Renewal
Ruby Hughes (soprano), United Strings of Europe, Julian Azkoul
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, January 2022
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
a real winner on all counts - the individual players are hugely impressive when required to step into the spotlight, and the intensity of the collective sound in tutti passages is overwhelming...
Renewal
Ruby Hughes (soprano), United Strings of Europe, Julian Azkoul
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Editor's Choice, January 2022
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
a real winner on all counts - the individual players are hugely impressive when required to step into the spotlight, and the intensity of the collective sound in tutti passages is overwhelming...
About
Having released their debut album In motion in 2020, the musicians that make up United Strings of Europe (USE) 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 tailor-made 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 of the disc, Osvaldo Golijov’s Three Songs, USE 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. This is the first time all three songs appear with string orchestra on disc.
Contents and tracklist
- Arr. J. Azkoul for String Orchestra
- United Strings of Europe
- Julian Azkoul
- Version for String Orchestra
- United Strings of Europe
- Julian Azkoul
- Ruby Hughes (soprano)
- United Strings of Europe
- Julian Azkoul
- Arr. J. Azkoul for String Orchestra
- United Strings of Europe
- Julian Azkoul
- Arr. J. Azkoul for String Orchestra
- United Strings of Europe
- Julian Azkoul
Spotlight on this release
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Julian Azkoul on Renewal
27th Jan 2022
The artistic director of United Strings of Europe talks to Katherine about the ensemble's genesis and future plans, and their new recording of works by Caroline Shaw, Joanna Marsh, Osvaldo Golijov and Felix Mendelssohn (out now on BIS).
Awards and reviews
-
Presto Editor's ChoiceJanuary 2022
-
Presto Recordings of the YearFinalist 2022
January 2022
a real winner on all counts - the individual players are hugely impressive when required to step into the spotlight, and the intensity of the collective sound in tutti passages is overwhelming in the best possible way. Azkoul's adroit upscaling of Mendelssohn's final string quartet is incredibly effective, choral works by Caroline Shaw and Joanna Marsh translate gorgeously to this medium, and Ruby Hughes is achingly expressive in three songs by Golijov.
