Bachtrack
"Like Dante in the Divine Comedy, the orchestra is both creator and created in this piece...MARMORIS begins in the depths with a slow, low rumbling pulse from the double bass, soon joined by the cellos. A shimmering evocation of the surface then parallels the waves from the depths…dappling the oceanic vastness with a variety of colors, rhythms, and currents. The pace gradually quickened, and the various parts of the orchestra coalesced for a rising, rhapsodic episode until all subsided in shimmering silence. The performance was so immersive that time ceased to register."
The Boston Globe
“Sunday afternoon, Nelsons was back on the podium, and the orchestra again took to the sea, this time with Sarah Kirkland Snider’s shimmering tone poem MARMORIS, which only received its professional premiere this spring. The piece teemed with activity under the surface, eddies and swirls of strings offset by Steve Reich-esque pulses in the woodwinds and golden droplets in the harp.”
The Berkshire Eagle
“Highly regarded contemporary composer Sarah Kirkland Snider introduced her recent orchestral piece MARMORIS by telling the audience that “‘Marmoris’ is an ancient Latin word meaning ‘the shimmering surface of the sea." Indeed, the 11-minute piece showcasing woodwinds and harp did feel like immersion in a sea of gentle, tranquil waves — one of the most impressive new works presented by the BSO so far this summer.”
The Boston Musical Intelligencer
“In a clear arc moving from early morning light to bright mid-day, then to evening serenity and quiet darkness, MARMORIS succeeded in expressing both the welcoming beauty and unfamiliar character of a marine ecosystem full of swaying plants and criss-crossing currents... a winning and effective plea… And like the shimmering surface of the sea, Marmoris continued to haunt our memory and shape our listening long after Snider and Nelsons embraced upon its conclusion… O MARMORIS! You are still with us, showing us a new way to take delight in orchestral colors.”
