Sequoias
Navona, 2022
8/10
The always impressive composer Jeffrey Jacob brings us a theme of the natural world and with a concern for the devastating impact of climate change across these 4 orchestral and solo piano pieces.
“Symphony No. 6 ‘Sequoias’” opens the listen with Jacob’s twinkling keys, as the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra inserts much wonder and awe into the 4 flowing, textured segments, and “Music For Strings, Percussion, And Oboe” follows with The Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra’s skilled strings and firm percussion complementing Jacob’s agile piano.
The back half of the listen offers the chilling and mysterious “Two Pieces For Piano”, where Jacob’s keys alone mesmerize us, while “String Quartet No. 2” recruits The New England Quartet for a pair of cautious, graceful tracks that finish the listen with much elegance.
A listen that possesses as much beauty as the Sequoias in the forests, Jacob’s commitment to the environment is just as admirable as the creativity and delivery that populates this fascinating record.
Travels well with: Rain Worthington- Passages Through Time; Beth Mehocic- Collected Works Of Beth Mehocic