Seth Josel performs “New York November 2001” by Laurie Spiegel, Berlin 2015
I composed this during the months of dark intensity following the World Trade Center attack right outside my window here.
About a week after that trauma, the electricity came back on, and we first saw the tv and the media coverage. We were suddenly pulled from the overwhelming local cocoon of caring and community, sympathy and love, into shockingly different global reactions of anger, hostility, and talk of "evil" and war. The emotional gut-level knot of this second trauma also persisted for months and fed into this piece.
No one I knew here who was actually living in and dealing with and breathing the results of the 9/11 attack had any impetus to anger or revenge, just tragedy and sadness and an overwhelming desire to help and care for each other and the question of why. Without electricity we had had no idea of the vengeful hatred that was being expressed by our government until suddenly the outside world was switched back on by Con Edison.
See score and notes by Laurie Spiegel
