When the Towers Rise Again

To me it says, you may have hit us and knocked us down but for a moment....we will overcome terrorism and be the greatest nation again.

Patricia Parker

Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings

We look forward and attempt to be optimistic. At the heart though, there will always be a great sense of loss. This is a beautifully wrenching piece of music, whose ending sigh is cleansing.

Lara McDonnell

"When the Towers Rise Again" by Apostolica

It is a beautiful tribute.

Karina

The Impossible Dream, from The Man of La Mancha

I heard this piece done by the Lehman College Community Band at a 9/11 memorial concert, maybe in 2003 or 2004. There are a few lyrics to this song appropriate to memorialize the day:
"To bear with unbearable sorrow..."
"To right the unrightable wrong"
However, the line that strikes me the most is "To be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause".
What could better describe the first responders that day, as well as the men and women of the armed services that risk their lives everyday to keep the rest of us safe.

Lynn Merklinger

Meredith Monk: Gotham Lullaby

An affirmation of the human condition, whatever it brings -- the forgotten beauty of the mundane, the quiet sadness of repetition. It celebrates and consoles us, our memories, our loneliness. It traces our encounters with immense tragedy and, somehow, ecstatic simplicity. It is life, unguarded, made manifest.

Jonathan Boschetto

Our Town by Aaron Copland

I feel like all those beautiful souls, who left us on that tragic day, are watching over us and telling us to enjoy our lives on this earth. It's a reminder that life is so short. We have to appreciate every second.

Allison

Perhaps Love by John Denver & Plácido Domingo

"The memory of love will see you through"

Deborah

New Order - Love Vigilantes

I listened to this song a lot after 9/11. The combination of the upbeat music with the heaviness of the lyrics has always astounded me. Like many New Yorkers, I felt on the evening of 9/11 as on the edge of an abyss; a changed world; an unknown future and more than anything the terrifying promise of war - with what? Against whom? 10 years later, and here we are, partially healed but still in this strange and horrific war. This song resonates with me every time I hear it.

Caroline

Copland - Fanfare for the Common Man

I play this at home just on 9/11 as a personal, private tribute to everyone who died and especially for the brave firefighters from my neighborhood firehouse on Middagh Street in Brooklyn Heights - none of them came back. I was on the Promenade when the 2nd plane flew past - the horrific images embedded forever in my mind - still too painful - all those pieces of paper fluttering in the smoke above us, grabbing hold of the man next to me in that crowd of thousands watching in horror as the first tower collapsed - both of us shaking uncontrollably, unable to let go as others around us collapsed, so many screaming or frozen in place - within minutes that brown smoke enveloping us and the air force jets roaring... Months of smoke and dust choked our lovely neighborhood along with unrelenting grief as we watched the daily loads of debris come over the Brooklyn Bridge and down our streets. Many nights waking to that burning smell, running to close my windows and hearing others doing the same all over Pineapple Street...

Alison Murphy

"On the Transmigration of Souls"-John Adams

This is one of Adams' most powerful and beautiful pieces. Some claim he only won the Pulitzer because of the subject matter but the fact remains it the most elegant attempts at capturing the somberness of the event. Reich, 10 years later, went for haunting but Adams captured the mystique of the tragedy. This piece is sad and beautiful and gut wrenching all at the same time.

Nathan Courtright

The concert for america

Bring back the memories of those days and of those responsible for this atrocity.

Saul Raw

Towers Of Light by Robert Wendel

It means a lot since I wrote it, and it has placed 4th in the "American Prize" composition competition and has been performed live in Rockford IL, at Interlochen, and coming up on Cape Cod on August 28th. I sent WQXR a CD several months ago. I would really like to share my personal music experience with all New Yorkers.

Robert Wendel

Beatles: "Love Me Do"

On Sept 11, 1962 the Beatles had their first recording session in EMI's Abbey Road Studio 2 for Parlophone and producer George Martin. Their first record (in England), came from that session: "Love Me Do" - which is my choice for remembering 9/11.

I prefer not to dwell on the attacks of 9/11/2001 by a gang of Saudi religious zealots. Even worse was the disastrous and misguided over-reaction of G.W. Bush and his handlers in Iraq and Afghanistan resulting in the death and dismemberment of many more Americans than the original debacle, not to mention the slaughter of hundreds of thousand of citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Marc Stager

A German Requiem-Brahms

It is such a superb piece of music and capable of expressing deep sorrow.

Rita Thompson

"Dark Is Rising," Mercury Rev

One of my favorite albums of 1999-2000 was the ethereal "Deserter's Songs," by Mercury Rev. I was stoked for their followup album, which was due in stores on the second tuesday of September, 2001. In those days, I was an aficionado of CDs and my Discman and getting things the day they came out from a midtown Manhattan retailer.

The second Tuesday in September was the 11th. I didn't pick up the album that day, as things were really chaotic. I didn't go to work the next day, either. The following Thursday, though, life resumed. And following work, I decided to walk around Manhattan a bit to get my bearings. I picked up the new Mercury Rev album, and unwrapped it immediately, putting it in my discman.

4 minutes later, I was a shaking, sobbing mess on the streets of Manhattan. So hopeful for a bigger purpose, for a better reason. Haunting song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A102xE-Wnfk

Dan Dunford

"Remembrance" by George Winston

Perfectly captures the sense of immense loss and grief of that day and the time following it.

Louise Jennewine

Morning Has Broken sung by Cat Stevens

Despite the anger, sadness and fear we all felt after 9/11, life went on. Each day the sun came up and those of us left behind had to deal with the losses we faced. It's all about the essence of life, the core of the human spirit, and the energy to rise to the occasion.

Mary Mcgee

Bob Dylan's time out of mind

The words;the air is getting hotter there's a rumbling in the sky.. I've been wading down this high mighty river with the heat rising in my eyes... everyday your memory gets dimmer it doesn't haunt me like it used to do... and, they tell me everything's gonna be all right but i don't know what all right even means, evokes the shock of the event.Also the leonard cohen song ;if it be your will; which evokes the frailty and woundednes of our common humanity with the words-if it be your will bind us tight all your children here,bind us tight and make us whole;the music piercing.Also a simon and garfunckel song [don't recall the name] about the different months of the year and what they represent[like the victims that day born in every month].Sung to beauttiful haunting music].

rose-ellen

Mary Chapin Carpenter: “Grand Central Station” + “Goodnight America” from Between Here And Gone; Martina McBride: “Good Bye” from Emotion

Martina McBride sings
“I remember where I was when the word came about you/
It was a day much like today, the sky was bright and wide and blue….
Today my heart is big and sore, it’s trying to push right through my skin/
Won’t see you anymore...I guess that’s finally sinking in.”

Mary Chapin Carpenter's "Goodnight America" felt especially poignant to me during the Bush years; I wondered if my America was ever coming back. Sadly, I'm still wondering.

Judy Epstein

When the Towers Rise Again by Apostolica

A beautiful tribute and a reminder of the strength of the American people

Cathy