canonic

Elemental and atmospheric, it is a work of remarkable economy and restraint that excerpts Genesis, Exodus and Psalms yet abstracts their text in canonic clouds — a 15-minute container for metaphysical thought.

The piece begins in beatific, C-major stasis, as a jaunty hymn gathers momentum in canonic form.

Her “Air Russe Varié,” from 1835, caught the attention of Robert Schumann, who praised its “delightful canonic games” in the spirit of Bach, and declared that “one must fall under their charm.”

On that subject, Ross is most persuasive in his close readings of canonic post-Wagnerian literature, particularly Proust’s “Remembrance of Things Past,” Joyce’s “Ulysses,” Virginia Woolf’s “The Waves” and the novels of Mann.

And yet this is no simple countercultural potshot; it’s a tender, even loving humanization of a canonic composer, just as allergy-prone as the rest of us.