Joy and Remembrance; Awakening of the Spirit

Even before Bobby McFerrin urged us to “Don’t Worry Be Happy,” American culture celebrated the optimist and built the “Happiest Place on Earth.” But surviving and then remembering hard times has a cathartic effect that brings communities close together. Margaret Brouwer’s song Whom Do You Call Angel Now? recalls the tragedy of September 11, 2001 with stark, simple music that allows the text to speak. Similarly, Osvaldo Golijov’s Tenebrae mourns renewed violence in Israel while placing it in a global perspective. However, in the midst of our sorrow, there is always hope, whether in the clean lines and light textures of Maurice Emmanuel’s Sonata, op. 11, the beautiful structure of a Trio Sonata by Johann Sebastian Bach, or the remembrance of past music and the power it can play in helping us move on to the future in Bruce Adolphe’s Bridgehampton Concerto.