His life’s work, that is how the Ukrainian-Dutch composer Maxim Shalygin calls the grand cycle S I M I L A R. The Minimal Music Festival presents the cycle together for the first time: not only do the three existing parts sound during the festival, in the final concert tonight the brand new fourth part premiere. Delirium has an instrumentation of four pianos – in S I M I L A R, sound wizard Shalygin digs deep into the possibilities of ensembles consisting entirely of identical instruments. Four top pianists will perform the unheard-of nuances of sound and emotion.

“The idea is to gradually bring the listener into a state of weightlessness,” says the composer about Delirium. The piano has a very precise touch, but by constantly shifting rhythms, Shalygin disrupts the sense of a clear pulse: he creates a compelling musical flow that seems to float freely in space. The earlier movements of S I M I L A R are Lacrimosa for seven violins, Todos los fuegos el fuego for eight saxophones and Severade for nine cellos.