On Wings of Light is a rousing whirligig of an opener. Some of the orchestration is reminiscent of the sparkling quality of Respighi and is quite a virtuosic showpiece.
Kernis is fearless…his musical identity is chimerical, his orchestral gestures are arresting, but they play out in a well-balanced scheme in which no note or instrument is wasted. Texturally skilled…filled with melody – Kudos to composer and performers alike.
Kernis has taken us on a small journey that covers considerable terrain [in Perpetual Chaconne]. He has made a variation of the variation form, the chaconne, and turned it in to a truly dynamic composition.
The latest release of his music, the beguiling Three Flavors is further evidence of his talent. Those who think they don’t like contemporary music should give this a try. Kernis’s work is both eclectic and imaginative…. Lovers of jazz and classical music should find something to savor here.
[Whisper, Echo, A cry is] obviously well crafted, with a clearly projected shape, and filled with many short, attractive musical ideas that are woven together and builds to a complex, satisfying climax.
Aaron Jay Kernis’s Perpetual Chaconne broke the mold with simple lyrical lines weaving into hauntingly dense musical layers.
Kernis fills me with optimism, hearing a piece [violin concerto] that sounds so fresh, full of new sounds and ideas. The orchestral sound could be big and dissonant, or softly reflective, mellow but still very new sounding in its invocation of quasi-jazzy sonorities. I must hear it again!
[Concerto with Echoes] is a stunningly beautiful score, chock-full of romantic feeling without resorting to sentimentality… agitated murmurings unfold in bluesy fiddling in a side-winding rhythm, like a twisted barn dance. The hymn-like serenity of the second movement builds into passages of stark power. The final movement is a darkly shaded country dance, with oboe and English horn supplying the rustic touch.
Two pieces by Kernis show the Pulitzer prize winner’s absolute command of idiomatic writing for strings. Aria-Lament departs from an introduction filled with soft altissimo passages to a gradual buildup of energy in the main section, incorporating meaty double stops and angular allegro melodic lines. A Dance of Life (2010) juxtaposes fast moving chromatic passages with ruminative sections of achingly sustained lines.
Kernis’ Flute Concerto proved to be a corker…challenging leaps, passages that whizzed by at supersonic speed and strutting melodies where Piccinini was required to sing and play at the same time in the manner of Jethro Tull’s flutist Ian Anderson…[with] dreamy reveries, sprightly dances and intense furies…including a charming use of a mandolin.
Neubauer beautifully portrayed Kernis’ [Viola Concerto] masterwork, one underpinned by relationships and which focused on folk tunes…Kernis’ concerto is often somber, but not without a sense of curiosity and intrigue…hauntingly beautiful.
Kernis is a master at conveying the meaning of texts, capturing both the glorious praise to God and the earthy simplicity of the human enterprise [in Glorious Majesty].
The sublime… Pieces of Winter Sky…was a beautiful composition, featuring poignant solos, delicately accompanied by the most unobtrusive percussion passages, highlighting a perfectly balanced, lyrical second section. The final section combined a variety of colours and textures to paint a deeper complexion of winter as both savage and sublime, ultimately concluding this remarkable work’s successful narrative arc with the same cool timbres with which it began.
The world premiere performance of the Symphony No. 3, “Symphony of Meditations,” was an exciting event. It’s in three movements that create their own liturgical flow, as though they had always been part of a temple cantor’s repertory. At times, the fortissimo of the orchestra and chorus were bursting with so much life, the walls of Benaroya seemed unable to contain the sound. And then, as in the second movement, it settles down to a calm but passionate intimacy.
Aaron Jay Kernis’ ferocious, clangorous and brightly colored Invisible Mosaic III.
100 Greatest Dance Hits is a spicy, saucy work, a sort of affectionate deconstruction of pop music idioms, including vintage “easy listening,” disco and salsa.
Dramatic, ravishingly rich, panoramically spacious (Symphony No. 3)…it thrilled me just to be present.
New Era Dance [is] high energy and fun.
Kernis’ Symphony of Meditations, is a complex, ambitious and, overall, brilliant undertaking.
The center of interest was the world premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis’ “Ballad(e) Out of the Blues: Superstar Étude No. 3,” commissioned for the occasion. Invoking Gershwin in its opening moments, the piece is one of his characteristically complex negotiations with the musical past — a continuously absorbing “battle with history.” Allusions to classic jazz, gospel and ballad singing mingle in the fluid musical texture…the piece could easily have been longer.
Best of the night? Aaron Jay Kernis’s New Era Dance, a riotous descendant of the dances in West Side Story, with gunshots, rap, rock and bits of Charles Ives and John Adams in the heady din. The RSNO played a blinder.
Don’t miss it. That’s the short review of this concert. It consists of four works you may not be familiar with, but they form a magnificently enjoyable concert.
An indelible memory was formed by Aaron Jay Kernis’ “Musica Celestis.” Like Barber’s ubiquitous “Adagio,” it began life as the slow movement of a string quartet, and was quickly arranged for full string orchestra. Its evocations of endless hymns of praise to God included whispered strings in exquisite soft harmonies, with a gradual accretion to treacherously high, keening string tessitura. A quick cutoff drops instantly back into slow, lush harmonic thoughts where gentle consecutive falling intervals coalesce to form a hauntingly spiritual and deeply satisfying conclusion.
And what a story! Intoxicating, outrageous, unforgettable: it is no exaggeration to say that Goblin Market is one of the great musical works of art for theatre of the 20th century.
A violinist himself, Kernis composes gratefully for the instrument, with a full spectrum of tone colours. I find this very lyrical piece [Air] totally accessible and delightful – it was a highlight of the evening.
Kernis remains at the top of the profession. He also remains at the top of his game.
In the 20th century there were giants in the land. Charles Ives, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Leonard Bernstein. But who is filling those shoes now? Heading many lists is Aaron Jay Kernis.