Maxim Shalygin – Todos los fuegos el fuego

Todos los fuegos el fuego for saxophone octet, composed by Maxim Shalygin, constitutes a mysterious and exciting link between music and literature. For the second chapter of the life-long Similar cycle (where the first one is Lacrimosa or 13 Magic Songs for 7 violins), Shalygin draws inspiration from ‘Todos los fuegos el fuego’, arguably the most enigmatic book by the great Cortázar. All short stories in this collection share an exit into a parallel, magic reality, sometimes near to ours, sometimes strikingly different from it. Their forms provoke peculiar musical dramaturgic solutions, whereas an abundance of pseudo-musical forms enables for the creation of a unique atmosphere, using an enlarged variety of performance techniques.

Suite’s overall structure consists of eight parts, performed by eight saxophone players — as many as there are stories in the book (and syllables in its title, which, incidentally, sounds like a saxophone phrase by itself). The saxophone is chosen for a reason, since, for all his knowledge and passion for music, jazz claimed the most of Cortázar’s attention. Jazz, and accordingly the sound of the saxophone was his muse and constant presence in many of his most well-known fiction. Moreover, the saxophone is involved in many mystical moments in music, literature, and, last but not least, cinema — a fascination Maxim shares with him as well.

Two of the Netherlands’ most exciting saxophone quartets join forces to perform this work on Saturday, November 9th at the Verkadefabriek in Den Bosch.
More info and tickets
Amstel Quartet
Keuris Quartet