Telarc's album of music of remembrance has as its centerpiece John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls and includes Barber's Adagio for Strings in its string orchestra and choral versions, John Corigliano's 1965 Elegy, and the first recording of Jennifer Higdon's Dooryard Bloom. Perhaps outstanding among Adams' achievements in his work is that it does not trivialize the events of 9/11. Its visceral impact is virtually impossible to separate from the event it memorializes; it may be decades, or generations, until it can be ...
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Telarc's album of music of remembrance has as its centerpiece John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls and includes Barber's Adagio for Strings in its string orchestra and choral versions, John Corigliano's 1965 Elegy, and the first recording of Jennifer Higdon's Dooryard Bloom. Perhaps outstanding among Adams' achievements in his work is that it does not trivialize the events of 9/11. Its visceral impact is virtually impossible to separate from the event it memorializes; it may be decades, or generations, until it can be heard with any objectivity. For those for whom the memory of 9/11 is raw and vivid, Adams' piece has the power to evoke a tumult of memories and emotions that can leave the listener drained. The ultimate impression that it leaves, though, is one in which love prevails. Nonesuch was wise in its premiere recording of the work in 2004 to release it on a CD by itself, even though it lasts only 25 minutes. It's easy to understand Telarc's impulse to include it in a collection of elegiac...
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