And after?

What remains after the unspeakable, after the end, after the silence?

This programme explores four major 20th-century works that offer musical responses to existence's two great questions: death and spirituality. 

Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki tackles these questions in Thrène à la mémoire des victimes d'Hiroshima, a veritable orchestral cry that questions the afterlife in the wake of the apocalypse. 

Debussy transports us to a dreamlike world with his Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, where ‘after’ becomes an eternal renewal, a flute phrase like an infinite, suspended loop that, together with Poulenc's Concerto for Piano, creates a precious contrast between lightness and melancholy, rather like an appeal for resilience and life. 

Finally, Honegger's Third Symphony, ‘Symphonie Liturgique’ evokes the hope for redemption after darkness with a unique swaying melody that invites us to reflect and, who knows, perhaps even to hope.