Sebastian Currier's Mysterium Receives World Premiere with The Crossing
Sebastian Currier’s large-scale choral work Mysterium receives its world premiere with The Crossing and Donald Nally in Philadelphia this February.
Mysterium by Sebastian Currier receives its world premiere on February 7 with Philadelphia-based chamber choir The Crossing, led by Donald Nally. The 45-minute work for soprano solo, chorus, and electronics explores the connection between the cosmos and personal human experience through juxtaposed texts by renowned Dutch physicist Robbert Dijkgraaf and prominent novelist Pia de Jong, who are husband and wife.
Dijkgraaf and de Jong’s texts are interwoven throughout the work. Dijkgraaf’s text focuses on tenets of modern cosmology: the farther out in space we look, the further back in time we see; the universe would not exist if it were not for a fundamental randomness; the elements of our bodies are made from stardust. De Jong’s text is personal and small-scale, relating these ideas to the personal human experience. She presents a personal moment of reflection: while unpacking a box after their move to America, she finds a photograph of when she and Dijkraaf first met, reflecting on the fundamental randomness of the world and how she would not be unpacking a box in another country if not for their meeting.
Sebastian Currier also brings the universe into his score, exploring the phenomenon of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), a radiation surrounding the earth that is believed by scientists to be the remnants of light released after the universe began. Currier explains: "In Mysterium this radiation, known as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), has been converted into sound waves, a gentle white noise with subtle variations. These electronic sounds surround the chorus, making the inaudible audible.”
Currier has turned to space and cosmology for inspiration in previous works, like his song cycle Deep-Sky Objects, a series of love songs between two lovers on separate galaxies, and Night Mass for chorus and orchestra, inspired by his scientific perspective of the way the world was formed. Donald Nally has led several choirs in Night Mass, including The Crossing.
> Watch an excerpt of Donald Nally conducting Night Mass
Following the premiere of Mysterium, Currier’s Ongoingness for harp and string quartet is performed by Bridget Kibbey and the Calidore String Quartet (who premiered the work in Toronto in 2024) in Philadelphia (April 6). Kibbey also performs the work with the Dover Quartet at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York (April 17).
Concert Information
Friday, February 7 at 7pm ET
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill | Philadelphia
More info
The Crossing
Donald Nally, conductor
Sebastian Currier Mysterium (World Premiere)
Linda Catlin Smith Folio (North American Premiere)
> Further information on Work: Mysterium
Photo: Jennifer Taylor