Peter Child: Reviews: Remembrance from Heavenly Mountain Composed 2004. Excerpted from (The Berkshire Eagle, September 21, 2004)
If Chee-Yun could not play a note, the lovely Korean-born violinist still would attract attention on any stage. But she can, and did, displaying an exquisitely pure tone and wondrously skillful fingering in the soaring and falling solo passages of Vaughan Williams "The Lark Ascending," while creating a moving and sonically graphic impression of the creature in flight. She communicated with equally persuasive conviction in Child's "Remembrance from Heavenly Mountain: Rhapsody on Kazakh Themes for Violin and Orchestra." In prefatory remarks, the composer, a professor of music at M.I.T., explained that Miller, in his commission of a companion piece for the Vaughan Williams, had requested a work reflecting his English roots. But, like Vaughan Williams, Child said he drew inspiration from folk melodies, specifically those he encountered during a trip to Kazakhstan in the gestation period of the composition.
Four selected folk melodies are manifest in what structurally appears to be a mini-violin concerto, about 21 minutes long, its four parts varying in tempos from largo to scherzo, all seamlessly joined. Miller maintained a cohesive ensemble dialogue. The soloist's work in the second section was especially arresting, spanning the scope of her instrument, muting her sound to the most delicate pianissimos, later erupting in triumphant strength for Child's dazzling and frenetic final movement. Chee-Yun is an extraordinary artist. |