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
...of struggle and hope : for contrabass quartet and electronics / Idin Samimi Mofakham
Genre:
Electronical music
Subgenre:
Double bass
Scoring:
4db tape
Elegies : for contrabass and tape / Douglas Knehans
Genre:
Electronical music
Subgenre:
Double bass
De zaterdageditie : voor krantenjongen, dirigent en ensemble, 1996 / Guus Janssen
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Large ensemble (12 or more players); Musical
Scoring:
1011 0100 perc acc pf 2vl vla vc cb actor
composition
Testudo : for contrabass and electronics / Yannis Kyriakides
Description:
Testudo is based on the myth of Hermes’ appropriation of the Tortoise shell in the creation of the lyre. In Sophocles’ fragmentary satyr play, Ichneutae, (The Trackers), Apollo discovers that his cattle is missing and he employs the Satyrs, lead by Silenus, to search for them. In exchange he offers them freedom from slavery. Tracking their footprints they come to a cave where they hear a sound which they have never heard before. They freeze in terror and refuse to enter the cave. The mountain nymph Cyllene explains to them that the sound is of baby Hermes tuning a ‘lyre’ an instrument he has just created using cowhide stretched over the shell of a tortoise. Since the satyrs seem to not know what ‘music’ is, this has to be explained to them.
A multichannel soundtrack which acts as the signal for the score is played through the various resonators attached to the instrument. The soundtrack is made up of sounds synthesized from tortoise recordings transformed into synthesized sound and used to animate, with the help of the player, various resonant aspects of the instrument.
The character of the piece is ferocious, primitive and playful exploring aspects of performance that bring to fore the idea of an instrument under construction, the translation of bioacoustic signals into musical signals, and ancient concepts of possession as a model of music making.