composer
Yannis Kyriakides was born in Limassol, Cyprus in 1969, emigrated to Britain in 1975, and has been living in the Netherlands since 1992. He currently lives in Amsterdam with his ...
related works
The Lost Border Dances : for double string quartet and electronics / Yannis Kyriakides
Genre:
Electronical music
Subgenre:
Gemengd ensemble (2-12 spelers) met elektronica
Scoring:
4vln 2vla 2vc tape
Friend Li Po... : for guzheng and electronics / Alla Zagaykevych
Genre:
Electronical music
Subgenre:
Gemengd ensemble (2-12 spelers) met elektronica
Scoring:
guzheng tape
observatory : for ensemble with tape / Yannis Kyriakides
Genre:
Electronical music
Subgenre:
Gemengd ensemble (2-12 spelers) met elektronica
Scoring:
rec db vla acc perc tape
Genre:
Electronical music
Subgenre:
Gemengd ensemble (2-12 spelers) met elektronica
Scoring:
cl vln acc tape
composition
The Lost Border Dances : for double string quartet and electronics / Yannis Kyriakides
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