Açores - Suite caractéristique op.35 was written in the summer of 2018. It was the fulfillment of the composer’s longstanding desire to create a musical homage to the Portuguese Atlantic islands to which he has a strong personal connection. The formal structure of the work corresponds approximately to the geography of the nine-island archipelago. Each of the nine islands is represented by a movement which bears the island’s name. The length of each movement is proportional to the size of each island compared to the whole of the archipelago. The thematic material of each movement provides a musical portrait of each island.

The geographical distribution into three groups of islands (the outer groups containing two islands each while the middle group contains five) is reflected in the likewise three-part composition. In the work’s middle movement, each of the five islands of the central group is assigned one of the five solo instruments: Terceira – English horn, São Jorge – viola, Graciosa – flute, Pico – harp, and Flores – cello The work is subtitled “Hommage to Maurice Ravel”. To facilitate a combined performance with Ravel’s septet “Introduction and Allegro”, the English horn part may be played by clarinet.