abstracts
Ioannis Fulias:
Rena Kyriakou’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, opus 18: its
history, a first analytical approach, a critical re-evaluation and
an attempt to place the work among the Greek art music creation
The present study focuses on the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra,
opus 18 / ÁÊÓÑÊ 74, that is the largest and most ambitious work of
the eminent Greek pianist and composer Rena Kyriakou (1917-1994),
while
marking, at the same time, the crowning and the (abrupt) ending of
her – officially known – creative career. With the aid of numerous
sources, the
creative and performance
history of the work is clarified, before proceeding to a thorough
music analysis of it, also in reference to several other works by
Kyriakou. Thereinafter, the reception of her concerto by the music
critics who attended its first public performance, in December 1943
in Athens,
is
systematically and critically investigated, in order to be
ascertained the extent of the inadequacy of these critic essays for
a modern objective evaluation of the work, as well as the importance
of its re-approach from a zero basis, with the assistance of the
(previously applied) analytical methodological tools. Furthermore,
the necessity to place this specific work in the wider context of
its genre and style, as they were cultivated in Greek art music,
resulted in a comprehensive overview of all piano concertos written
and (only partially) performed in public by Greek composers until
1945 (by N. Skalkottas, P. Petridis, M. Kalomiris, P. Kyriakou, Y.
A. Papaioannou and L. Lalauni),
along
with a first
attempt to
comparatively examine the stylistic origins and the compositional
tendencies represented in this repertoire.
Nestor Taylor: The structural and functional
organization of the choir in the vocal works of J. S. Bach
Taking as a starting point the numerous performances of J. S. Bach’s
vocal works, where the number of choristers and their individual
role often varies considerably, the writer endeavors to describe the
basic principles of the chorus’ function-hierarchy in the times of
Bach, with the aim of broadening our understanding of his work and
creating the framework for becoming acquainted with the general
esthetics of the baroque period in as much as they determine and are
determined by the underlying structure of each work and its
creator’s intentionality. The study is based on the analysis of a
wide array of historical facts and an equal number of
proposed
interpretive
methods that at various times have gained
ascendancy, focusing on the description of two main opposing sides,
that which promotes a small number of choir-member distribution
(reduced to single), known as the “minimalist” school, as opposed to
that which embraces a rather inflated approach, with stereotypical
models harking back to a more romantic outlook, the so-called
“maximalist” school. Evidently, these alternative approaches and
differing views reinvigorate the opportunity for discussion around
the question of authenticity and the value of interpretational
historicity, engaging into dialogue and enabling the emergement of
creative connections to the past.
Angeliki Skandali:
Singing classes at the conservatoires established by M. Kalomiris
and the cultivation of opera during the early 20th century
(1919-1939)
A short study of the Records of Activities at the two conservatoires
established by Kalomiris
(the Hellenic Conservatoire and the National Conservatoire) is
attempted in this article, as well as any possible connection
between these institutions and the active Greek operatic troops
established by Dionysios Lavrangas is detected. The study shows that
the operatic activities in these two conservatoires are placed at a
historic time as the first forwarding steps for opera cultivation in
Greece were made. Students from all the territory were included in
the records list, but the operation concerning the lyric song
and the opera
was long depended upon efforts made by the previously teaching staff
at the Athens Conservatoire. Kalomiris’ conservatoires performed
operas composed by their establisher and a number of talented
graduates were happily recorded for their success abroad. The
criteria for the configuration of the repertoire at the Kalomiris’
conservatoires are European-inspired, offering an interest to French
impressionistic opera and national schools. Greek operas were also
heard in concerts and performances. Operas by Dionysios Lavrangas
were never performed, though the composer was a member of the
directing board of the conservatoires.
Thimios Atzakas:
Taksim: continuity and transformation. Historical retrospections,
commentaries and reflections on the makam “performance-generated”
composition
The
ottoman musical form of taksim,
translated in Greek as “taksimi” or “aftoschediasmos”,
consists of numerous creative and well-concerted actions of the
performer,
which transcend his individual identity and connect with the musical
and cultural life of his era. The well-focused study and practice of
this form, not only improves the performer’s technical skills,
but requires a harmonious synergy between intellectual, sensory and
somatic status constantly interacting with aspects strongly related
to the musical orality. The taksim, as a tool on the musical
variation, processing and transformation of many eastern
Mediterranean modal traditions, acquires a universal dimension: it
reflects the “bridge” between the flow and stopping, personal
innovation and obedience to the collective memory, linear and cyclic
paths, improvisation and composition. In
“in
situ”
composition of taksim performance practice, the division of roles
between composer and performer gets lost in the endless flows and
transformations of melodic-prosodic material.
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