Inspired by the silence of days spent in lockdown, Raven Chacon, member of the Navajo Nation, began writing "Voiceless Mass," a 16-minute work for ensemble and pipe organ. It won the Pulitzer in Music
At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, when the world around him turned quiet and still, composer Raven Chacon went to work.
Inspired by the silence of days spent in lockdown, he began writing “Voiceless Mass,” a 16-minute work for ensemble and pipe organ. Chacon, 44, a member of the Navajo Nation who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, set out to use the sounds of the organ, accompanied by winds, strings and percussion, to explore themes of power and oppression.
“During the pandemic, we were able to focus on some of the cries of people who were feeling injustices around them,” he said in an interview. “Lockdown was this time of quietness where there was an opportunity for those sounds and cries to emerge.”
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