I’m writing a bit more than usual today because it’s such an important day to me. I have written before about my 9/11 recollections and experience, and about positive 9/11 stories I’ve found. But I’m observing this year in a different way. Today, I’m sharing with you the music to which I’m listening to commemorate the day.

I have written before about how as a child, I binged on every recording in my parents’ eclectic record collection. They consisted of some wildly-offensive comedy albums from the forties and fifties which I mostly ignored, Mom’s showtunes, and Dad’s jazz and classical records. I think I was about 10 when I got around to playing the Requiem in D by Mozart, and it shocked me to my core. Music had always spoken to me, but there was something so exceptional about this piece of music that I couldn’t stop playing it. During my third or fourth consecutive listen, Dad stuck his head in to let me know it was his favorite piece of music. We sat and listened to it a few more times together, then Mom put her foot down and told us to cut it out. Classical wasn’t really her thing, and it was a requiem after all. I nonetheless managed to listen to it about a million more times since, and it never fails to move me.

When I was considering how best to honor this year’s 9/11 anniversary, the Requiem popped into my head as a fitting tribute. I hope you love it as much as I do. Wishing everyone peace today.

The recording below was made on 11/1/19 by the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, led by Bartosz Michalowski, and it’s probably the best version I’ve ever heard.