Hommages

Together with his artistic director Julian Azkoul, United Strings of Europe develops engaging programmes designed to find connections between different works and periods, music from different cultures, combining the familiar with the new and encouraging people to listen to works in different ways and discover new repertoire. With "Hommages", the ensemble celebrates musical traditions, from the myth of Apollo and the muses in ancient Greece to 20th-century legends, Carlos Gardel and Astor Piazzolla, reinterpreted by contemporary voices. This imaginative programme presents the world premiere of Julian Azkoul's arrangement of Igor Stravinsky's neoclassical ballet "Apollon musagete", composed in the 1920s, as well as more recent works. While Dobrinka Tabakova's "Organum Light", premiered here for the first time, was inspired by Einstein's theory of quantum light, Osvaldo Golijov returns to his Argentine roots for "Last Round", a tribute to two legendary compatriots. Olli Mustonen's "Second Nonet" is a timeless work with echoes of the Balkans, music from the Romantic period and Scandinavian moods. Another work by Mustonen, "Apotheosis", also a world premiere, concludes this varied programme with a dramatic note inspired by Bach's chorale preludes.