Orquesta Sinfónica de Mendoza, Argentina, Dirección Nathalie Marin

The Environmental Symphony was first performed in 2015 by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and featured visuals by Ross McNair. The Environmental Symphony was Zavod's last major work before his death in November 2016. The Environmental Symphony was released by ABC Classics on 5 June 2019 to coincide with World Environment Day. This new recording by The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Benjamin Northey, with words by Dr Alan Finkel, is narrated by Sir Richard Branson.

The first movement is very Romantically charged, with rich harmonies, dense textures and broad melodies. To be sure, it is in my style of dissonant tonality, sometimes very chordal and traditional and sometimes, when I felt it was appropriate, most strikingly dissonant. Composers of previous centuries would utilise the techniques and language of older composers, adding freely to them in their own more modern styles, and so do I. I have come to regard tonality/atonality and consonance/dissonance as merely expressive devices, and I think modern audiences are coming to a similar acceptance. Just listen to certain movie scores (Freddie Kruger, for example) and you will soon come to see why audiences are more open to new musical sounds! The second movement is the one that gives this trio its nickname, "The Armenian". In writing, in 2016, a theatre piece based on the life of St. Gregory of Armenia (known as "The Illuminator"), I came across a lullaby called "Ruri, Ruri" and fell in love with it. I used it of course in that work, and have set it once more here in this trio. I've set it for mixed choir also. There are various renditions of this song on Youtube, quite different from one another. I have chosen a 5/4 version, and several others may be heard by following the links there. The last movement is a circus polka, energetic to the point of mania, and requiring a strong left hand on the part of the pianist. This section should be great fun for any players who can hack it! It gets some of its inspiration from the Shostakovich Piano Concerto #2, one of whose movements starts fast and furious and just keeps growing. I decided to do that, and you can decide how successful I was.

VISIONI ed ESTASI was composed in 2015 in commission of the 'Flanders Festival Mechelen' for the TENSO Days 2015 (International Festival for Contemporary Choral Music). The work was originally composed for 3 professional choirs and 1 large choir (7 amateur choirs) and electronics. It is a vast work of forty five minutes, where introspective moments alternate with intense ecstatic moments. The inspiration for the composition was a verse from the Latin Requiem Mass, the 'Lux Aeterna'. The original text however, was completely crumbled, the Latin words were deconstructed. There is no semantic value, however its essence, the message of Light and Hope, is definitely present. This message is embedded in most cultures and religions. Many of Henderickx's music can be traced back to his interest in the Orient, but VISIONI ed ESTASI falls within a broader spiritual context. This work received its premiere at the Saint Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen (BE), with James Wood as the general conductor. It involved professional choirs from the Netherlands, France and Finland and amateur choirs from the city of Mechelen. The electronics serve to support the choirs, merging and interacting with the voices. The choirs enter into a dialogue in a set-up inspired by the Venetian 'Cori Spezzati' in order to create a strong spatial effect.