John Luther Adams - "Vespers of the Blessed Earth"

 John Luther Adams - Vespers of the Blessed Earth

Vespers of the Blessed Earth confirms Adams' is unable to bring anything original to his music in well over a decade.

John Luther Adams' Vespers of the Blessed Earth sounds exactly as one may expect from the composer. Written for the chamber choir The Crossing and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Adams meant the large-scale work to be a series of five prayers for the Earth, rather than have any specific sacred meaning. The Vespers continues Adams' implementation of outward environmental themes in his music and gives us little actual musical material. Vespers, as with much of Adams' output, is drudgingly slow-moving, with a focus on sustained drones, limited use of the orchestra, and ringing tintinnabulations. The main musical motifs presented throughout all five movements are a variety of ringing bells and modified bird song. In many ways, Vespers of the Blessed Earth confirms Adams' is unable to bring anything original to his music in well over a decade.

Even with such lack of musical interest, The Crossing conductor Donald Nally expertly navigates the score, pulling as much music out of it as possible, especially impressive due to the last minute switch. The Crossing gorgeously brings their dedication to new music and meticulous blend and intonation to their debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Every word sounds gorgeous, although Adams' lack of narrative text and awkward setting choices make it difficult to follow. The text mostly comes from scientific names of geological layers and endangered plants and animals. His choice to end the list of endangered species in the fourth movement with 'homo sapiens' both blusters his point and ends the movement in a seriously cringey manner. The final movement opens with the pure tone of soprano soloist Meigui Zhang, but the slow fade out to a flute solo playing a transcription of the unanswered Kaua'i bird mating call is both tackey and musically ineffective.

It's the last week to stream the world premiere concert on WRTI here.

© 2023 Brutal New Music Reviews

originally written and published 22 August 2023

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