My collaboration with the New European Ensemble, after their earlier performances of some of my works, has now continued with the commission of a new composition.
The conception sparked extensive discussions, as we aimed to reflect the condition of today’s world, caught in the midst of a paradigmatic transition. My inspiration came from Dan Simmons’ novel Hyperion, as well as from the very image of the starship Hyperion—a pinnacle of human thought and scientific achievement set on its flight in search of a new “model” of the world toward which we are all heading. It is no secret that much of today’s literature and film depicts the future almost exclusively in terms of “catastrophe and apocalypse” – typical reflection of crisis. In contrast, our concept sought to change this trajectory and imagine a positive vision of the world’s development — not a utopia, but a renewed and constructive stage of modernity.
My choice of Dan Simmons’ Hyperionwas not accidental. The novel is not only a landmark of modern science fiction, but also a profound meditation on time, destiny, and the fragility of human civilization. Simmons builds a universe in which different voices and narratives intertwine, forming a complex polyphony — much like in music. Each character carries a personal story, yet together they create a larger vision of humanity in transition.
I wanted my composition to echo this polyphonic structure: contrasting textures, unexpected turns, and layers of sound that coexist without losing their individuality. Just as the novel moves between myth, philosophy, and futuristic imagination, the music of Hyperion also shifts between tension and release, darkness and radiance, uncertainty and hope.
The collective image of the Hyperion starship is also that of a Titan, an ancient mythological symbol in which strength, light, and the passage into the new are united. In the music, this symbol becomes not only a metaphor for transition, but also a vessel for collective aspiration — the idea that humanity, despite its crises, is capable of striving toward a more balanced and luminous horizon.
This project is, therefore, both a reflection and a proposition: a reflection on the fractured state of the present, and a proposition that art can illuminate possible futures. With the New European Ensemble, I wanted to create a dialogue with our time — an invitation to imagine where the ship of Hyperion might carry us.
Performances:
Premiere on 27 September in Amare
14 October TivoliVredenburg
17 okt Schouwburg Tilburg
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