Composer: Osvaldo Golijov, Joanna Marsh, Felix Mendelssohn, Caroline Shaw
Performer: United Strings of Europe, Ruby Hughes
Conductor: Julian Azkoul
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BIS
Catalogue: BIS2549
Release: 2022
Size: 2.01 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Marsh: In Winter’s House
02. Shaw: Entr’acte
Golijov: Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra
03. No. 1, Night of the Flying Horses
04. No. 2, Lúa Descolorida
05. No. 3, How Slow the Wind
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80
06. I. Allegro vivace assai – Presto
07. II. Allegro assai
08. III. Adagio
09. IV. Finale
10. Shaw: And the Swallow
Having released their debut album “In motion” in 2020, the musicians that make up United Strings of Europe return with another innovative programme, “Renewal”. The title refers in part to the fact that the majority of the works included are heard in arrangements and adaptations tailormade for the ensemble by Julian Azkoul, who also directs it from the violin. In Winter’s House by Joanna Marsh and Caroline Shaw’s and the swallow are both originally choral works while a second work by Shaw, Entr’acte, was conceived for string quartet, but is here heard in the composer’s own version for string orchestra.
A similar treatment has been given Mendelssohn’s F Minor String Quartet, one of the composer’s final works, written in reaction to the unexpected death of his beloved sister Fanny. For the centrepiece, Osvaldo Golijov’s Three Songs, United Strings of Europe is joined by soprano Ruby Hughes. The three songs were written for different occasions, but were rearranged by the composer to form a single work, capturing various strands of his immigrant identity as well as specific moments of inspiration, both felicitous and tragic.