Jake Runestad's Dreams of the Fallen
Reviews
* Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra premieres new work
"Dreams of the Fallen" was quite a contrast to the ethereal "Prayer." In three parts based on
Brian Turner's poetry, "Dreams" lays out in musical terms the tumult, pain, and hurt of war.
Polochick worked to weave together choirs, orchestra, and the difficult piano solo role.
Biegel rose to the keyboard challenge with powerful pronouncements when needed, yet
gentle caresses on emotional soft passages. A long pause at the conclusion of the final
movement provided reflecting time for all. Polochick's facial expression indicated his
own deep involvement in the sorrowful work."
John Cutler / For the Lincoln (NE) Journal Star -
JournalStar.com - 08 April 2016
* VocalEssence pays tribute to war veterans with 'Dreams of the Fallen'
"Jake Runestad, a 29-year-old Illinois native who now lives in Minneapolis, composed "Dreams"
on a text drawn from the much-acclaimed poetry of Brian Turner, whose work reflects his seven
years in the U.S. Army. A third element is the piano soloist, Jeffrey Biegel in this instance.
The piano actually becomes a character in the music, a soldier, perhaps, who suffers through the
terrors of combat and emerges finally able to deal with his troubling emotions.
Though none of this is spelled out in literal detail, there is clearly a progression in text
and music from extreme violence to a kind of peaceful and well-earned acceptance that is not
at all sentimental. Light seems to enter the music in Runestad’s beautifully written — and
imaginatively orchestrated — final pages and, for the first time, we hear solo voices singing a
gentle upward-climbing melody, suggesting that humanity has finally prevailed and might even
survive. Turner's haunting opening words are repeated at the end: “And I keep telling myself
that if I walk far enough or long enough, someday I’ll come out the other side."
Philip Brunelle led a powerful performance by this excellent orchestra and his own combined
vocal group: the Ensemble Singers and the VocalEssence Chorus. Without trying to, the program
made clear how much more visceral and realistic we are today in our depiction of war."
VocalEssence pays tribute to war veterans with 'Dreams of the Fallen' -
StarTribune.com - 11 Oct 2015
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