"Victims of a System"
Music by Peter Vantine
Spoken word by Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin

Most people know me for my calm piano music aimed at promoting peace in the individual’s mind, body and soul. Rightfully so. Encouraging peaceful solutions through music is something I have always been interested in from an inward perspective and will continue to pursue. But in today’s society, humanity seems to be standing at a pivotal moment in history. The increasing threat of war, hatred, and violence looms large over the future of nations and the world as a whole. It causes me to wonder if in this environment my role as a musician needs to grow beyond the inward perspective and do more to promote outward peace and unity.

Maybe, through purposeful musical endeavors, we as musicians can inspire world leaders to seek peaceful resolutions to political and cultural conflicts and help promote a future without the threat of violence, warfare, or racial and social injustice. Sure, that's a tall order, but I think we need to try. I need to try. There are many wonderful organizations working towards such goals, including Musicians for Peace and Disarmament, Musicians Without Borders, and Musical Ambassadors of Peace to name a few.

September 21st being International Peace Day (as declared by the U.N. 25 years ago), I felt compelled to share this new work. "Victims of a System" is something very different from what I normally produce. This work is a culmination of my growing frustration with the insanity of war from witnessing so many horrific sights on the daily news. The continual onslaught prompted me to ask myself, “What can I as a musician do?” I guess this is my attempt at an answer.

The spoken text in this work is from Charlie Chaplin’s film “The Little Dictator” (1940), interspersed with a few lines (modulated much lower in pitch) from Katherine Hepburn in “The Lion in Winter” (1968). These two streams of thought captured my own feelings about the ensuing violence abroad as well as the rising temperature of ubiquitous hateful rhetoric.

Why is humankind so insistent on destroying one another? And for what? A few more dollars? More oil? More land? Power? Can’t we see from the cyclical path of history that in the end none of that matters, and that pursuing anything with violence and hatred only perpetuates the never-ending spiral downward for humanity? Treating one another with respect, grace and love is what truly matters, and we must start learning from our collective mistakes that history so vividly teaches us. Will our species ever learn?

I want to add that this work is in no means a disrespect to our veterans. My dad was a veteran of World War II, and many other family members also served bravely. I am supremely grateful for their service and protection. But growing up with my dad having “night terrors” (PTSD, but they didn’t know to call it that back then) and often relaying his disapproval of war in general gave me the impression that even those who serve their country would prefer peaceful solutions. I hope I am right in this line of thinking.

As always, thanks for listening . . . and peace.
- Peter

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