Homage to Peace with Andreas Koenig

Ravel composed the cycle “Le Tombeau de Couperin” immediately after his experience in the First World War, in which he served as a truck driver for the French army. After his discharge, he devoted each movement from this suite to one of his fallen friends, whereby he immortalized their memory and their characters. Even in this suite, Ravel creates elegant, pointed and delightful atmospheres.

Among Debussy's works, some come closer to the air and texture of Indian music than any other compositions from the West – one such example is “Pagodes”, whose musical structure is determined by two dominant ragas.

Liszt's “Réminiscences de Norma” about Bellini's legendary Belcanto-opera “Norma” have a fictional warlike background, in whose plot the protagonist Norma and her husband come from two hostile warring parties. It is a turbulent and hair-raising story that ends with a triumph of love, after a rollercoaster of emotions and gruesome moments – but it is a triumph that costs the life of both protagonists.