WTC 9/11

WTC 9/11

Company type	Musical composition
Industry	Music
Founded	2009 (2009)
Founder	Steve Reich
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Products	String quartet piece

WTC 9/11 is a string quartet piece composed by Steve Reich between 2009 and 2010, with its debut performance taking place on March 19, 2011, at Duke University. Created specifically for the Kronos Quartet, the composition was also co-commissioned by prominent organizations such as the Barbican Centre, Carnegie Hall, Duke University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, among others. Running approximately fifteen minutes, the work reflects on the events of September 11, 2001. In 2019, it was ranked by The Guardian as the 17th most significant art music composition since the year 2000.

Background

The idea for this composition emerged when the Kronos Quartet approached Reich with a request to create a work that included pre-recorded spoken elements. Reich revisited a concept he had explored in 1973 involving the elongation of word endings in speech. By January 2010, he selected voice recordings from sources such as the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), and conversations with friends and neighbors residing in Manhattan during the attacks. At that time, Reich’s family was located just four blocks from the World Trade Center. WTC 9/11 represents Reich’s third major collaboration with the Kronos Quartet.

Movements

Comprising three uninterrupted movements with a steady tempo, WTC 9/11 has a total duration close to fifteen and a half minutes. Reich described the piece as having a desire to be concise.

1. 9/11/01
2. 2010
3. WTC

The opening movement, titled 9/11/01, begins and ends with a violin imitating the sound of a phone left off the hook. This section incorporates NORAD air traffic controller audio tracking American Airlines Flight 11 alongside FDNY ground communication recordings. The second movement features interviews Reich conducted in 2010. Performances typically include two pre-recorded string quartets; however, it can also be presented using three string quartets accompanied solely by pre-recorded voices.

Performances

The premiere of WTC 9/11 occurred on March 19, 2011, at Duke University, performed by the Kronos Quartet. Subsequent significant renditions took place at Carnegie Hall in April and at the Barbican Centre in May. On September 11, 2012, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) presented the piece at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City.

Album artwork controversy

The original release by Nonesuch Records in 2011 featured an image depicting the World Trade Center during the attacks, which drew criticism for what some perceived as commercial exploitation. Composer Phil Kline described it as "the first truly despicable classical album cover" he had encountered. Critics contended that this cover misrepresented the work’s emphasis on the aftermath rather than the day of the attacks itself. On the other hand, Anne Midgette of The Washington Post defended the choice of artwork as appropriate to the album’s content and warned against dismissing it based solely on emotional responses. Following these reactions, Reich and Nonesuch announced on August 12 that they would change the cover image, stressing that visual presentation should not overshadow the music.