Giving Voice to the Dark Side of the ‘60s

The “voices” in composer Richard Danielpour’s new “Voices of Remembrance” do not speak, nor do they sing. Rather, they are members of a string quartet that functions as witness to a turbulent period in our history.

“I was looking at the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, which involved one of the greatest--probably the greatest--social crisis in our civil history since the War Between the States,” Danielpour said in a recent phone interview from his home in New York City.

“Although we usually see the ‘60s and the period around that time as rather flamboyant, there was a real dark underbelly to it, as we know now.”

The work was commissioned by the National Symphony of Washington, D.C., which gave the world premiere under Leonard Slatkin’s direction in January 2000. Conductor Carl St.Clair and the Pacific Symphony will play it Wednesday and Thursday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

Their program--which enlists the Pacific Chorale--also includes Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Lukas Foss’ “Elegy for Anne Frank” (narrated by his daughter, actress Eliza Foss) and Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms.”

Bearing the subtitle, “A Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra,” Danielpour’s 25-minute “Voices” is dedicated “to the memory of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King.”

What links the three leaders, of course, is that they were assassinated.

“So much of my piece deals with memory--not depicting the time, but really, more than anything, my memory of the time,” said the composer. “There was this $249-billion industry, which began as the Vietnam War. There were three assassinations, the official stories of two of which have been very, very suspect.”

He decided the solo quartet would act “almost as a group of survivors or witnesses from that time, remembering the period.

“That’s how ‘Voices of Remembrance’ evolved.”

In Washington, the solo quartet was the famous Guarneri String Quartet, for whom the work had been designed. In Orange County, the quartet parts will be played by Pacific principles--violinists Raymond Kobler and Paul Manaster, violist Robert Becker and cellist Timothy Landauer.

Danielpour was inspired while doing research for another work--”American Requiem,” which will culminate his three-year tenure as Pacific Symphony’s composer-in-residence.

(Although his residency technically ends Aug. 31, Danielpour will be on hand for the first performances of “American Requiem” Nov. 14 and 15 at the Performing Arts Center, and for its subsequent recording there.)

“Very often, you’ll see composers write a smaller piece that in some way connects to a larger piece they haven’t done yet,” Danielpour said.

“Think of Beethoven’s ‘Choral Fantasy,’ which was a preparation for the Ninth Symphony. That happens naturally for a composer, a precursor to the large work that’s coming. In some way, ‘Voices’ is connected to ‘American Requiem.’ ”

In three movements, “Voices” begins in lamentation, moves through turbulence and discord, and ends with a set of variations on the civil-rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome.”

There are also musical references to “Hail to the Chief”--the signature march that accompanies U.S. presidents--violently interrupted by percussion noises, and also the steady military drumbeat played during the procession of John F. Kennedy’s coffin to Arlington National Cemetery in 1963.

“I was quite young but was very aware when Kennedy was assassinated,” the 45-year-old composer said. “I was living with my family in Iran. We saw the whole thing at a distance but were very much a part of it, being Americans.

“Later, we saw the escalation of the war and the events of ‘68, which was a very mean year. There was a lot going on.”

That was the year both Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were killed.

What was going on transformed us, the composer feels.

“It was a time in which a lot of people changed their views about how they felt about their country and their government. I don’t think we’ve ever recovered from that period or had the same trust or same belief in our leaders since that time. It was a major turning point as well as a major crisis point.”

Chris Pasles can be reached at (714) 966-5602 or by e-mail at chris.pasles@latimes.com.

SHOW TIMES

Richard Danielpour’s “Voices of Remembrance,” performed by the Pacific Symphony, led by Carl St.Clair, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. The program also will include works by Mozart, Lukas Foss and Leonard Bernstein. Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. $19 to $52. (714) 556-2787.