violinist composer conductor
Winter Septet
”Carols Without Words” on Romanian popular carols
for string septet
Ensemble: 2 Violins, 2 Violas, 2 Cellos, Double Bass or String Orchestra
Duration: 13 minutes
First performance: Jan 2021, The Romanian Athenaeum, Enescu Philharmonic Soloists, conductor: Vlad Maistorovici
UK premiere: Jan 2026, Wigmore Hall, O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra, violin & director: Hugo Ticciati
Score and parts available in versions for:
String Septet:
https://www.universaledition.com/en/Works/Winter-Septet/P0339806
String Orchestra:
https://www.universaledition.com/en/Works/Carols-Without-Words/P0339516
at:
Description:
"...what the music I love expresses to me are thoughts not to indefinite for words, but rather too definite." - Felix Mendelssohn about Songs Without Words
Subtitled "Carols Without Words", Winter Septet is a medley suite of diversely "recomposed" vocal carols (in the Deutsche Grammophon sense of the term), reflecting the popular spirit of their ancient melodies in the present.
"The suite (...) brings together seven melodies, whose refined instrumentation enhances their aura and conveys a sense of tranquility."
"All were all soul-filled creations that both honoured the darkly Slavic sound worlds of the originals, and added just the right amount of 21st-century flavoured spice via harmonic scrunches and textural complexities."