Sinfonia n°1

for string orchestra (2001)
Duration ca. 15'

The work is in two movements. It is mainly contrapuntal. The first movement (lento - adagio) opens with superposed fifth chords. The atmosphere is static and contemplative. It alternates with a slow fuge in c sharp minor (tempo adagio) whose the elegiac theme grows in a tended and dissonant progression. After the main climax, the music dies out little by little in a resigned atmosphere.

The second movement is a sort of fugal toccata whose sinuous, sharp and virtuose theme appears in augmentation when it is played with pizzicati. This music pushes unrelentingly ahead in a kind of unrestrained race. The "tonality" of this movement could be identified as being in "E", but the language is primarily chromatic, atonal and dominated by the sonority of parallel fourths.

Duration ca. 15' - (Recording 12th October 2009 : Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Nicolas Couton)

1. Intrada: lento-adagio - "Twilight of spirituality"

2. Toccata: allegro - "Antechrist - Ragnarök"

1. Intrada: lento-adagio - "Twilight of spirituality" (live recording)

2. Toccata: allegro - "Antechrist - Ragnarök" (live recording)