Suites and Waltzes from East and West

Suites and Waltzes from East and West

For a number of years Tríó Sírajón has researched and performed works written for this rather unusual instrumental combination. For this programme the trio has selected colourful works that form stark contrasts. There is no corresponding group working on a regular basis in Iceland, so these compositions are not often heard in this country, and some have never been performed here before. Geographically these works form a triangle of sorts: Iceland – Russia – France. Poulenc’s fanciful and funny theatre music is premiered here, and the same can be said of Atli Heimir Sveinsson’s work Erinnerungen – Memories. The Russian school strongly influences the programme with works by the Armenian composers Kachaturian (who visited Iceland in 1951 and worked with the newly founded Iceland Symphony Orchestra for a few months and was a great inspiration) and Arutiunian, both of whom were educated in Moscow. There they
met the genius from St. Petersburg, Shostakovich, who shows his comically charming side here in the three short pieces. Pál Pampichler Pálsson’s Nocturne creates a sweetly melancholic sunset mood. The Austrian born composer, who spent most of his working life in Iceland as a pioneering influence on musical life in this country, has now retired to his birthplace in Graz.