Aaron Jay Kernis: Second Symphony, Musica Celestis, Invisible Mosaic III City of Birmingham SO/Hugh Wolff, cond. (Argo 448 900-2).

Aaron Jay Kernis: Second Symphony, Musica Celestis, Invisible Mosaic III City of Birmingham SO/Hugh Wolff, cond. (Argo 448 900-2)

Although I believe I had heard Kernis's name mentioned before, probably on the radio, I cannot recall ever hearing any of his music before I picked this disc up purely on a whim -- one of those nights where I wandered around the classical section of the music store, wanting to buy something, but not quite knowing what to buy. (Gee, that sounds pretty sick, doesn't it ...?) The cover was hard to resist, with a human figure leaping through a fireball (but remember these words of wisdom: "Our album covers lied to us, dude!"), so I took a chance and took this CD home to see what it contained.

Excellent move, dude! This disc is one of the finest CDs I have purchased in quite a while, and judging at least from this recording, Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960 in Philadelphia) is a composer with a promising future. The three-movement Second Symphony is a dramatic work inspired by the Gulf War. Powerful stuff, powerfully performed and recorded, this symphony is a work you can sink your teeth into and play over and over again.

After the fury of the Second Symphony, what better kind of music to play than Musica Celestis, a deeply expressive piece for string orchestra that reaches toward Heaven with sincerity and conviction. This is absolutely lovely music, very touching, very pure and heartfelt. That Kernis can express himself both in the violent fury of the Second Symphony and in the serene beauty of the Musica Celestis indicates that this is no one-trick composer. Were this CD to contain only these two works, it would be highly recommendable -- but there's more.

Invisible Mosaic III stands in contrast to the first two selection on this CD by being more a work of pure musical expression than of emotional expression. Playful, inventive, and colorful, its aim seems to be more to charm than to move the listener, although it will definitely move your woofers from time to time. The ending bears a striking resemblance to the ending of John Adams's Harmonielehre, a resemblance that we will hope represents an act of homage from one American composer to another.

It is really exciting to discover such a wonderful CD by a composer just starting his career. If you are at all a fan of orchestral music by composers such as Shostakovich, Mahler, or Stravinsky, then I urge you to track down this well-recorded Argo CD and audition it for yourself. If you do, I'd love to hear what you think of it ...-- KWN