Kristina Arakelyan talks about her new work, commissioned by HCS

As the Choral approaches its 190th birthday, what more appropriate than a concert that celebrates the very making of music? For our spring concert on 14th March, HCS has commissioned the composer Kristina Arakelyan to write a companion piece to Elgar’s own paean to music, The Music Makers.

An Armenian-British, prize-winning musician, Kristina’s compositions are hallmarked by their striking beauty and compelling emotional honesty, and guided by a clear vision of music’s intrinsic power and purpose. She spoke to us about the ideas behind her brand new work:

“Hymn to the Muses starts from an ode to the Muses (a setting of excerpts from Hesiod’s Theogony), followed by a recitative retelling of excerpts from the creation story of Ancient Greek mythology. The music then moves backwards and forwards in time to explore the works of poets from various periods and in different styles, allowing certain characters of the creation story to take centre stage.

Edward Elgar’s The Music Makers was the inspiration behind Hymn to the Muses, which was written as a companion piece. The composition took its shape from the idea of musical inspiration and music’s magical ability to bring us together. Thinking about the earliest forms of Western Classical music and indeed to the etymology of the word ‘music’, led me towards ancient Greece and the Muses. In addition to being connected to the narrative of Music Makers, this idea was compositionally appealing because of the opportunities for portraying such contrasting themes through music – from the delicate The Water Spirit’s Song to the anarchy of Chaos, to the modal energy of Hymn to the Muses and the mystery of Earth’s Eternity, every movement is its own microcosm and was a pleasure to conjure. I am grateful for the legacy of Edward Elgar’s The Music Makers to which my work pays homage.”

Enjoy Kristina’s brand new work with us at Music Makers on Sat 14th March 2026.