DESCRIPTION:
Coming Together (1972) - Frederic Rzewski
For Speaker and Variable Ensemble

Connecticut College New Music Ensemble:
Elias Aquino -- Keyboard, Jesse Guterman -- Violin, Caitlin Kullberg -- Electric Bass,
Phred Mileski -- Vocals & Psaltrey, Jeffrey Parlin -- Baritone Saxophone
Amanda Sun -- Piano, Matthew Whiman -- Double Bass,
Percussion:
Steven Buttery, Allisa Dalphe, Shiwei Li, Patrick Williams,

Gary Buttery - Tuba, Mandolin, Conductor
Julian Gordon -- Speaker
Andy Stein Zeller -- Electric Guitar
Peter Jarvis -- Drum Set, Conductor

About the piece:
In September 1971 inmates of the state prison at Attica in the state of New York, unable to endure further the intolerable conditions existing there, mutinied and succeeded in capturing a part of the institution, as well as a number of guards, whom they held hostages. Foremost among their demands during the ensuing negotiations was the recognition of their right "to be treated as human beings." After several days of inconclusive bargaining, Governor Rockefeller ordered state troopers in to retake the prison by force, justifying his action on the grounds that the lives of the hostages were in danger. In the slaughter that followed, forty-three persons lost their lives, including several of the hostages. One of these was Sam Melville, a political prisoner already known of his leadership in the Columbia riots and one of the leaders in the mutiny at Attica. According to some accounts, Sam was only slightly wounded in the assault. The exact cause of his death remains a mystery. The text for Coming Together is taken from a letter Sam wrote from Attica in the spring of 1971. - Frederic Rzewski

Text:
I think the combination of age and the greater coming together is responsible for the speed of the passing time. Its six months now, and I can tell you truthfully, few periods in my life have passed so quickly. I am in excellent physical and emotional health. There are doubtless subtle surprises ahead, but I feel secure and ready. As lovers will contrast their emotions in times of crisis so am I dealing with my environment. In the indifferent brutality, the incessant noise, the experimental chemistry of food, the ravings of lost hysterical men, I can act with clarity and meaning. I am deliberate, sometimes even calculating, seldom employing histrionics except as a test of the reactions of others. I read much, exercise, talk to guards and inmates, feeling for the inevitable direction of my life.