Aaron Jay Kernis - Musica Celestis
Arranged for String Orchestra
5/5 Stars
Transcribed from the slow movement of his string quartet, Musica Celestis is one of the best single movement orchestral pieces I have heard to date. Undeniably it bears many parallels with Barber’s famous Adagio for Strings: chords overlapping and fading in and out in a mysterious and magical quality, using a full range of registers, and striking dissonances resolving to consonance.
Several striking moments come back to my memory upon reflection of the piece. The gradual acceleration and thickening of texture throughout the middle section that culminates in beautiful and long held chords (that are so dense with harmonies and color that one can almost taste the moment) give an astounding since awe. Also, and most memorable, is the abrupt cutout of near the end. The polyphony builds to a tense roar as the violinists find their highest notes, then, as if in mid sentence, the piece stops, taking the breath out of us--a truly deafening silence. Kernis follows that moment by bringing back the high ethereal string moment much like the beginning.
Given the title, one can’t help but think of outer space. I liken the aforementioned mentioned moment to a rocket powering through the atmosphere, then, without warning, breaking free into the silence and calm of space.
What an amazing work!
