Aaron Jay Kernis (b. January 15, 1960

[foxandpeng]

On a forum where much love is shown toward American composers and symphonists, I'm surprised that there isn't a composer page for Aaron Jay Kernis. Well, there is now.

I like Kernis. I find his music varied and well able to grab and hold my attention. Any other lovers or advocates of Kernis out there?

His first Symphony is the Symphony in Waves. Waves of music that ebbs and flows, rather than anything related to the sea. Different in character and emotion to #2, which is a slab of emotion and dark power. This is a different kind of good. The turbulence isn't absent but there is far less drama; yet the decrease in fraught nerve endings isn't a bad thing. I guess the waves and ebb and flow of the piece cast it in a less emotive tone.

Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, and those quieter passages increase the drama, but I really quite like it.

His Second Symphony is driven, tumultuous, powerful music from what seems to be a potentially great composer, I think. Very little respite from the elemental atmosphere of this work, except for the second movement. The number of different recordings of this work certainly attest to its potential longevity. Really worthwhile.

Symphony 3 is his Symphony of Meditations, and hasn't been recorded yet. It is a choral symphony that has a snippet on the composer's personal website, and shows 14 minutes of the work. No way of assessing it really, but I'm not a huge fan of choral works. I'd like to hear it in full, though.

[foxandpeng]

Cross Post from the WAYLT thread...

Aaron Jay Kernis
Symphony 4 'Chromelodeon'
Giancarlo Guerrero
Nashville SO
Naxos


Continuing with Aaron Kernis' symphonies. I have a few more listens to go before I begin to fully appreciate everything I am hearing, but #4 is different again to the first two that I have been listening to in full this week.

According to Kernis on his website, the word Chromelodeon is clearly an invented one. He defines it as follows:

"Chroma-, relating to the chromatic scale of notes, or intensity of/or produced with color; Melodi-, melody, a succession of tones that produce a distinct phrase or idea; and -eon, one who performs. In other words, chromatic, colorful, melodic music performed by an orchestra."

Seems a bit pretentious to me, but what do I know? I am still coming to terms with the 'almost Coplandesque pan-diatonicism' of the symphony. Who writes this stuff?

As for the music, I continue to be sold. Although I wouldn't know a chromatic chord if it were to bite me, there are apparently lots of them in this symphony. Kernis is always worth hearing, for me, and the varied dissonance and tunefulness of #4 is strange and unusual. The appearance of bits of baroque-type instrumentation and musical styling sits oddly against the rest of the work. It is pretty dark and ominous in places.

EDIT:

You know, I'm not sure. After hearing this twice through, back to back, and now on my third listen, I can't decide whether I like this or not. I'm not sure whether it is a thoughtful example of how beauty and dissonance sit together in a chaotic and confusing world - some sort of postmodern musical commentary on the awkwardness and fragility of form and structure, a statement on having to make emotional sense of a jarring period in history when ideas and the very architecture of what might be termed beautiful is in painful flux, or if it is a big pile of musical floor sweepings.

One of the British makers of potato chips or crisps sell a bag of Spicy Bits. It is basically Doritos, Cheesy Poofs, bits of Monster Munch shapes and other assorted leavings from the factory production process. They gather them up, spray them in spicy gunk, and then package it for sale. Tastes good, but it really isn't a quality product or example of corn-based haut couture.

A bit like this, really.

Any thoughts?

[relm1]

I like him too.  His Cello Concerto is very good if you like the dramatic Symphony No. 2.  I met him a few times including at a rehearsal of Colored Wheel.  Reminds me a bit of another composer I quite like, Michael Daugherty.  I very much enjoyed Daugherty's "Valley of the Moon" which was broadcast on TV but I can't find a recording of it yet as it's quite new (2022) and the audio version on youtube is a poor mockup. 

[foxandpeng]

I like him too.  His Cello Concerto is very good if you like the dramatic Symphony No. 2.  I met him a few times including at a rehearsal of Colored Wheel.  Reminds me a bit of another composer I quite like, Michael Daugherty.  I very much enjoyed Daugherty's "Valley of the Moon" which was broadcast on TV but I can't find a recording of it yet as it's quite new (2022) and the audio version on youtube is a poor mockup. 

Ah, thank you. Another name to explore 🙂

[Leo K.]

I like Kernis. In the late 90s I was at a concert where Kernis introduced a new work, Double Concerto for Violin and Guitar, played by Sharon Isbin and Nadja Solerno-Sonnenburg. That was real fun and I liked the piece. I should go back and listen to his work again.