Originally published at DioceseofBrooklyn on 8/30/16
On Sunday, September 11, 2016, a solemn march, Mass, and rare performance of Mozart’s Requiem will pay tribute to FDNY firefighters and all those who lost their lives in the September 11th terror attacks 15 years ago.
Beginning at 10:00 a.m., firefighters from across the country will join New York City’s bravest and families of the fallen at ground zero in lower Manhattan. From there, the group will march 24 flags in single file across the Brooklyn Bridge. Each flag will represent one of 24 firefighters from Battalion 57 in Brooklyn killed in the line of duty at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Their bodies were never recovered. The journey from ground zero to Brooklyn serves to symbolically bring the brothers back home. The procession will also include an FDNY ceremonial flag for every New York City Firefighter killed on 9/11 and an American flag, in remembrance of all who died that day.
Led by firetrucks and motorcycles, the procession will march past several firehouses and continue to the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, 856 Pacific Street, Prospect Heights, NY. Hundreds are expected to fill the church for a 12:00 p.m. Memorial Mass celebrated by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.
During the Mass, the Foundation for the Revival of Classical Culture will present a unique performance of the Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in honor of all victims of 9/11. Mozart’s Requiem, rarely sung as part of a Mass, was performed in January, 1964, at Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross, at the request of Jackie Kennedy and in memory of her husband, President John F. Kennedy, who had been slain two months earlier.
80 members of the Schiller Institute NYC Community Chorus, accompanied by a 42-piece orchestra, and guest soloists, will perform the Requiem at the “Verdi tuning” (A=432Hz or C=256 Hz).
“Proper Verdi tuning allows for the most transparent blend of the human voice with the instruments, and thus, maximum sonority. To hear the Mozart Requiem at this pitch is to experience the transcendent power of sacred music—to experience the true glory of God and music,” said Lynn Yen, the Executive Director of the Foundation for the Revival of Classical Culture.
Guest soloists include Indira Mahajan, soprano; Mary Phillips, mezzo-soprano; Everett Suttle, tenor; Philliip Cutlip, baritone; Kevin Thompson, bass.
You can also watch the memorial live on NET TV beginning at 12 p.m. (Cablevision 30, Time Warner 97, Verizon Fios 48 and netny.tv).