Abu Ghraib music composition makes European debut

Moritzburg: A chamber music piece `Abu Ghraib` by US composer John Harbison made its European debut Tuesday night to an unusually strong reception by the audience.Listeners at the Moritzburg music festival in Saxony applauded long for the cello and piano performance - a musical memorial to the disdain over abuses by US soldiers at the Iraqi prison.

Such enthusiastic receptions are not often accorded to modern works of chamber music.

Abu Ghraib, a prison complex outside of Baghdad, already had a fearsome reputation under the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. After US troops took over the facility, they abused, humiliated and tortured Iraqi prisoners, photos of which leaked out in 2004.

The revelations placed one of the blackest marks ever on America`s world standing and increased international outrage and opposition to the war in Iraq.

The piece was first performed in the US in 2006 at the Rockport (Maine) Chamber Music Festival. In his programme notes for the world debut, Harbison wrote that the title "refers to an important episode in our country`s history".

"Abu Ghraib, while inscribed on our nation`s consciousness by photographs and reports, has been absorbed into the nation`s bloodstream, its long-term effects yet to be known," he wrote.

He did not intend the piece as a "protest or moral lesson".

"These would require little bravery. Instead, it seeks music in a moment when words can fail," Harbison said.

The piece reflects a plea for help and includes refrains from an Iraqi song, suggesting "that by entering a difficult meditative world we may find courage to face our own shadow", Harbison wrote.