Jennifer Higdon: An Exaltation of Larks

Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962) is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Grammy award, and is one of the most performed living American composers working today. Ms. Higdon's upcoming work includes an opera on Charles Frazier s book, Cold Mountain , for Santa Fe Opera and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. This recording feature three recent chamber works: In Scenes from the Poet's Dreams (composed for the performers who play it here) the piano left hand (virtuoso Gary Graffman) takes a prominent part in the unfolding of this highly contrasted work, bearing unusually descriptive titles: Racing Through Stars, Summer Shimmers Across the Glass of Green Ponds etc.. Light Refracted is a meditation on light. The composer describes a first movement that reflects on our inner light, and how we take that light in; and a second movement that is the opposite, our projection of light out to the world. She also writes about An Exaltation of Larks: The first time someone told me that a collection of Larks is called an Exaltation , I immediately thought, 'What a sound an exaltation of larks must make!'--How to capture the beauty of the idea of exalting and singing? A string quartet seemed perfect! This disc marks the debut of the Lark Quartet on Bridge.