There are moments in every human life when we feel suspended between shadow and illumination – between uncertainty and clarity, night and dawn. Ascending into Light: A Journey of Transcendence traces that deeply personal and profoundly universal arc. In two luminous contemporary masterworks, we are invited not merely to listen, but to travel: from mystery toward radiance, from fragmentation toward wholeness, from longing toward transcendence.

At the heart of this journey stands Ola Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass, a work that has quickly become one of the most beloved choral-orchestral compositions of our time. Though it sets the traditional Latin Ordinary of the Mass, Gjeilo approaches the form less as liturgical proclamation and more as spiritual meditation. The work unfolds as an ascent – musically, emotionally, and symbolically – mirroring the gradual emergence of light at dawn.

The opening movement, The Spheres (Kyrie), evokes a vast cosmic expanse. Floating harmonies and spacious textures suggest the immensity of the universe before the first glimmer of day. The music feels almost weightless, as if suspended between heaven and earth. In this opening, we sense both awe and humility – a recognition of the “great unknown” from which all light emerges.

In Sunrise (Gloria), motion and rhythmic vitality increase. The music begins to shimmer and dance, capturing the first rays of light breaking across the horizon. There is joy here, but it is a joy still unfolding – light not yet at full strength, but undeniably present. The orchestration glows with warmth, and the choral writing radiates energy that feels both earthly and celestial.

The deeply introspective The City (Credo) brings the journey inward. Gjeilo has described this movement as urban and personal, even autobiographical. If the earlier music gazes toward the heavens, this movement stands among buildings and human stories. Pulsing rhythms and cinematic harmonies suggest the restless heartbeat of a city awakening. Here transcendence is not distant or abstract; it is discovered within human community and individual searching.

The final movement, Identity (Sanctus & Agnus Dei), draws the ascent to its luminous culmination. Earlier themes return, now transformed and unified. What began in mystery resolves in affirmation. The music seems to settle into a place of belonging – a grounded radiance that is neither naive nor triumphant, but serene. Light is no longer something sought; it is something inhabited.

If Sunrise Mass charts the arc of dawn, Elaine Hagenberg’s Illuminare continues the story of light as restoration. Hagenberg’s work speaks with a direct emotional immediacy that has resonated widely with choirs and audiences alike. Drawing upon sacred Latin texts alongside English poetry, Illuminare confronts darkness honestly – confusion, sorrow, and longing – while steadfastly moving toward hope.

The opening movement, Splendor, emerges with a sense of radiance already on the horizon. Unlike a tentative beginning, this music suggests that light exists – even if not yet fully grasped. Flowing lines and luminous harmonies create an atmosphere of awe and reverence, as though we are glimpsing something eternal just beyond our reach. It is an invitation to behold light before we fully understand it.

In Caritas, the focus shifts to love as the vessel through which light is revealed. Warm, lyrical choral writing underscores the text’s message of compassion and unity. The music unfolds with a gentle assurance, suggesting that illumination is not only something we receive, but something we embody through acts of love and connection. Here, light takes on a human dimension – felt, shared, and lived.

The third movement, Nox, descends into darkness. This is the emotional and dramatic center of the work, where uncertainty and fear are given full voice. The music grows more urgent, even restless, reflecting the disorientation that comes when light feels distant or obscured. Yet even in this shadowed landscape, there are hints – fleeting and fragile – of what lies beyond. The presence of darkness makes the promise of light even more necessary.

With Munera pacis, a sense of stillness and restoration begins to emerge. The title, meaning “gifts of peace,” is reflected in music that soothes and centers. The textures become more transparent, the harmonies more settled. After the turbulence of Nox, this movement feels like a deep exhale – a moment in which the heart begins to trust again. Light here is not overwhelming; it is gentle, healing, and quietly transformative.

The final movement, Illuminare his, brings the journey to its radiant fulfillment. The plea for illumination returns, now transformed into confident affirmation. Themes of light, peace, and hope converge as the music expands in both scope and intensity. What began as longing has become realization. The closing pages shimmer with energy and purpose, suggesting not only that light has come, but that it continues to guide and sustain us beyond the final chord.

One of the most striking aspects of Illuminare is its interplay between communal and individual voice. The chorus often sings as a unified body, embodying shared yearning. Yet within that unity, there are passages of profound personal reflection. Light, in Hagenberg’s vision, is not merely cosmic; it is relational. It binds communities, restores courage, and reorients the heart toward peace.

Together, these two works form a single, sweeping meditation. Sunrise Mass begins in the vastness of creation and descends into the human experience; Illuminare begins within human struggle and rises toward transcendent peace. One moves from cosmos to self; the other from self to renewed horizon. In pairing them, this concert invites us to experience light not as a simple metaphor, but as a living process: emerging, expanding, and ultimately abiding.

For performers and listeners alike, this music asks something more than passive admiration. It asks openness. To ascend into light is to acknowledge darkness without surrendering to it. It is to recognize that transcendence is not escape from the world, but a deeper engagement with it. The beauty we encounter here is not decorative; it is transformative.

From the first whispered sonorities to the final radiant chords, this afternoon’s journey mirrors our own search for meaning. We move through uncertainty toward understanding, through longing toward fulfillment. And in that movement – gradual, patient, and luminous – we may glimpse what it means to live in the light we seek.

May this music awaken wonder, restore hope, and remind us that even in the darkest hour, dawn is already on its way.

Michael O’Neal