“Auznieks’ work began with agitated pointillistic pizzicati scattered among the strings and ended in a serene pianissimo in the viola. But in between came a long, long silence — some 85 seconds in a 10-minute piece — with the string players hovering their bows over their instruments. In an interview afterward, the festival’s artistic director, Du Yun, called it “the elephant in the room,” and asked Mr. Auznieks about its significance. It is a time full of questioning, he said, looking to the great beyond. Hmm.”

“Latvian composer Auznieks is a rising star. Crossing is somewhat minimalistic in feel, a winding up and down of sound, structured upon a six-note idée fixe that Auznieks explores. As he generates this recurring musical material within a framework of ever-changing meter, the orchestra is constantly at work, creating a wash of sound and a sonic grid that has a mechanical ambiance. Individual instruments rise up from the orchestra; at times it is the harp, the chimes or the majestic sounding piano that claim our attention. ”

“Auznieks seemed to make the singers and instrumentalists breathe like one unified organism. ”

“There is an old-fashioned elegance to Auznieks’ work ”

“[Auznieks’] “Crossing” created a mood of vibrant, nearly constant activity, pulsating almost like electronic music. Taken as a whole, “Crossing” is a richly orchestrated and complex sound collage that hums along, passing new musical ideas through the orchestra. ”

“Auznieks’ piece has several surprises. The silence becomes uncanny. The 24 singers of Cappella Amsterdam have been standing with their eyes closed for three minutes, as if meditating. The hands of the conductor are also frozen. A bench crunches. A stomach rumbles. Someone whispers the question that haunts everyone. Should we clap?
Probably not, because after four or five minutes, the premiere piece by the young Latvian composer Krists Auznieks (27) is back on track.”

“The melodies vary wildly from Medieval-style plainchant to modern tone clusters of astonishing complexity and beauty. ”

“[Auznieks’s] piece married other-worldly harmonies (bringing some colors of Messiaen to mind) with flashes of Scriabinesque ecstasy.”

“A Refined Mystic”

“The arc of the composition is an exhilarating journey from solo guitar to guitar enhanced with electronic sounds to a stunning and theatrical section for solo electronics and meditatively motionless performer, which ended with the guitarist gradually returning to performance and leading to a luminous conclusion.”

“Auznieks is a composer well versed in setting choral music and songs. His work stood out, giving the performance its clearest moments of emotion. He allowed the singers to bring in humanity. ”

“[Auznieks’s piece] can be characterized as yet another example of the composer’s ability to represent several semantic fields, confluence of rational ideas and emotional sensibility, the dialogue of nearly silent sound and climactic undulation, and, of course, cultivated, individualized style.”

“A complex stream of undulating, shifting patterns of harmonies that rock back and forth, occasionally interrupted by brash chords that repeat and fade as if emulating an electronic digital delay circuit; sometimes overlaid by melodic lines that enter then depart the texture. One is left with the impression of the translation of some familiar elements of familiar features found in electronic synthesis that tries to translate into the world of an orchestra of acoustical instruments to produce a tapestry of sound, as it were.”