Via errantium

Via errantium utilizes conventional chamber ensemble in unusual ways. The modernity of Mendelssohn’s style emerges from the opening soundless, but clearly mouthed, statement of the Latin text “Tu pauperum refugium.” This miming is interrupted at times by sounding pitches from the chorus and piano, the latter being “prepared” in a fashion first explored by John Cage and others in the mid-20th century. A good deal of Via errantium lurks at the lowest possible dynamic levels. The connection to Josquin and the Renaissance is hard to uncover, and since the composer is reticent, so far, to comment on his motivations, we must leave the matter there. What the work demonstrates most powerfully is the profound sense of discovery that we all can share when hearing tonight’s world premieres.

(c) Jason Stell