Works

Pieces

Rein oder unrein? (Satire for 4 voices) (2001)
397.3 KB (PDF)

 

"Allende, 11. September 1973"
977.1 KB (PDF)

 

Lyon 1943 (Pièce de résistance)
381.6 KB (PDF)

 

Thoreau's Nightmare (2003)
319.3 KB (PDF)

 

Works

Pieces

Allende, 11. September 1973 (Piano/Voice/Clarinet/Violoncello)

Composed 2004, Duration: 25 min

Lyon 1943 (Pièce de résistance) (Piano Solo)

Composed 1999, Duration: 16 min

Lyon 1943 (Scenes pour piano et orchestre) (Piano Solo/Orchestra)

Composed 2005, Duration: 30 min

Rein oder unrein? (4 Voices)

Composed 2001, Duration: 4 min

Sonata y destrucciones (Voice/Piano)

Composed 1998, Duration: 15 min

Thoreau's Nightmare (2 Pianos, 1 Player)

Composed 2003, Duration: 18 min

The Bells (Edgar A. Poe) (Melodram for Voice and Piano)

Composed 2006, Duration: 18 min

 

On "Allende, 11. September 1973"

For a speaking pianist, clarinet, and violoncello

Historically articulating something past does not mean recognizing it "as it really was". It means taking possession of a memory when it flashes up in a moment of danger. (Walter Benjamin)

September 11, 2001 has changed everything, it is said. We need to rethink. No limitations may be set to the effective combating of terrorism. A paradigm shift has taken place that justifies preventive war as a political instrument. In this composition, the image of September 11, 2001 as a "zero hour" is countered by a leap in history.

Augusto Pinochet's military coup against the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende also fell on a September 11 and a Tuesday, almost at the same time of day. But the historical comparison does not aim to suggest any deeper numerological order or promote any sensation-craving conspiracy theories. Rather, the coincidental relationship should provide a glimpse of a dialectical understanding of history to which Benjamin alludes in the above quotation: history as a construction by the present. And its consequence is that only the writer of history has the ability to fan the spark of hope suffused in the past: even the dead will not be safe from the enemy, if he is victorious. And this enemy's victories have not ceased.

The text used in the piece is based on the publicly accessible recordings of the various speeches Allende made to the Chilean nation on Chilean radio in the course of the morning of September 11. Despite all the pathos of the words, the musicalization seeks to reproduce something of the calmness and equanimity with which Allende spoke on the radio, in the face of extreme violence and knowing that he would not leave the Presidential Palace alive. The musical gestures developed on especially evocative passages of the text are in part illustrative of and in part in contrast to it, thus creating an emotional environment that reflects the contradictions of the situation.

The piece, written during a stay at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, was commissioned by the Heidelberger Frühling (Heidelberg Spring), where it had its world premiere in April 2004 with Jörg Widmann, clarinet, Alban Gerhart, violoncello, and me, speaker/piano. It is dedicated to my friends Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin and Ronit Chacham, because it would never have been written without them and because they taught me that hope consists only in resistance.

Stefan Litwin

 

About Thoreau's Nightmare (2003)

For Two Pianos (One Pianist)

I live in the angle of a leaden wall, into whose composition was poured a little alloy of bell metal. Often, in the repose of my mid-day, there reaches my ears a confused tintinnabulum from without. It is the noise of my contemporaries.

These words, taken from Henry David Thoreau's Walden, serve as a motto to "Thoreau's Nightmare". The piece was written in early 2003 at the height of tensions between the US and Europe over the pending war in Iraq. The music is a critical commentary on these most troubling of times. It is also a tribute to the old New England transcendentalist who had envisioned a peaceful American nation.

Contrasting episodes of original material are interwoven with quotations from Charles Ives's 'Thoreau' and popular political tunes. They follow no explicit path but wander aimlessly from moment to moment, much like scenes in a dream.

Shortly after completing the score, while searching for a title, I asked a friend what might be associated with the term "Thoreau's Nightmare". The immediate and unmitigated answer was: "The Bush administration!" Then and there, I knew that this title would work.

Stefan Litwin