Classical music and the Cosmos Trio performance

Classical

Musical Performance Review and Reflection witnessed a performance on August 29, 2008 of the musical group known as the "Cosmos Trio." The Cosmos Trio was founded in 2004 by Katherine Borst-Jones, Mary Harris and Jeanne Norton. These three performers have dedicated themselves, both in their work as members of the Pro-Musica Chamber of Columbus, Ohio and in the context of the Cosmos Trio to exposing a new generation of young people to classical and contemporary orchestral and chamber works. At the performance I witnessed, this orchestral grouping of a flute, viola and harp performed a series of contemporary classical works, most of which were designed for their unique combination of instruments. The performance consisted of a series of short pieces by American, mostly local or Midwestern composers of a variety of backgrounds. Most of the composers did not confine or even focus on the medium of chamber music in their usual framework of compositions, but rather specialized in larger, orchestral sounds. Over the course of the respectfully-received performance they played four works: the "Petite Suite" (2007), a work known as "Beautiful, Sweet, Delicate for Flute, Viola, and Harp" (2005), "Trio in Four Movements for Flute, Viola and Harp" (2006), and "A Columbus Triptych" (2006).

The first of the works, the "Petite Suite," was specifically composed for Cosmos Trio's unique blend of instruments and instrumentation by Stephen Paulus in 2007, one of the most noted composers of modern operas and choral works amongst young composers focusing on classical sounds today. Paulus is evidently proud of the work, as he features the "Petite Suite" played by the Trio on his webpage of accomplishments. The "Petite Suite" has dreamy, comforting tones with a less rigid and structured sense of composition than a classical or baroque work for an orchestral group, and has a kind of fantastic, otherworldly quality that is almost unearthly when heard in a concert hall. Paulus as a composer is most famous for his operatic version of the 1950s film "The Postman Always Rings Twice," and his fluency in the genre of orchestral composition as well as grand opera speak to his skill as a composer as well as a boundary-pushing operatic maestro ("Biography," Stephen Paulus, 2008).

The second work entitled "Beautiful, Sweet, Delicate," was first performed by the Cosmos Trio in 2006. It was commissioned from Andrew Boysen, Jr. Boysen is noted for his prodigal talent -- he began composing for piano at age nine and is especially noted for his works for high school concert bands and brass choirs and ensembles as well as full orchestras. "Beautiful, Sweet, Delicate" is thus something of a departure for Boysen, who usually specializes in works for large, brassy-sounding school bands. "Beautiful, Sweet, Delicate" is a delicate sounding piece, as befitting its name, standing in presumed contrast to Boysen's other works although not to the first "Petite Suite" that preceded it during the concert (Klein 2008).

Cosmos Trio is especially proud of "Trio in Four Movements for Flute, Viola and Harp" by Libby Larsen, which was commissioned and premiered in 2006. Larsen is a noted modern classical composer, and according to the website of the group, which sees fit to boast her involvement in their endeavors. Larson has composed more than 200 works spanning virtually every genre from intimate vocal and chamber music to massive orchestra and choral scores ("What's New," Cosmos Trio, 2008).

Cosmos ended the work with a performance of "A Columbus Triptych" by Stephen Main, which it premiered in 2007. Main often makes use of Christian iconography in his work, and one of his most noted compositions is a reinterpretation of "Pie Jesus." ("Stephen Main," Official Website, 2008). The setting of the performance in St. John's Evangelical Church of Columbus seemed fitting for the work. The "Columbus Triptych" tries to render religious iconography into a contemporary argot. Columbus refers to Columbus Ohio, the group's and Main's geographical base, while a triptych, most notably deployed in Hieronymus Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delights," is a form of Christian medieval altar, with three hinged wooden panels where the artist paints different visual interpretation of the same scriptural theme. The images contained on each panel relate to the content displayed on the other panels. The three panels viewed together are supposed to suggest that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The Columbus Triptych is supposed to be a musical, tonal painting in three parts, as the first part is cheerful, the second is calm and spiritually grounding because of its cautious, reflective quality, and the third brighter and less plaintive than the second, but filled with a new sense of religious awakening ("Stephen Main," Official Website, 2008).