Three world premiere recordings by the renowned composer Aaron Jay Kernis, performed by the stunning soprano Talise Trevigne with the Albany Symphony conducted by David Alan Miller, make this one of 2017’s most distinctive releases. Included on the disc in addition to Kernis’ eponymous work, are his Valentines and Two Songs: Love and Spirit. Vocal music and singing have been profoundly important to Kernis and breath, lyricism, and line have held primacy for him as a composer. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the three song cycles on this recording that span 20 years of his writing.
Simple Songs is Kernis’ title for his settings of texts from the Book of Psalms, the 12th century abbess Hildegarde von Bingen, the Japanese Zen master Ryokan, and the renowned Sufi poet Rumi. These varied literary sources from cultures that embrace East and West share a common spirituality communicated with deep feeling and orchestral finesse.
Originally written for Renee Fleming and the Minnesota Orchestra for its Centennial celebration, Valentines is heard here in the World Premiere recording of its symphonic setting. (A version for soprano and piano was written concurrently with the one for orchestra.) Based on texts by one of the composer’s favorite authors, UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, these songs of love and lovers at a distance are filled with sublime and riotous orchestral color. The third selection, Mrs. Midas, is an opera scene wrapped in a song.
Two Songs: Love and Spirit is based on Alexandra de Borchgrave’s Beloved Spirit: Pathways to Love, Grace, and Mercy, written in conjunction with the release of the author’s book, Healing Light: Thirty Messages of Love, Hope, and Courage. The texts are a collection of lyrical and spiritual poetry to comfort readers at times of spiritual need and physical distress, which is part of the mission of her foundation Light of Healing Hope.