The title of the work comes from ancient Greek mythology, where the name Talos (or Tal) refers to three different figures:

1. Talos is a giant bronze hero that Zeus gave to Europe to protect the island of Crete 
2. Talos is a god, and, according to legend, the father of Hephaestus 
3. Talos (or Pedrix) was the nephew and student of Daedalus (Icarus’s father). Talos died tragically at a young age because of his abilities. As Daedalus feared that his nephew would exceed him in talent and skill, he pushed him off the top of the Temple of Athena on the Acropolis. 

While writing the composition in 2014, I intended to combine and re ect the sound aspects of these three mythological gures, based on the current events which began at that time in my Motherland, Ukraine. Today, in 2022, when a full-scale Russian military aggression has been launched against my country, my creative re ections on this work take on a new meaning, because this largest-scale war in 21st-century in Europe started precisely with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014. 

At the same time, Talos is one of my three works together forming a musical triptych based on themes of from ancient mythology. ese three pieces were written in different periods for different instrumental ensembles and performed separately: Icarus for nine instruments in 2010; Daedalus for four instruments in 2011; Talos for string quartet in 2014. In 2019, the three works were performed together for the first time as a triptych. 

Talos was commissioned by NeoQuartet as part of the Composing Commissions programme of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance. 

Bohdan Sehin