Quiet Lyricism Shines In Gjielo’s New Work

By Libby Motika

 

PALISADES, CA — One of the most exciting events in a composer’s life is to hear his or her opus performed for the first time. Music at St. Matthew’s Director Tom Neenan got the jump on Ola Gjielo while rehearsing the composer’s commissioned work, ‘O Solitude,’ for its world premiere tomorrow night at St. Matthew’s. 

 

Neenan marveled over the work’s lyrical line. The piece, commissioned by the St. Matthew’s Guild, is scored for eight mixed solo voices, piano and wind quintet. He explains, ‘Under the long vocal lines, the instrumental parts create a very active musical landscape.’ 

The commission was underwritten by the MacTun Foundation, whose members chose the Keats poem, which has been a favorite in their family, Neenan says.