The Skylark Sings

"In an uninterrupted flow of seven songs, Kechley set to music a skillful collage of Japanese haikus, interwoven with Persian, Chinese and American Indian texts. A large orchestra, reinforced by varied and highly effective percussion instruments wrapped the soprano’s beautifully inflected discourse into a brightly shimmering cloak of sound.....Beauty, ineffable and ephemeral, was at the core of the words and of the music, and instantly achieved the ever-recurring miracle of transforming thoughts of death and loss and mourning into a rich, highly rewarding aesthetic experience. At the end of the piece, the chorus, perched high on the back balcony of the Ozawa Hall, intoned a moving Native American text: Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there I do not sleep." --Simon Wainrib, Berkshire Record. Following its premiere at Tanglewood, Andrew Pincus of the Berkshire Eagle wrote "The tone poem offers striking images: Japanese scales and instrumental effects, insects buzzing in the strings, a strong rhythmic punch for magic mushrooms’ effect, a leaf fluttering downward in a harp passage, a chorale in the brasses to suggest ‘the giant tortoise of paradise.’ And over all hovers the poignant voice, dwelling not on death but on life." Commissioned by the Berkshire Symphony.