related works
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and large ensemble
Scoring:
zang baglama 12str
Les extrêmes se touchent : for pan flute, guitar and electronics / Roderik de Man
Genre:
Multimedia
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players) with multimedia
Scoring:
panflute gtr tape
Music for Barges : for trombone and sound system on three barges / Yannis Kyriakides
Genre:
Multimedia
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players) with multimedia
Scoring:
trb tape
de l'iris : for ensemble and electronics / Ruud Roelofsen
Genre:
Multimedia
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players) with multimedia
Scoring:
fl sax-a cl-b tb pf perc vl tape
composition
The Lost Border Dances : for double string quartet and electronics / Yannis Kyriakides
Other authors:
Kyriakides, Yannis
(Composer)
Description:
The title refers to the dances performed by border guards, known as Akrites, during the height of the Byzantine Empire. The transcription of these dances and their modern equivalents found in the traditions of the Pontos, through Northern Greece to the Balkans, is used in the piece as basis for the musical material. There is no reference to the folk music tradition - rather the description of the movements themselves have been translated into musical gesture, and the music re-imagined.
There are 8 dances which are encoded in the music, each quartet alternating in taking the lead, like a dance battle, or a dance-off. The transitions become increasingly longer as the piece progresses, creating a shared sonic space between the re-imagined dances, an uncontested buffer zone.
Yannis Kyriakides