Minimal Music Festival: Shapeshift - Lacrimosa (Similar 1)
More than an hour of music for seven violins – does that work? Yes, that works, and how. Lacrimosa by Maxim Shalygin, subtitled 'Thirteen magical songs', is a tour de force of intensity and imagination. Above all, it is music with a tremendous emotional impact that will leave no listener untouched. Lacrimosa is the first part of Shalygin's cycle Similar, which he calls his lifework. During the Minimal Music Festival, the first three parts of Similar can be heard in quick succession for the first time. The festival closes on Sunday with the world premiere of the fourth part, Delirium.
Minimal Music Festival: Shapeshift - Lacrimosa (Similar 1)
Gripping magic songs for seven violins
Shalygin was born in Ukraine but has been working in the Netherlands for many years. His idiom is rich and diverse, with the typical characteristic that he demands the utmost of instrument, note material and ensemble playing. For example, NRC described his music in Lacrimosa as 'rains of pizzicato, seething swarms of bows and soft veils of overtones'. The other movements of Similar are Todos los fuegos el fuego for eight saxophones and Severade for nine cellos. Together, the performances form a miniature portrait of one of today's most interesting composers.