At the end of a recent episode, entitled “Fugue”, of the British (ITV) series Endeavor, Detective Inspector Fred Thursday tells the young Detective Constable Morse, after they’ve both narrowly escaped being killed by a homicidal psychopath, to “Go home. Put on your best record. Play it as loud as you can. And tell yourself, ‘This is something the darkness can’t take from me!'”

Years ago, in the aftermath of the September Eleventh attacks, I found myself listening to the same three pieces of music – over and over – I think in aid of much the same end.

The first of these was the song “O Superman (For Massenet)“, by Laurie Anderson. Almost eerily prophetic, since it had first come out some twenty years before:

The second was a set of Psalm settings in Hebrew by Steve Reich, entitled Tehillim. Dancing, vibrant, joyous, profound; plus, for connoisseurs of Halleluia Choruses, the last movement will be a revelation. Tehillim makes up the first four tracks of this post on YouTube:

(Another composition by Steve Reich, The Desert Music, is to be found on the seven other tracks of this YouTube post, and is also well worth a listen, though tangential to my main thrust here…)

For the lyrics of Tehillim, including translations into English, visit:

https://lyrics.az/steve-reich/tehillim/

Finally, there was A Love Supreme, by John Coltrane (featuring what is now known as his “Classic Quartet“), about which comment would be superfluous:

NOTE: Twelve years ago, on my way back to New Orleans from my brief but productive exile with Billye in Hyattsville, Maryland, I passed through New York City (long story that, and something else less germane to this post…).  There, the Manhattanites I spoke with referred to what everyone else calls “Nine-Eleven” as “September Eleventh”. Hence the title and diction above – to honor them…