A call for peace

​A call for peace and a tribute to the innocent victims of the war in Ukraine. The Chamber Orchestra of the North performs Drop after Drop. It is an international ensemble of 20 young string players. We were so taken by their inspired playing that we invited them to make their debut in The Hague. Maxim Shalygin conducts the ensemble in works by himself and his Ukrainian compatriots Svyatoslav Lunyov and Valentin Silvestrov. A meditative and introspective programme in a lighting design by Nico de Rooij.

Ukrainian contemporary music defies simple categorization. Each composer is stimulated to find his*her own style and voice. Valentin Silvestrov writes dreamy, nostalgic music that seems to come from another dimension. Music with a signature all its own. His three-movement Silent Music for strings is one of his best works. The no less idiosyncratic Svyatoslav Lunyov makes time stand still in Tristium. Maxim Shalygin, who has been living and working in The Hague for the past ten years, stands out with eloquent compositions, in which he does not hesitate to embrace extremes. He conducts two quiet works: Drop after Drop and Lullaby, an ode to life. With Satarsa, which has a Mahlerian grandeur, he pays homage to the Argentinian writer Julio Cortázar.