Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960), Musica Celestis
In 1998 Aaron Jay Kernis became, at 38, one of the youngest composers ever to receive the Pulitzer Prize. Kernis’ work demonstrates what has been called an inclusive rather than an eclectic style, revealing the influence of mentors as different as John Adams at the San Francisco Conservatory (early minimalism), Charles Wuorinen at the Manhattan School of Music (serialism) and Jacob Druckman at Yale (neo-Romanticism). However, his education as a composer began much more informally: after early violin studies, he started teaching himself piano at age 12 and composition at 13.
Musica Celestis grew from Kernis’ First String Quartet, composed in 1990 on commission from the Lark Quartet. Based on that work’s slow movement, it is for strings alone, with the highest, most delicate parts reflecting Kernis’ inspiration for this piece: choirs of angels perpetually singing the praise of God, as described in a medieval text. He explains: “I don’t particularly believe in angels, but found this to be a potent image, reinforced by listening to a good deal of medieval music, especially the soaring work of [the abbess, composer, poet and mystic] Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). This movement follows a simple, spacious melody and harmonic pattern through a number of variations (like a passacaglia) and modulations, and is framed by an introduction and codas.”
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), Concerto for Piano, Violin and Orchestra
Undoubtedly, one of the greatest musical prodigies the world has ever known is Felix Mendelssohn. Like Juan Arriaga, the composer of the symphony we are going to hear later this evening, Mendelssohn is often compared to the archetypical child prodigy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Where Mendelssohn differs from Mozart is that early on in his development one can see flashes of musical innovation that are absent in works of the same era of Mozart’s life. Where these two composers differ, however, is that Mozart’s greater genius showed a steady growth throughout his lifetime and his final works are generally considered among the finest he created. In the case of Mendelssohn, after such incredible beginnings there remained an artistic stasis throughout his lifetime with no further musical growth. The reasons for this artistic stasis have been the topic of much discussion over the years- he enjoyed a very conventional, stable personal life and a prestigious position with Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra, which gives one pause that perhaps an unconventional life fraught with difficulties is the proper environment for a genius. Friedrich Nietzsche truly was speaking from experience when he famously stated, “That which does not kill me, makes me stronger.”
The Concerto for Piano, Violin and Orchestra dates from Mendelssohn’s thirteenth year and is truly a work of precocious genius. There is nothing juvenile about the Concerto- it is a fulfilling, fully formed masterpiece that for unknown reasons has never entered the standard concerto repertoire. Already at the age of thirteen Mendelssohn was borrowing advanced compositional techniques from masters such as Beethoven by introducing new themes in the recapitulation. Mozart makes an appearance in the second movement with a theme reminiscent of the G Major Violin Concerto, and in fact the entire movement shows an emotional depth and understanding far beyond his tender years. And the third of the “trinity “of German masters, J.S. Bach, can be discerned in the treatment of the solo instruments and the contrapuntal nature of the orchestral accompaniments. The influences of these masters are thoroughly assimilated- this is not a mere derivative work- and result in a composition of genius that can only be described as uniquely Mendelssohnian.
Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga (1806-1826), Symphony in D
Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga was born in Bilbao, Spain, where both his father and brother had ties to the Spanish court and were also his first teachers of music. A child prodigy, Arriaga is often mentioned in the same breath as Mozart, or perhaps even called the “Spanish Mozart.” Little documentary evidence exists surrounding his early years. It is known, however that he began composing at a precociously early age, including a divertimento entitled Nada y mucho composed at the age of 11, and a two-act opera, Los esclavos felices (The Happy Slaves), in 1819 at the age of 13.
In September 1821 Arriaga went to Paris and was introduced to Cherubini, well-known composer and one of the Directors of the Paris Conservatoire. Arriaga was duly admitted to the Conservatoire and began study of counterpoint, fugue and violin. The compositions of this period, including most importantly three string quartets and the symphony we are hearing this evening, show a real strength of invention and mastery of counterpoint. Arriaga died tragically young, just short of his twentieth birthday, from pneumonia brought on by physical exhaustion.
The Symphony in D is in traditional four-movement form on the model of Beethoven or Schubert. It contains many forward-looking elements, including an overall dark atmosphere that shifts constantly between the major and minor modes, rather adventurous writings for the winds and powerful development sections in both the first and last movements. Clearly, this work of the mid-1820’s anticipates in nascent form much of the Romantic music of the 19th Century, and causes one to pause and contemplate “what might have been” had Arriaga been allowed a full and productive lifetime of creative work.
