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
One Hundred Years : for orchestra, voices and electronics / Yannis Kyriakides
Genre:
Electronical music
Subgenre:
Orchestra with electronics
Instruments:
4zang sfl(picc) fl-a 2ob eh 2cl cl-b 2fg cfg 4h 2tpt 2trb trb-b tb 3perc cel hp str tape
The Arrest : for ensemble, soundtrack and videotext / Yannis Kyriakides
Genre:
Electronical music
Subgenre:
Gemengd ensemble (2-12 spelers) met elektronica
Instruments:
vln pf g-elec mar cl/cl-b db soundtrack
Genre:
Electronical music
Subgenre:
Gemengd ensemble (2-12 spelers) met elektronica
Instruments:
fl org synth tape
Genre:
Electronical music
Subgenre:
Gemengd ensemble (2-12 spelers) met elektronica
Instruments:
zang perc hp 2rec tape
composition
Ode to Man (abridged version) : for 4 sopranos and electronics / Yannis Kyriakides; text based on Antigone by Sophocles
Other authors:
Sophocles
(librettist)
Description:
Ode to man was written for the vocal group Silbersee, for their production Homo Instrumentalis. It is based on the text from the chorus of Antigone by Sophocles (line 332-375) known as The Ode to Man. This is one of the most famous choral odes in ancient Greek tragedy, where, in what seems to be an ironic tone, the technological achievements of the human race are set out. Man’s ability to conquer nature, to develop language and law and to create great civilisations is set against the fact that the one thing he cannot conquer is his own mortality. This ambiguity is reflected in the first line: “Deinon”, the word used in the description of these achievements can mean both “terrible” and “wonderful”.
The theme of man against nature is one that is explored in the music also. I wanted to use the text in a way that it is constantly being deconstructed into its phonemes. The voices slowly move from the articulation of the text to pure raw vocality. The grating presence of the electronic sound is always in a state of overpowering and unbalancing the voices.