yes, yes indeed
5
By gcoleman.mn
All of John Adams's music has the magnificent power to be emotionally complex and entrancing while remaining simple and minimalistic. This piece is no exception, it can really make you think about the 9/11 disaster and how it effected people's lives. 25 minutes and three seconds of pure awesomeness for ten bucks? That's a great deal!
"On the Trasmigration of Souls"
5
By AbinadiWitness
I had read a lot of reviews about this piece over time and wanted to hear it. I knew John Adams was the composer and I had heard some things of his in the past that I liked ("Short Ride in a Fast Machine"; "Harmonium") and thought this sounded like a powerful piece. I got the opportunity today to listen to it in its entirety and focus on letting the music move me without any outside distraction.
Wow. This is the saddest piece of music that I've ever heard. It's not that it's depressing to listen to. This music effectively captures the emotionally charged feelings of that fateful day (11 September 2001) eerie, mournful, terrorized, anguished, longing...other reviewers have used the term "heart-wrenching" that is most definitely applicable here. What makes this piece most powerful is that all the people mentioned within it and the quotes that make up the lyrics are real, from people actually involved in the attacks. The music is very sincere to the spirit of that day. There are no grand sweeping themes, nothing you'll be humming or whistling after listening to this but you will have a powerful experience nonetheless.
I listened to "On the Transmigration of Souls" hours ago and just typing now about it brings back the raw emotions within it. This is definitely the most powerful work I have ever heard from John Adams. If you are going to listen to this piece, and I highly recommend that you do, you need to be willing to devote 25 minutes and 4 seconds worth of your utmost attention. This isn't light stuff. You're dealing with one of the most dramatic events in American history. If you'll give it the attention and focus it deserves the music will speak to you in its own way.
Amazing
5
By Briana377
This is the most amazing piece I have ever performed and I have been in an elite choir for 11 years. John Adams has created a masterpiece that expresses in music what so many of us could not express in words in the days following 9/11. Simply stunning
Correction
5
By flute87
For the record, i think this piece is absolutly amazing!
but just so all of you know, THIS IS NOT A SYMPHONY. this is a piece for orchestra, choir, youth choir, and pre recorded tape.
On the Transmigration of Souls
5
By davicito from SA
Beautiful, intense and powerful. I felt transfixed from the very first sound. Well worth the download.
souls...
5
By An AVID observer
brooding, poignant, and tragic rumination
Still remembering
5
By SchoolTeacherWood
I have been looking for the name of this symphony for 3 years. I first heard it on public radio three years ago and it has haunted me ever since. I just finished watching Flight 93 on tv, and I decided to look for it again. I am glad to find it and I feel it is as important a piece as Fanfare for the Common Man, the song written to comemorate Pearl Harbor.
Meditations on Reality
5
By ncherone
Adams has truly penned a masterpiece with this 9/11-inspired composition. An awe-inspiring bed of sound is created as Adams flowinging integrates layers of starkly constrasted timbres. The spoken text becomes a mere voice of the orchestra; the meanings of the words are distorted into a beautiful web of polyphony. He prepares each shift (whether ryhthmic, harmonic, or textural) carefully so that each new theme sounds as though it has been sounding all-along which creates a mysterious sensation of eternity through music. "Transmigration" is an incredibly sensative memorial that ought to become a staple in the symphonic repetoire in addition to an everlasting testimony to the resolve of the American spirit. As for the recording itself: from what I can discern (given that this is the only recording of the work available) Maazel's interpretation is unobtrusive, and it allows for the power of the composition to speak for itself. The performs executed the work beautifully. There seems to be a collective respect among all who were involved in the production of this album for the voice of John Adams (and rightfully so).
incredible
5
By julie-izzle
There are so few pieces that transcend from music to art. Adams' piece is absolutely incredible. Although it is $9.99, I think it is a great addition to any musical collection.
this song means alot to me
5
By mr. pewon
I sang this song in 2007 with the Michigan State Children's Choir, a winner of two grammys. And along with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. This is truely a brilliant song. It shows us all of the horror that happined to our nation on September 11th. John Adams is so smart to have composed this piece and I am truly honnered to have been able to sing this with him. I am only 13 years old, but I understand the importance of this song. I will always remember the greatness of this song when I hear it on my ipod. It is a great song
