If you want to perform a work, we ask that you purchase the score and parts at the CMC Shop.
To view and submit your loan, please click on My Loan Requests
5/1/2017, Maison Symphonique, Montreal
Jean-Willy Kunz, organ
Paul von Joukowsky’s set design for the original 1882 Bayreuth production is included on the title page of my piece and also informs the title, Highest Light. The image of celestial light streaming down from above seemed an apt metaphor for thinking about my own organ piece, and how its opening measures would be (quite literally) beamed down to earth from outer space. The piece further incorporates several references to Parsifal, including a pervasive harmonic shift or “sigh” from major to minor which features prominently in Parsifal as “Angel Music” whenever a character is referencing the descent of angels to earth. Another musical reference, more subtle, to the latest Star Wars film and its magnificent soundtrack by John Williams also concerns a scene when light streams across the sky—this time, quite horrifically as the “Starkiller” tests its destructive capabilities on a multitude of different planets. Musically speaking, the harmonic content of both references is strikingly similar, which further solidified my own thinking about the dual nature of outer space (and organs) as both celestial and ecclesiastical.
Canadian Music Centre has been supporting, preserving and celebrating the works of Canadian composers since 1959. As proud and passionate advocates, we offer innovative resources for discovering, exploring, listening to and playing Canadian music online and in five regional hubs.