The Composer as Seer, but not Prophet
Claire Polin · Tempo · 1994
Have composers developed a new role in our time? Are creative musicians today, by the gifts given to them, foretelling Armageddon, the musical Nostrodamuses of our day? Does Steve Reich's recent opera The Cave, despite its avowed peaceful message, actually foretell the Hebron massacre of last February? Are the sombre works of the Russian composers Alfred Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina predicting events of a similar nature, which are just waiting to be interpreted from the musical sounds to meaningful dialogue?