When John Lennon was shot and killed in New York City in 1981, Aaron Jay Kernis was studying composition nearby at the Manhattan School of Music. He was moved by the tragedy, and composed "Meditation (In Memory of John Lennon)" as both an homage and a remembrance. The piece is based on Lennon's song "Imagine." Kernis takes the gently throbbing piano harmony and the simple, noble sung melody of that song and uses minimalist techniques to extend and reconfigure them. As the cello faithfully imitates the human voice, the piano plays chords borrowed from "Imagine" that change even more gradually than in the original song. The influence of "Imagine" is instantly recognizable, but "Meditation's mood is very different. This piece is another example of Kernis' continuing effort to mix elements of popular music and contemporary classical music to create a productive synthesis, but stands on its own as an impassioned tribute to a fallen artist.



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