Pieces of 9-11 Song Album: Composer Turns 9/11 Survivor Stories Into Songs (VIDEO PREVIEW)
A "pieces of 9-11" song collection is being arranged by an American composer, Jake Heggie, according to news reports this week.
Some have been left concerned about news of the work and whether it would be appropriate. However, those behind the project have said that it is meant to put the stories of survivors together in one place and bring levity to the devastating event.
The new album is set to be titled, "Here/After (Songs of Lost Voices)." Heggie announced on Sunday that it is intended to "create a sense of hope and newness that can come from the grief. Otherwise, the people who did it win."
He has explained that his motivation and inspiration for creating the album has come from his observation that new stories continue to emerge from 9/11 even more than a decade later.
Heggie said, "A dozen years later, stories continue to emerge, evolve and yearn to be told."
The composer has said that the pieces of 9/11 song collection is for everyone, even those who were not in New York at the time of the tragedy in 2001.
"I wasn't in New York, I didn't see the smoke and destruction, and yet my life changed that day — everyone's life changed that day," he said.
He claims that he understands the sensitivities of creating the piece and has said that New Yorkers of course have the "right" to take ownership of the tragic event and grieve accordingly. However, so many other people outside New York were also affected by the event as well, that he claims he wanted to make a way for "outsiders" to also mourn in their own way.
He said, "That's why I wanted to write this piece."
The singers on the album will tell the stories of various 9/11 survivors from around the United States, with tracks expressing various feelings of emotion, including the feelings of loss.
One line goes, "And everything belonged to somebody/To somebody gone/And we all belonged to each other/From that moment on."
The "Pieces of 9/11" song collection will be released on double CD on October 21.
