Name: A Far Cry presents: Then Is Now
Start: 2025-09-20T19:30:00-04:00
Location: Jordan Hall

Musical Program
Caroline Shaw: Punctum (arr. Ben Murphy and Caroline Shaw)
Komitas: Armenian Folk Songs (arr. Aslamazyan)
Osvaldo Golijov: Tenebrae
Benjamin Britten: Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge
Curated by Crier Alex Fortes
Memory doesn’t sit still – it blends, blurs, and blooms in unexpected ways. A Far Cry’s season opens with music that transforms recollection into revelation.
Caroline Shaw’s Punctum folds a centuries-old hymn, quoted by everyone from Bach to Simon and Garfunkel, into layers of harmony and distortion, rendering it strange, tender, and urgently present. Osvaldo Golijov’s Tenebrae suspends time entirely – recontextualizing some of Couperin’s most beautiful vocal music in a piece that contrasts the chaos of earthly conflict with the serenity of the stars above. Armenian folk songs collected by Komitas preserve cultural memory in vivid color, echoing a lineage nearly silenced by genocide. And Benjamin Britten’s brilliant Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge, a portrait of his beloved mentor, finds infinite emotional shades within a single musical idea.
*Did you know? A Far Cry’s recording of Benjamin Britten: Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge—featured on our Visions and Variations album—was nominated for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance at the 2018 GRAMMY® Awards.
All programs subject to change.