CHRISTIAN JOST (b.1963): CocoonSymphonie, Astralis, one small step..., The End of the Game.

Description: The exploration of the unknown - both interior states and in the physical universe - is a central theme in much of Jost's output, and this is certainly true of the works presented here. The intense and sonically spectacular Cocoon represents the confrontation of simultaneous stasis and action; the violent content of a dream world experienced while inactive, or the destructive changes that occur beneath an apparently immobile surface. The music represents these states almost onomatopœically, with powerful eruptions of orchestral tutti blasting through flowing yet static cluster-glissandi. While undeniably modern in every way, the music nevertheless contains a core of romanticism - one finds oneself irresistibly reminded of Richard Strauss especially - the surging emotionalism of the composer's idiom is worlds away from abstract modernism. Astralis and One small step explicitly refer to space exploration, and both generate a cumulatively dramatic and mysterious soundworld, not avoiding the suggestion of extremes of violence and danger. The End is a study in expressionistic blocks of sound, a hard-driven, percussion-heavy work; as the title and the date of composition - 1999 - hint, a millennial warning. Stuttgart Philharmonic; Gabriel Feltz.