The Geneva Chamber Orchestra has always ardently championed renowned Geneva composers such as Ernest Bloch, Frank Martin, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, Xavier Dayer or Michael Jarrell.

Geneva-based cellist Estelle Revaz has been artist-in-residence to the Geneva Chamber Orchestra since 2017-2018. For her second release on Solo Musica, Bach & Friends - a musical dialogue between Bach’s Solo Cello Suites and works by major contemporary composers – she commissioned a new piece from Geneva composer Xavier Dayer. In the context of her residency, the choice of Frank Martin’s works for cello and orchestra was obvious, all the more so as Dutch musical director Arie van Beek provided a link between the composer’s Swiss origins and the Netherlands, his adopted country. Adding an original piece by Xavier Dayer to the programme seemed another obvious choice. Cantus II for solo cello resulted from a most fruitful collaboration between composer and performer and Xavier Dayer’s international profile fully justified this unique programme combination.