Hailed by many as the ‘second Igor’, Markevitch was persona non grata with Stravinsky after the première of Rébus in 1931. More than an other work, it was Rébus that established the worldwide reputation of the twenty-year-old composer, the work receiving virtually simultaneous performances in Paris, Amsterdam and Boston. Hymnes is an experimental work for orchestra in five movements in which a young man reflects on death. Markevitch is a vital composer in our understanding of the evolution of style and musical language in the twentieth century.