SKU: BT.MUSM570366453

English.

'Brice Catherin, a cellist and a composer exploring the notion of the one-man-band concept, commissioned this work; this composition was subsequently the result of our collaboration. My aim has been to create a work where the cellist produces sounds using his full body: his hands (employing a variety of extended techniques on the Cello and external objects), his feet, his mouth (singing and playing the harmonica and flexible tube) and even his face on one occasion to muffle the strings. There are two central themes in the work: virtuosity and theatre, both strong, frequent features of my compositional oeuvre. After several meetings and experimentation with Brice, I chose asetup that enhances the musical scope without visually cluttering the stage. I am also using a rather unusual scordatura that not only changes the timbre of the instrument itself, but also helps create unique soundscapes that blend together with the sounds from the spring drums, the human voice (whistling, groans and other effects), a singing bowl, a harmonica and a flexible tube among others. The work is entitled Emmelia and there are two reasons for this: Emmelia derives from the prefix en (in) and the noun melos (harmony), thus meaning in harmony. The composition is structured and developed in clearly defined sections (noisy, harmonious, distorted, etc.), based on information revealed by a spectral analysis of an F1 spectrum on the cello (tuned a fifth below low C), played and recorded using a variety of attacks and triggering objects and methods. Emmelia is also the name of my baby daughter, who has been my constant inspiration since she was born.' - Evis Sammoutis.

SKU: BA.BA11071

ISBN 9790006562015. 42 x 29.7 cm inches.

“Now II” is the second part of a triptych of chamber pieces entitled “Profiles of Light”. The first part is written for solo piano (Now I, BA 11073), the second for unaccompanied cello. The two instruments are then combined in the concluding third part, Uriel (BA 11013).

All three pieces were inspired by the Abstract Expressionist paintings of the American artist Barnett Newman. Newman's work has had a formative impact on Matthias Pintscher's artistic philosophy: what does it mean to reduce things to essentials while seeking maximum immediacy of expression? Several of Newman's paintings have a radiant light of uncommon intensity, yet resembling a dark illumination. The same sort of thing is found in the late works of Franz Schubert, where a comparable profundity and retrospective yearning likewise shine through the surface of even the brightest tonalities.

This is a piece about resonances, about the inward and outward givens of existence, about life itself: 'I find the cello a highly suitable instrument for depicting such existential conditions'.