Call of the Bees

op. 77, 2019

I. attention
II. a prayer for protection
III. transition
IV. unification

Duo for cello and piano.
Duration: ca. 14 min.

Co-commissioned by BBC Radio 3,
the Cheltenham Music Festival and the Royal Philharmonic Society
World premiere: 7 July 2019, Cheltenham Music Festival, England. Cello: Anastasia Kobekina, piano: Lilit Grigoryan
Radio recording

Composer’s notes

Bees, and their importance in the cycle of life, inspired this composition. The work therefore also connects bees and humans: what they would tell us, through music, about the present state of nature. Call of the Bees marks the beginning of a series of reflective compositions dedicated to the natural world. These appeal for a more attentive approach to nature, which has shown us the path of life since time immemorial.

Call of the Bees has four movements, which are like four messages played one after the other. Cello and piano form a dialogue/discussion on their theme: all sound figures, rhythms, tempos and timbres express the intensity of these thoughts.

The sounds in the first movement draw our attention to the bees, and how important they are to us. The second movement is a prayer: the bees pray to be protected. At the end of this movement there is a transformation in sound: we hear them, we take them seriously, we perceive them and we are ready to change the situation. The third movement expands on this mood, and prepares the transition to the fourth movement. This unites the instruments in a shared soundscape: elegiac and free, with a conscious relationship between nature and humankind.

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