Albums
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‘Today, millions are forcibly displaced from their homes, set on perilous journeys in search of places of safety. Finding refuge depends on the kindness of others - individuals, communities and nations. But the longing for sanctuary is not always met with open arms.
in the midst sees SANSARA and United Strings of Europe join forces to explore these confronting themes in a programme built around two musical pillars: Caroline Shaw’s To the Hands, with its guiding question ‘what are these wounds in the midst of our hands?’, and The Journey by Houtaf Khoury.
Featuring additional music by Hildur Guðnadóttir, Piers Connor Kennedy and Thomas Tallis, In the midst is not only an offering of musical solidarity, but an invitation to reflect on our role in creating spaces of sanctuary.
Hildur Guðnadóttir (arr. Peter Stanley Martin) Fólk fær andlit
Caroline Shaw To the Hands
Piers Connor Kennedy/Julian Azkoul in the midst
Caroline Shaw In manus tuas
Houtaf Khoury The Journey
Thomas Tallis In manus tuas
Caroline Shaw (arr. Piers Connor Kennedy) and the swallow
‘Azkoul and his group feel fresh, dissolving a lot of conventions in both programming and performance… proposes a model for a viable, youthful future for chamber music.’ Gramophone review (Jan. 2024)
Richard Strauss (arr. Eric Mouret) Metamorphosen
Maddalena Casulana (arr. Simon Parkin) Morir non può il mio cuore
Daniel Kidane Be Still (with Beibei Wang, percussion)
Carlo Gesualdo (arr. Michi Wiancko) Tristis est anima mea
Arnold Schönberg Verklärte Nacht
Henry Purcell (arr. Stokowski) Dido’s Lament
The night is a source of wonder and fascination, rich with metaphorical associations. Our programme features counterpoint, aching dissonance and chromaticism from across a range of styles spanning nearly 500 years. A key theme is the notion that the night can be a space and time for change and transformation. The sense of guilt and foreboding in Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht gives way to a stronger bond of love. Strauss’ Metamorphosen, written in the final year of WWII, is an acknowledgment that things will never be the same again. Daniel Kidane’s Be Still marks an inflection point in the depths of the recent COVID-19 pandemic as we were searching for a way forward. Full of heartache and spiritual suffering, the Renaissance works of Casulana, Purcell and Gesualdo speak to the night as a state of being, and a portent of death, with each of these works transformed through arrangements for string orchestra.
“The performance and arrangements on this new release make a very attractive, wholly successful and, indeed, unique collection” – Musicweb Int.
”Orchestral Choice” ★★★★★ – BBC Music Magazine (Feb 2023)
Serenade for Strings in C major Op.48
String Quartet No. 1 Op.11 Andante cantabile (arr. Azkoul)
String Sextet in D minor Souvenir de Florence Op.70 (arr. Azkoul)
At Bedtime (arr. Azkoul)
After two stylistically diverse anthologies – In Motion and Renewal – the United Strings of Europe and their director Julian Azkoul have chosen to devote their latest project to a single composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. They open with the composer’s Serenade, a tribute to Mozart’s divertimentos, but infused with Tchaikovsky’s characteristic pathos and melancholy. It is one of his most popular works, with the especially beloved Waltz as its second movement, and a finale featuring Russian folk songs.
The other works included on this recording are arrangements tailor-made for the ensemble by Julian Azkoul. Andante cantabile, the slow movement of Tchaikovsky’s First String Quartet, is a piece of great emotional power, based on an old folk song which Tchaikovsky reportedly heard in the Ukrainian town of Kamenka. Composed following a stay in Florence, the Sextet is brooding in temperament and despite its title arguably more Russian than Italian in character. Like the Serenade, it makes use of classical forms and devices but also includes passages evoking traditional Russian music. After completing the work, Tchaikovsky – who was otherwise his own harshest critic – wrote: ‘it’s frightening to see how pleased I am with myself’. The album closes with At Bedtime, an early composition for mixed choir with a meditative quality reminiscent of Eastern Orthodox chant that lends itself well to the string orchestra textures.
“superbly executed” – Stereophile Magazine ★★★★1/2
★★★★ – BBC Music Magazine
One of Apple Music’s ‘Top 10 Classical Albums You Must Hear’
Joana Marsh (arr. Azkoul) In Winter’s House
Caroline Shaw Entr’acte (version for string orchestra)
Osvaldo Golijov (arr. Azkoul) Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra
Felix Mendelssohn (arr. Azkoul) String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80
Caroline Shaw (arr. Azkoul) and the swallow
Arrangements can give music fresh and powerful new leases of life as familiar sounds are made new. In this captivating collection, choral and chamber works are transformed for string orchestra. The United Strings of Europe new album reflects on the pain of the pandemic, while also offering hope and solace. Joanna Marsh’s atmospheric choral work “In Winter’s House” emerges rich, spacious and comforting. In contrast, Caroline Shaw’s “Entr’acte” blends classical refinement with dizzying dissonance to create an unsettling atmosphere. Three songs by the Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov, beautifully sung by Ruby Hughes, strike mournful, tragic notes, while the turmoil and longing in Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor is heightened in its new orchestral guise. Renewal finishes with hope for the months ahead, a setting by Shaw of Psalm 84: “The sparrow found a house and the swallow her nest, where she may place her young.”
"virtuosic performances and compelling programme" - BBC Music Magazine
"velvet-toned sound with beguiling warmth" — The Strad
"superbly played and vividly engineered" — Gramophone Magazine
Franz Schubert (arr. Azkoul) Quartettsatz
Matthew Hindson Maralinga for solo violin and orchestra (2009/11)
ft. Amalia Hall, violin
Luigi Boccherini (arr. Azkoul) Musica Notturna delle strade di Madrid
Arturo Corrales Señores les voy a contar… (2010)
Gareth Farr (arr. Azkoul) Mondo Rondo (1997)
The streets of eighteenth-century Madrid; a contaminated test-bombing site in Australia and a song from El Salvador provide some of the subject matter for USE’s début recording.
Julian Azkoul has arranged Boccherini’s celebrated and atmospheric evocation of the Nocturnal Music of the Streets of Madrid, in a version that updates the original’s flirt with popular music. Far removed both geographically and in mood is Maralinga, Australian composer Matthew Hindson’s powerful and haunting work featuring guest soloist Amalia Hall. The programme opens and closes with works for string quartet, composed some 180 years apart in Vienna and New Zealand respectively and heard in bespoke arrangements by Azkoul. Reflecting the ensemble’s distinctive voice and multi-national heritage and the wide-ranging interests and stylistic versatility of its members, In Motion is a roller-coaster ride of a disc.