REwind: a cantata for voice, tape and testimony

Philip Miller’s “REwind: A Cantata for Voice, Tape & Testimony”, tells the story of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings that began in East London, in 1996. The Cantata is sung against the backdrop of projected images and video by Gerhard Marx and Maya Marx.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who saw the work said:

“The cantata brought together the cry of our country - our pain and fears, our hopes and especially our triumphs and joys in the way we as South Africans can best express these emotions, in music and song. It was a deeply moving, most powerful and uplifting experience. It is so much more than a concert. It is a wonderful vehicle for telling our history and a contribution to nation building.”

In a work that the New York Times has called ambitious and provocative, Philip Miller has endeavoured to express in music the South African spirit as it manifested itself during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings that began in East London, in 1996. The songs in REwind, which mix operatic and traditional South African styles, are built around actual testimonies and weave recorded audio samples from the hearings into the music. The physical environment, designed by Gerhard Marx, creates a visual context that illuminates the full power of the cantata: through the use of animated projections of photographs and text the testimonies literally take form, enveloping the chorus on stage. And as the words and images settle onto the everyday world, the spaces between the victim and transgressor, those who deliver testimony and those who listen, merge.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission had been described in many ways: a Greek drama; a melodrama; a spectacle; a farce. The deliberations of the TRC took place on a stage in a hall. The backdrop was 50 years of apartheid. On stage were the good guys and the bad guys, the priests and the peasants, whites and blacks, cadres and cowards, women and children, heroes and informants, Hindus, heathens, Muslims and Methodists, and all told their personal stories to the country. It was narrative and counter-narrative, protagonist and antagonist. For months on end, ordinary South Africans described the devastation of their lives - some used humour, other used imagery. Some could hardly speak, others rambled on as if it was no longer possible to find a logical thread in their lives. Some told their stories with the dignity of the elderly in the rural areas, others with the phrasing of the action packed cities. The atmosphere was soaked with grief. On another stage the perpetrators were telling their side of the story. Some were proud of what they did; others were ashamed. Some were completely destroyed by their inhumane acts; others felt betrayed by their race and political leaders. The atmosphere was soaked with guilt. Piece by piece the collective memory of South Africans was built. We learned that the country belonged to the voices that tell its stories. When people could do longer speak, they sang. When they could no longer sing, they prayed. When they could no longer pray they started talking again.

REwind is a work with no real parallel: both an extraordinary piece of music and digital art and a historical document with tremendous topical relevance. Above all it is the commemoration of the dignity of those victims who suffered under the regime.

REwind will be performed at the Baxter Theatre Cape Town, from 12-14 May. This performance was made possible by the generous funding of Atlantic Philanthropies.

Source: The Office performing arts and film, Cape Town Opera and Baxter Theatre media release

Leave a comment