World Premier for the New Juilliard Ensemble by Icelandic Composer Koleinn Bjarnason

Koleinn Bjarnason (b 1958 Iceland) composed "After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns" for the New Juilliard Ensemble.  Last night at Alice Tully Hall, the complex and intriguing work premiered.  The title is taken from John Berryman's "Dream Song 14".  It is a work constructed with a series of disjointed movements yet forming a fluid interwoven composition.  The contemporary composition was a compilation of themes reminiscent of modes from Cage, Shostakovich and Mahler.  Moody and ephemeral, the piece allowed the individual instruments to come to the forefront particularly the wind instrumentations.  The opening percussive section was a dramatic syncopation in the forefront but then underscored the following movements.  There was an unstructured melody throughout which was very appealing.  I liked this innovative & multilayered composition. The composer Bjarnason was in the audience and called onto the stage to thunderous applause. "Life, friend, is boring.  We must not say so.  After all, the sky flashes the great sea yearns, we ourselves flash and yearn."  (America poet John Berryman)   The 2nd composition on the program was "Sweet Tijuana, danzas fronterizas" by composer Alejandro Cardona (b Costa Rica 1959).  This piece was a pastiche of many styles including contemporary, jazz, classical and Latin.  There was a virtuoso viola soloist Stephanie Block that was rich and molto in a classical style.  Each movement was intoxicating on its own but I found it jarring & disjointed as a composition.  It felt chaotic and confusing.  Composer Cardona was also in the audience for the US premier of his composition.