related works
Testudo : for contrabass and electronics / Yannis Kyriakides
Genre:
Multimedia
Subgenre:
Double bass
Scoring:
db tape
Blood did not seep into the ground : for ensemble and fixed media / Idin Samimi Mofakham
Genre:
Multimedia
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players) with multimedia
Scoring:
fl sax-b perc g-e vn vc multimedia
observatory : for ensemble with tape / Yannis Kyriakides
Genre:
Multimedia
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players) with multimedia
Scoring:
rec db vla acc perc tape
Gā'hān : for three instruments and electronics / Idin Samimi Mofakham
Genre:
Multimedia
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players) with multimedia
Scoring:
instr 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