Canticles of the Sky for string quartet (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
About this Piece
A canticle is a hymn or chant, in Latin “a little song.” Some small, spirited hymns to the heavens, a space always open and ready to shiver with sound. Will we hear in this new quartet the possibility of flight, the bend of an unreachable horizon, the vastness of an ocean of air?
Immersive and moving, Adams’ music channels the depth and power of nature but is always humble to its force. Perhaps in his title, Adams signals that all songs are little to the infinite silence of the sky.
— From an essay by Andrew Berardini