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When Alan Gilbert asked John Corigliano to write a large-scale commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the composer realized he didn’t want the piece to depict the actual event. He had a novel solution.

As the intense emergency of the 9/11 attacks subsided, David Garland turned to the music of 18th Century German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Moved by Bach's deep emotion, the beauty of Bach's musical logic, and the profound way Bach's music is able to express the truths and ideals of humanity, Garland created "Bach: Solace and Inspiration," to inaugurate WNYC's return to music programming on September 23, 2001. For this tenth anniversary of 9/11, Garland has assembled highlights from the original program.

There’s a doubleness to listening to Jacqueline du Pre play Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto. The music is powerful, beginning with vivid chords from the cello, which continues with a mournful, downward melody that is greeted by the winds. Jackie, as everyone called her, said she loved the piece because she “felt it had such a wide range of expression, it went from terrible pathos to ridiculous fun and amusement.”  

As part of The Requiem Project, we searched the WNYC Archives for voices that offer perspective on loss, grief and remembrance. The goal was for these voices to augment the music stream — text that would expand upon the themes in the music, and vice versa. We found accounts from volunteers who rushed to the World Trade Center site to help in the relief efforts, interviews with artists who struggled to capture the enormity of the event, and much more.

The 9/11 attacks impacted the lives of thousands here in the city and beyond. To mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks, some people plan on focusing on the events that happened ten years ago, while others plan to treat it like any other Sunday. But most people said they would commemorate in their own way.

The fifth segment of Q2's 10-hour Requiem Project mix features suggestions from listeners, a composition from Ingram Marshall, stories from a musician, a scientist, a policeman and a relative of a 9/11 victim, and many other pieces that reflect on the timeless and universal themes of loss and consolation.

Steve Reich is one of the most acclaimed composers working today.  He was a pioneer in using recorded voices as part of his compositions. Even though Reich is no stranger to difficult subject matter (Different Trains, from 1988, is a meditation on the Holocaust), it took him nearly a decade ...

The 9/11 Memorial has been underway for the past three years — since the fall of 2008. In the weeks leading up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11, WNYC producers Laura Mayer and Stephen Nessen went down to the World Trade Center site to collect impressions and stories from the construction workers working on the memorial and towers.

On Saturday, September 10, a new national memorial will be dedicated in Shanksville, PA, at the site where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2001, killing all 40 passengers and crew aboard, as well as four hijackers.

A new visitor center will also open, replacing the makeshift museum that currently houses information about the memorial, as well as biographies and tributes to the victims.

In July, workers were busy at the site, preparing it for the dedication. View a slideshow of the site below.

In the days after 9/11, late night talk show hosts like David Letterman and Jon Stewart limped back on screen. A week later, Stewart mused, “They said to get back to work, and there were no jobs available for a man in the fetal position under his desk crying, which I gladly would have taken.” ...

The fourth segment of Q2's 10-hour Requiem Project mix features suggestions from listeners, compositions from composers including Meredith Monk and Arvo Part, stories from writers and volunteers, and many other pieces that reflect on timeless and universal themes of loss and consolation.

Ten years ago, Lower Manhattan was the epicenter of the most shocking, upsetting day in many Americans' lifetimes. But today Ground Zero is bustling with construction workers, cranes, and other building equipment. The site is still a work in progress, except for the new national memorial ...

Video: Kurt Andersen Visits the 9/11 Memorial with Designer Michael Arad

WQXR presents The Cathedral Choir of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine's first public concert under the direction of the renowned Kent Tritle, performing works that capture the power of music to provide solace, inspiration and hope. 

Early in 2001, the writer and performer Sarah Jones started working on a one-woman Broadway show called Bridge and Tunnel.  The play, which won a Tony Award, featured Jones playing a diverse cast of characters living in New York – including a middle-aged Pakistani man named Mohammed ...

Mohsin Hamid was born in Pakistan but has spent about half his life in the US. In July 2001, he finished the first draft of his novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the story of a young global citizen named Changez. He’s a Princeton grad from Pakistan with a blue-chip job on Wall Street ...

The third segment of Q2's 10-hour Requiem Project mix features suggestions from listeners, compositions explored by producers and WQXR host Annie Bergen, stories from volunteers and artists, and many other pieces that reflect on timeless and universal themes of loss and consolation.

On the morning of September 11, I was in midtown Manhattan, so I walked south – downtown.  There I encountered the wave of refugees walking north, people still wearing white breathing masks, people in suits covered head to toe in dust and soot. And finally, after an eight mile hike, I arrived home to my wife and kids Brooklyn, where our little backyard ...