Jane Antonia Cornish, Into Silence, MINI-Review

From Jane Antonia Cornish there is a very lovely EP entitled Into Silence (Innova 976). It is a six-work program that lays out some choice miniatures, five for strings (a violin and four cellos on two of them; then piano, violin and four cellos; solo cello, and four cellos, respectively) and one for solo piano.

What is striking about the music is that it cradle-rocks gently in repetitive ways that I suppose puts it in Minimalist territory, but then all of it is lyrical, pretty, even beautiful in ways that set it apart from most other works out there. One finds oneself in a reverie much of the time. The sonances are pronounced and original, sweet and clarion yet soft-edged.

I have heard nothing quite like it. Ms. Cornish knows what she is all about and gives us an original world in which we can dwell happily as listeners. Recommended.