Nessun Dorma sung by Pavarotti

I remember listening to Midge Woolsey that week -- unfortunately I no longer remember the program selection but she commented that it expressed peace and beauty, something that we really needed. Today I heard Elliott Forrest "playing" Pavarotti, and it occurred to me that Nessun Dorma might be something I'd like to hear on 9/11/11. (I think Beethoven's Ninth will be the choice of many.) Thanks.

Anne Knauerhase

Ladder 116 by the Upwelling

This is a band, the Upwelling, out of New York that began literally because 9/11 made them decide to go for it as musicians. So many of the 9/11 tributes deal with the tragedy itself and very few deal with that hope springs forth from such an event.

Also Ladder 116 is an absolutely beautiful song and I believe it is the song that got them signed to a label...On their liner notes it says that the lead singer from Third Eye Blind co-produced the song... so this isn't just some local band exploiting the event.

So I guess, seeing something positive come out of September 11th is my answer to your question. Music in general has the ability to transform tragedy into hope and Ladder 116 does that for me with regard to 9/11.

Kudos to the people who cam up with this project...I am looking forward to hearing some new stuff as well.

Abe Stearn

"Circle in the Sky" written and performed by Peggy Lee

“Circle in the Sky” was written and performed by Peggy Lee late in her career. It is a tribute to the endurance and timelessness of love that uses the imagery of a circle in the sky. From my apartment I can easily see where the Twin Towers stood. I watched in horror that day when they fell, and the sky that was filled with smoke all those days after. And then once the smoke cleared, I saw the absence of the towers from the skyline. I thought of all the people who lost their lives in the towers, and of all those who loved them. And then I thought of Peggy Lee’s song. Like in the song, I drew a circle in the sky where the towers once stood – and inside that circle I imagined the love of all those who vanished – and knew that although they were gone, their love was not. It would remain forever, as Peggy Lee wrote in her song. This provided comfort and hope at a terrible time. “Circle in the Sky” is from the CD, “The Peggy Lee Songbook: There’ll Be Another Spring.”

Albert Naples

"Celeste Aida" from Verdi's Aida

I had tickets to see AIDA a few days after 9/11. Not at the Metropolitan Opera, or any of the big companies, but at the Amato Opera, that famous company in the East Village that for decades mounted opera performances in a tiny box of theatre down on Bowery. In the days after 9/11, I, like every New Yorker, was raw, shocked, and walking around in a daze. Going to the theatre seemed so frivolous compared to the gaping wound smoking at the tip of Manhattan. But my wife and I went, a took our seats in the third row of this tiny theatre just a few feet from the stage. And when the tenor singing Radames sang this aria, singing of his love for Aida, his voice filled that space with power and love and artistry that would simply never happen in a larger venue. It was a much-needed reminder that despite the murderous obscenity that had been inflicted on New York, despite the terrifying uncertainty of what the future held, that there was still beauty in the world. And that's the music I would like to hear on 9/11.

Ali T. Kokmen

Copland, Shall We Gather at the River

This hymn, as arranged by Aaron Copland, always touches me as it expresses the dignity and hope of loss through death.

Lois Chaffee

Haydn - Mass in Time of War

I would normally have chosen either the Beethoven Missa Solemnis or the Mozart Requium - two of the greatest works of their kind.

However, I chose the Haydn because the events of 9/11 precipitated the two wars which we are still in 10 years after the tragedy.

Stephen Z. Goldberg

Maurice Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess

I am sure that many families lost their princesses that day. This music will honor their memories.

Barbara McCarthy

Brahms Violin concerto in D Major...

It means total peace

Donald Doherty

Bach - Well Tempered Clavier - Book 2: g minor Prelude &Fugue played by Evelyne Crochet

The greatest composer, played by an extraordinary pianist, with music most appropriate for this occasion.

Miriam Arsham

Main Theme from the Soundtrack of How to Marry a Millionaire

I know this sounds like a strange request when everyone else is requesting mournful, reflective songs. But one of my strongest memories of that time is the stark difference in the mood in the city before 9/11 and after. One of the last things I heard in the days before 9/11 was David Garland's soundtrack show. He was playing the soundtrack from How to Marry a Millionaire. It was hopeful, Gershwineque, sorta generic film music that typified post-war, confident America and New York City--in fact, I thought I had heard parts of the theme used as stock "New York City" background music in other movies. In the hours and days just after 9/11, I kept thinking back to that upbeat, optimistic, bright and happy soundtrack as a marker between the world we had left behind and the world we were now entering. The tunes of How To Marry A Millionaire seemed to symbolize the city's loss of innocence. But now, ten years later, it should also remind us that hope never dies.

Leah Maddrie

JSBach,WellTemperedClavier,Book2,Prelude&Fugue in Gminor, and G#minor, by pianist Evelyne Crochet

It means everything ever expressed by humanity. The interpretation of Evelyne Crochet is unparalled, I cannot tire of listening to it.
WTC for WTC, what could be better?

Rafael del Castillo

Spirit of Muddy Waters by Ramon Taranco

Hi Everyone
I sent a detailed promo-style note but didn't know it would be posted - thought it would go directly to a music director. So here's my reason for submitting this song. What "Spirit of Muddy Waters" means to me:
This song talks about daily struggles and one of the incredible things about 9/11 is how so many New Yorkers kept on with their daily lives amidst such an horrific time. The spirit of New Yorkers and the way they collectively handled adversity is what I'm wanting to pay tribute to - by submitting a song by a New Yorker who continued to perform and teach guitar in Manhattan and whose way of living is about rising above adversity. I'm really touched by all the comments I've read on this page. Thank you all for opening your hearts and sharing how you really feel. 9/11/11 is going to be an amazing outpouring of love and WNYC is going to play an important part in that outpouring.

Mary Dempster

"Angel" - Sarah McLachlan

I am not necessarily religious nor do I listen to this everyday, but for me this is a powerful song that strikes me every time I hear it. I had lost my beautiful Fiance on 9/11 and the following days were confusing and desperate days of walking through the city without real coherent thought. I was lucky that my sister lived in Westchester and for her to be close was a great comfort. We both looked like two lost people scouring hospitals list after list. I stayed strong and functioned as one thought they should. Nobody could fly into the city. At about the third day, my father was able to take one of the first flights into Westchester airport, so we drove to pick him up. As we returned to Brooklyn and drove over the Whitestone Bridge, the city view with the towers burning were such a vision of sorrow. This song came on the radio and all three of us sat very silently. The reality of what was going on, finally hit so strong! Sarah McLachlan had written this beautifully meaningful, powerful, and poignant song that struck me so deep! I will never forget that moment! It was incredibly clear! I cried but it was comforting in a moment of pure disbelief! She helped me.

Cathy Bruneau

American Tune by Simon and Garfunkle

I was in Los Angeles on the day. Woken by frantic phone calls. A few hours later, noon eastern time, the local npr stations started their broadcast with this song. It seemed almost prescient. Line by line, this song seemed to invoke every feeling connected with that day, person by person. For example:

"And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
or driven to its knees
But it's all right, it's all right
We've lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road
we're traveling on
I wonder what went wrong"

Once you hear it connected to 9/11, you almost can't separate it from the events, the country, the city, and the people of New York on that day.

Jason Kravits

Rise: September 12, 2001 by Brian Hugh O'Neill

I love that this song was written the day after 9/11 and it is all about rising up. Rising above. Rising from the ashes. Surviving. Powerful stuff.

Kerry O'Malley

'Rise' by Brian Hugh O'Neill

gives great hope after such a horrific event

Heidi Westerfield

Paul Simon's "American Tune"

The lyrics are the first I thought of when hearing the news of 9/11. The melody (based on a chorale by Bach) is also hauntingly beautiful.

Daniel Goroff

Bach: Cantata 159 -- preferably the entire work, but, if not possible, then Aria #4: Es ist vollbracht

The following happened less than a month after 9/11:
I entered Penn Station, and heard music from the sound system that I I had never heard before and could not (at that time) identify -- yet knew had to be by Bach. The poignancy of that moment -- in which I heard Es ist Vollbracht for the first time -- coupled with our recent tragedy, which only great music could hope to convey, shook me to the core.

Herb Dalin

Brams Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68

The piece is magnificent and the wistful, gentle Theme 2 is especially poignant. It's a great companion during mourning.

Karla Keffer

City Song by David Ippolito

I heard it first in the weeks after 9/11 and was so taken by it during that difficult time. It's home grown, and gets to the heart of how I felt about NYC.

Stephanie