This programme explores the sounds of folk music and those of spiritual meditation. Sándor Veress’s Four Transylvanian Dances open up a richly coloured panorama of Eastern European traditions that continues in Martynas Levickis’s suite of Lithuanian folk songs. Levickis is one of the leading accordionists of his generation and combines virtuosic brilliance with stylistic diversity, transforming his instrument into a solo vehicle with a near-orchestral brilliance. Philip Glass’s Tirol Concerto brings a special touch in this context. It wasn’t originally composed with this title, but is derived from his Piano Concerto No. 1. This “Tirol” version is a regional renaming – actually an arrangement – that he made in the context of performances given at the Klangspuren Festival in the Tyrol.

For our concert, this work is being performed in a different dramaturgical context and in an arrangement for a different solo instrument – the accordion. Glass himself has adapted this Piano Concerto several times, thereby revealing just how much his music is suited to performance by different ensembles. The local aspect is especially evident here in the work’s first and third movements, where Glass quotes a Tyrolean folk song. Works by John Tavener and Astor Piazzolla then take us further on our journey from contemplation to expressive passion. Levickis is here accompanied by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra.