Search - David Chesky, Stephen Somary :: Chesky: Three Psalms For String Orchestra

PSALMTHING WORTH LISTENING TO

Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 09/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In these beautiful, brooding, meditative pieces, much in the sound world of Gorecki (sans the almost unbearable sorrow), Schoenberg (particularly his "Transfigured Night") and Barber (the "Adagio"), yet with a tonal voice completely original and fresh, Chesky maintains a musical concentration that is powerfully hushed, revelatory and cathartic.



Psalm No. 1 features solo violin, reticent and sorrowful throughout, and is a work of immense reflective beauty that grows more luminous with each hearing. This is truly a haunting piece whose intensity lies in its perfect subtlety. Psalm No. 2 features solo cello, using the instrument to "voice" prayerful laments intermittently. The rugged, yet contemplative, nature of the cello's scoring, integrated within the undulating orchestra, is exquisitely effective and moving. Psalm No. 3, for string orchestra alone, seems the apotheosis of the trilogy and is, again, a work of magnificent tranquility and sustained composure.



These works, all written 1996-1997, prove that twentieth century music can be accessible, moving and beautiful without turning its back on the musical heritage from whence it stemmed. Kudos to Chesky for standing against the scourge of abrassive modernism and for composing with a real human heart.



[Running time: 51:50]"

Very introspective and spiritual

Melvyn M. Sobel | 02/28/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These three psalms are very dark neoromantic chromactic works"