New York went into shock, briefly united, then began to unravel. At first the streets were filled with anxious, worried faces. Hard-bitten Manhattanites suddenly became considerate - holding doors, saying sorry, excuse me, and so on. But after a week of paralysis, the emotional sensitivity turned into a flood of neurotic kvetching and bloodthirsty calls for vengeance. Television and print media coverage hyped the serious and the trivial news indiscriminately. Truth, lies, and rumours flew fast and thick. Media overkill set in after 24 hours, as talking heads and pundits staked out their ideological territory and repeated the same themes ad nauseam. Irresponsible and exploitative commentators added insult to injury.
Back in the real world, things grew increasingly surreal. Cars, bikes, backpacks, dog collars, windows, and balconies sprouted American flags. Evangelists and missionaries littered the streets and lobbies with doomsday pamphlets. The stock market lost a trillion dollars in value. Politicians foamed at the mouth “standing tall” and “demanding justice.” The New York Post’s “Ossama bin Laden Dead or Alive” cover became an icon taped in every other window. Normally sane people urged the use of atomic bombs and concentration camps. Thinking or speaking intelligently became momentarily unpatriotic.
Fortunately this weekend a sizable peace movement coalesced across the country to counter the war-mongering of the military-industrial complex and their Pentagon pals. Civil rights groups are opposing the attack on privacy and liberty masterminded by the CIA and FBI. These idealists give one hope for America’s future. Yet the coming weeks will be grim. Bush is planning attacks that will kill hundreds, maybe thousands of innocent civilians in in Afghanistan and Iraq. Some 4000 bodies in the World Trade Center rubble are rotting in the September sun. And experts predict more terrorist attacks are on the way.
Amid all this horror, what place have music, dance, painting, poetry, literature, and song ? Not surprisingly, people most heavily invested in the arts - performers, presenters, journalists - have rolled out the platitudes about art being an essential solace, a source of truth and beauty, a reason for living, and so on. The less pretentious among us admit that art, like booze and sex, is at best a brief distraction from grief, anxiety, and confusion.
Like everyone from actors to athletes, New York musicians have responded to the World Trade Center tragedy with warmth and generosity. The Metropolitan Opera held a star-studded, million-dollar charity gala on Sept. 23 which was mysteriously sold out before it was even announced (I don’t know anyone who was invited or who went). The New York City Opera cancelled a memorial performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute on Sept. 14 and settled for singing the national anthem before the next day’s Flying Dutchman. The New York Philharmonic opened their season with a memorial performance of Brahms’s German Requiem. The Emerson String Quartet played a free concert of meditation and Lincoln Center gave $100,000 to the Uniformed Firefighters Association Widows and Children’s Fund. The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s free season opener on Sept. 25 is called A Musical Tribute to the Spirit of New York. Carnegie Hall will present a free Concert of Remembrance on September 30 with pianist James Levine, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and soprano Leontyne Price. The Americas Society’s Sept. 24 concert with Musica Camerata Montreal will support the World Trade Center relief efforts. And so on.
Despite the impressive show of solidarity and public spiritedness, music presenters are justifiably concerned that the terrorist threat will hurt music and opera attendance this season. Performing arts venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Opera are prime terrorist targets because they hold thousands of people and are vulnerable to bombs, chemical, and biological warfare. Not surprisingly, single ticket sales have slumped (subscriptions were all sold before the attack) and audiences are worried. So far, no major presenter has announced increased security measures, but unless security is beefed up - including bag checks and metal detectors - concert halls will be as risky as subways, airports, and train stations. It would not be surprising if audiences simply prefer to stay home and listen to Cds and watch videos. Let’s hope that presenters act fast to restore public confidence and provide a controlled environment for audiences to enjoy live music in peace and safety.
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