ARCHIVE

Sketchpad Series is a monthly program on WGXC 90.7-FM presented by the Chicago-based project, Radius. June 2011 featured Andy Ortmann's Rape of Nanking

Writes Ortmann “The Nanking Massacre or Nanjing Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was a mass murder and war rape that occurred during the six-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanjing (Nanking), the former capital of the Republic of China, on December 13, 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. During this period, hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed soldiers were murdered and 20,000-80,000 women were raped by soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army. In anticipation of the 75th anniversary of the Massacre, I have constructed a three hour piece of electronic music to in some minor way, reflect on and/or interpret the inhumanity and abominable brutality of which humans are capable. (This is a sketch/work in progress for a more complete version in 2012)."