Daniel Knaggs: The Joyful Mysteries Choral Symphony and Other Works
Acis

With The Joyful Mysteries, American composer Daniel Knaggs (b. 1983) has created a choral symphony for the ages. The fifty-five-minute work is performed by the Houston Chamber Choir, Kinetic Ensemble, the Monarch Chamber Players, and several outstanding singers, all under Robert Simpson's direction. Knaggs' score is enriched by the vocal artistry of soprano Gabriella Reyes (Mary), mezzo-soprano Sarah Mesko (the Angel, Elizabeth, Anna), bass-baritone Federico de Michelis (Simeon), and boy treble Leonard LLagostera (the Child Christ), with Reyes and Mesko deserving special mention for their incandescent contributions. The premiere recording of the five-part oratorio is supplemented by premieres of the eighteenth and nineteenth instalments in Knaggs' 50-Year Ave Maria Project, which he began in 2005 and is scheduled to finish in 2054.

Knaggs, who has lived in Mexico, Nicaragua, and France and studied six foreign languages, has seen and done much in his four decades on the planet. His music is performed by orchestras and ensembles around the world, and he's received a staggering number of awards, honours, and commissions. He earned his doctorate in music composition (2017) at the Shepherd School of Music (Rice University), his master's in music composition (2009) at Bowling Green State University, and has taught at the College of Wooster, Rice University, and Bowling Green State University.

He made a number of smart choices in his crafting of the work and the libretto. Not only is it structurally satisfying in being presented in five parts (sectioned into eighteen tracks), his decision to have the dialogue unfold in real time rather than in past-tense narration gives the work immediacy and adds tension and excitement. Instead of reading about events that transpired ages ago, we feel as it we're witnessing them right now. Further to that, he uses first and second POV in place of the objective third to bolster that sense of immediacy. Knaggs augmented dialogues and canticles from the Gospels and Old Testament with texts by two medieval mystics, Hildegard von Bingen and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, which also adds considerably to the work's character when the mystical aura of her writings is counterbalanced by the humanness of his. In the composer's words, the “former [is] like a soul ablaze, the latter like warm flesh surrounding that soul." Central to Knaggs' conception is the idea that joy doesn't obviate the realities of fear, sorrow, and suffering; joy does, however, outlast, outweigh, and ultimately overcome adversity.

The opening part, “The Annunciation,” has to do with the Angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary that, despite being a virgin, she will conceive and give birth, and not just to any child but the son of God. The poise and sensitivity with which Knaggs tailors his writing to the text is evident the moment Mesko makes her entrance as the Angel to share the joyful news. As strong an impression as that made by Mesko in the opening is the one by Reyes in her “Be it done unto me” aria. It also quickly becomes clear that Knaggs follows none but his own muse as the score shows no sign of a minimalism influence nor that of another composer's style. That said, it's possible to hear a distant hint of Copland in a passage or two, which helps reinforce the impression of the work as a distinctly American composition.

In the largely rapturous “The Visitation,” Mary travels to the hill country where she learns that her cousin Elizabeth, after a lifetime of barrenness and long past the age of childbearing, is also with child. Shepherds are at first filled with fear when the Angel appears before them in the central part, “The Nativity,” but news is brought of great joy, the birth of Christ. An orchestral “Pastorale” establishes a ponderous tone that alludes to the fear first felt by the shepherds until the Angel calms them and Mary reassures them further with her tender “Take courage” aria. The mystery in “The Presentation” has to do with the Child Jesus being presented in the temple where Simeon and the Prophetess Anna, who prophesy about him, are found. Mesko acquits herself beautifully as Anna in her “Behold light withholding its rays” aria, while de Michelis has a small part as Simeon but still partners with her memorably during this penultimate part. In the final mystery, “The Finding in the Temple,” Mary is filled with sorrow over the absence of the Child Jesus, who has gone missing in Jerusalem for three days, but her sorrow is countered by his comforting words when he's found in the temple. Similar to de Michelis, LLagostera appears during this one part only; his duet with Reyes is nevertheless affecting, however. Ushering the work to an uplifting resolution, the last words are, fittingly, Mary's, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior …”

January 2025