Over the city
Karen P. Thomas
About this work:
Over the City
dedicated to the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima
Music by Karen P. Thomas
Lyrics by Molly McGee
Over the City, In memory of the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima, for choir and chamber ensemble, was premiered on August 6, 1995 in Seattle. It was commissioned by a nation-wide consortium of 30 Unitarian Churches to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima (August 6, 1945). The premiere was given simultaneously in numerous cities across the U.S. On November 11, 1995 it was performed by Seattle Pro Musica as part of a Veteran's Day concert, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII. It has also received performances in March 1997 in Miami, at the National Conference of the Society of Composers, and again in Miami on April 10, 1997, as well as at the Women in Music Conference at the University of Ohio, Athens, on October 25, 1997.
Note from the lyricist:
"The text for Over the City is derived from an actual experience. During my two-year stay in Japan I had traveled down to Nagasaki and visited the bomb museum there and ate, it seems, some bad fish from a little food stall. I had planned to stop off in Hiroshima on the way back to Kobe, but on route became extremely ill. By the time I reached Hiroshima the conductor had encamped me in his little office on the train (a retching foreigner is rather noticeable in Japan). All I remember of Hiroshima is the brief sight of it through the window and my garbled emotions, compounded by food poisoning. Only later did I equate that historical date, August 6th, in Hiroshima with my own illness -- the symptoms of food poisoning strangely mocking those of radiation sickness.
World War II is often referred to as "the good war." But it was horrible, as all wars are. There were atrocities on all sides. Even if the rationale is true, as the purveyors of Realpolitik assert (that the war ended earlier due to our dropping of the atomic bomb), it is nevertheless, a legacy in which we can never, in any way, take pride. Human beings, most of whom had very little control over the conduct of the war, were savagely slaughtered. The "hibakusha" (survivors of the Bomb) and their descendants continue to suffer today and are often ostracized by their own communities. The Bomb was so horrific that "no one" wants to remember it. Even those who died are left "homeless." So, fifty years later, it is so commendable that you are here, if only for a few moments, to be reconciled with the more than 200,000 men, women and children who lost their lives."
Version: chor (SATB), fl, cl, 2 vln, vla, vc, db, pno
Year composed: 1995
Duration: 00:09:00
Ensemble type: Chorus, with or without Solo Voices:Chorus with Chamber Ensemble
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Clarinet, 1 Piano, 2 Violin, 1 Viola, 1 Cello, 1 Double bass, 1 S, 1 A, 1 T, 1 B
Instrumentation notes: choir (SATB), fl, cl, 2 vln, vla, vc, db, pno