ABSTRACT

Ever since Richard Taruskin pointed to Steve Reich’s use of survivor testimony in hailing the composer’s Different Trains (1988) as ‘the only adequate musical response … to the Holocaust’, composers of Western art music have embraced musicalised testimony as a form of truthful sonic witnessing to historical conflict. This persistent connection between music and testimony often is framed as documenting memories of trauma, yet this interpretation does not address the reciprocal relationships between the presumed truths of sound and its aesthetic presentation in music. Driven by Hannah Arendt’s claim that ‘factual truths are never compellingly true’, in this essay I trace the interpenetration of documentary sound and music as conveying a compelling reality or truth. This is followed by examples of testimonial witnesses in works by Philip Miller and Mary Kouyoumdjian. Finally, I reflect on the roles that testimonial music might play in imparting such compelling truths in connection with societal conflict.

摘要

自从理查德·塔鲁斯金（Richard Taruskin）指出史蒂夫·赖希（Steve Reich）在欢呼作曲家的不同列车时使用幸存者证词（1988 年）作为“对大屠杀的唯一适当的音乐回应”，西方艺术音乐的作曲家已经接受了音乐化的证词，作为对历史冲突的真实声音见证的一种形式。音乐和证词之间的这种持久联系通常被认为是记录创伤记忆，但这种解释并没有解决假定的声音真理与其在音乐中的审美表现之间的相互关系。在汉娜·阿伦特 (Hannah Arendt) 的“事实真相永远不会令人信服地真实”的主张的推动下，在这篇文章中，我追溯了纪录片声音和音乐的相互渗透，以传达令人信服的现实或真相。接下来是菲利普·米勒和玛丽·库尤姆吉安作品中的证词见证的例子。最后，