Moments of Memory is released on 30 October on CD and all digital streaming services, and is available to pre-order now.
The Australian Chamber Orchestra celebrates the release of Moments of Memory, a new album featuring three essential contemporary works for string orchestra. This release on the ABC Classic label celebrates the ACO’s status as one of the world’s finest string ensembles and highlights the Orchestra’s long-standing role as a champion of new music.
The album opens with Vox Amoris by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, commissioned for Richard Tognetti and the ACO in 2008. Nearly 20 years later, Vox Amoris is now one of Vasks’s best-known works and is a signature concerto for Tognetti, having performed the work in concert halls across the world. Vasks writes that this single-movement work “is about the greatest power in the whole world – love”.
Arnold Schoenberg’s masterwork Verklärte Nacht is based on Richard Dehmel’s poem of the same name. It tells the story of two lovers, one of whom reveals a secret that threatens to destroy their relationship. Ultimately, the splendour of nature and the power of their love transform this night of tragedy into one of joy. Originally composed for string sextet, Schoenberg arranged the work for string orchestra in 1917, and it is now one of his most beloved works. Verklärte Nacht has formed a key part of the ACO’s performance repertoire since its earliest years, and this is the Orchestra’s first commercial recording of the work.
The album closes with the world-premiere recording of Moments of Memory (VI), composed in exile by the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, who fled Kyiv following the Russian invasion in 2022. Commissioned for the ACO in 2025, Silvestrov views this this multi-movement work as “a chain of moments” which “resembles the functioning of our memory”. Rather than a collection of self-contained miniatures, the piece is comprised of open-ended movements that blend into each other, drawing on familiar musical styles (such as waltzes and folk music) to evoke a sense of nostalgia.
Richard Tognetti says:
“Moments of Memory brings together three pieces which have become defining works for the ACO. The Orchestra has performed Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht since its earliest years, while Pēteris Vasks’s Vox Amoris has been a part of my life since the ACO commissioned the work nearly two decades ago. The album closes with the first ever recording of Moments of Memory (VI), a new work by the remarkable composer Valentin Silvestov, written in exile from his Ukrainian homeland. Together, this music is a fitting way to close our 50th-anniversary year: honouring our past while continuing to champion the music of our time.”
Artists
Richard Tognetti Director and Violin
Australian Chamber Orchestra
Track Listing
Pēteris Vasks: Vox Amoris: Fantasy for Violin and String Orchestra
[1] Andante cantabile – Cadenza I –
[2] Andante – Cadenza II –
[3] Andante cantabile
Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4
[4] Grave –
[5] Poco più mosso –
[6] A tempo –
[7] Adagio –
[8] Adagio (molto tranquillo)
Valentin Silvestrov: Moments of Memory (VI) *
[9] I. Allegro
[10] II. Andante
[11] III. Moderato
[12] IV. Maestoso
[13] V. Moderato – Allegro
[14] VI. Allegretto
[15] VII. Animato
* World premiere recording
