Balkan Novella (2024)
(for soprano saxphone, accordion and string orchestra)

The main idea of the composition is the interaction and tension between the characteristic elements of traditional Balkan music - from the Christian Orthodox chants, to the Middle Eastern-influenced ornamentation and melismatics, to the characteristic fast rhythms of Balkan folklore, characterised by the ever-changing, irregular pulse. While the orchestra is positioned on stage, the soloists change positions and move freely around the auditorium. At the beginning of the piece, the two soloists play side by side at the very back of the auditorium as a duo, discreetly echoed by the orchestra at the front of the stage. In the middle section of the piece, the orchestra's carpet of sound over which the soloists conduct a dialogue and play in the hall, moving freely from two directions from the side. Over time, the orchestral part becomes increasingly independent and gains in importance, until finally, in the fast, rhythmic final section the orchestra and the soloists - all united on stage - become equal partners who meet in different relationships and constellations.