Ho's Remnants of a Glass Cathedral conjures up church music of the past, but conveyed within the context of our time, taking the audience on a journey to the medieval church world from a modern perspective. The work features highly expressive, fantasia-like string playing and chant-like themes, set against a contemporary, kinetic version of the initial musical material, thus bringing the two worlds together in counterpoint, vying for supremacy.
Vincent Ho is a Canadian who is widely recognised as one of the most exciting composers of his generation. He has made waves in the music world of North America despite being fairly early in his compositional career, receiving numerous prizes, accolades, and prominent commissions in a relatively short space of time. Ho’s music is rich and energetic - a unique integration of influences ranging from the visual arts, electroacoustic and natural soundscapes, traditional classical music forms, and the physical properties of the instruments and ensembles for which he writes. His music is sensual, sonorous and richly textured, and Ho gives considerable attention to the audience’s experience of his intricate sound-worlds.
