Bee' is inspired by the microcosmos of insects, a world of intense/energetic flying behaviour, and could be described as a 'journey on the back of a bee', since metaphorically often places the listener in this imaginary position, as 'travelling' on the insect itself. The purpose of the piece is to evoke images or imaginary situations, and can be well described as a 'soundtrack without the image', as the sound is strong enough to let us -the listeners- mould the visual aspect in our imagination...
This work uses the language of electroacoustic music, and derived from digital processing of natural sounds (mostly sounds of insects) in combination with electronic/synthesised sound material.
The piece was awarded the Award of Distinction at the ARS ELECTRONICA 2011 International Competition on new media, category: Digital Musics &amp; Sound Art.

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The work is inspired by the myth of Icarus, and metaphorically relates to the effort of human to reach the sky and go beyond the limits of his biological nature. 

A sum of different ‘flying’, evolving behaviours –from bird-like to jet-like sounds- represents this human struggle throughout the work. Most sounds derived from field recordings during a soundscape project in Corfu, Greece. Soundscapes of nature are transformed to represent different behaviours, detached from the original source, creating an acousmatic tale...

Realized as a post-doctoral research composition, under "Pythagoras" research programme, funded by the EU and the Greek Ministry of Education, and co-ordinated by the Ionian University, Department of Music Studies, between 2006-2008. 

Icarus was amongst the finalists of 34th International Competition at Bourges, (France 2007), and was awarded the Audience Prize at the  METAMORPHOSES 2008 International Composition Competition (Belgium).

Published on CD by M&R 2008 http://www.electrocd.com/en/cat/mr_2008/

More info on the composer:
https://apostolosloufopoulos.wordpress.com/

Icarus

...good and evil, light and darkness, tranquility and intensity, joy, harmony, unrest, anger, conflict, death, rebirth, metamorphosis...
These elements co-exist within a musical context of intense sonic antitheses, inspired by myth and magic, and also by the human nature of emotions, thoughts, internal fight, transcendence...
For the creation of the work, sounds borrowed from an old Greek 6-string bouzouki were utilised, in combination, at certain parts, with transformed vocal sounds. 


Demons and Fairies

Enalia

aura suggests a “gentle breeze”, indicating a certain type of motion, a smooth sound, throughout this track. Metaphorically, the sound may here represent the ideas of birth and evolution of life, associated with invisible worlds existing behind the materials of nature: what we experience in the natural environment is a result, a “framing” of a whole universe of invisible evolutionary processes, which constitute a hidden microcosmic reality.
Throughout Aura the sound world is unfamiliar, non-relating to certain sources, however it often momentarily reminds of recognizable natural motions of living organisms, or virtual natural images and landscapes. This “familiar”-’unfamiliar’ relationship is symbolizes the complex, microcosmic universe, which evolves behind the “scenery” of nature, in the core of even the simplest form of natural life.

The sounds used in this work mainly derive from non-natural sound-sources. Electronically generated and human-based gestural sounds are utilized in transformations, but also sounds recorded from nature have been employed. The “concrete” sonic events are layered in front of a sustained, “synthesized” harmonic background, with which they interact and create different types of space. The recorded “cricket” sound in the final section is used as a symbol of nature, presenting the simplicity of the perceptible natural world, which contrasts with the complexity of the invisible world behind.

The work was finalist @ the international composition competition "Metamorphoses 2002", Belgium, and discographed by M&R

https://www.electrocd.com/en/oeuvre/15796/Apostolos_Loufopoulos/Aura

AURA

Erevos means darkness, dusk in Greek. In ancient Greek and Roman (Erebus) mythology it is mentioned as a place between the earth and the underworld, a place where the day and the night went in turns, when they finished their trip o the sky. The work reveals a world of imagination, where relationships and analogies differ from the reality. It is a journey from the natural to the unknown, to what exists beneath our solid ground, to what we tend to fear of and . Throughout the track, nature adopts different colours and characters: its materials are sonically placed in unfamiliar territories, while they are successively combined, revealing hybrid forms of matter and life. Erevos was completed in September 2002 at the composer’s private studio and at City University Electroacoustic Studios in London.

Awarded a distinction at the Bourges 2003 International Competition for electroacoustic Music, France
Finalist at the Metamorphoses 2004 International Competiion, Belgium

CD release by M&R (Metamorphoses compilation)

https://www.electrocd.com/en/artiste/loufopoulos_ap/Apostolos_Loufopoulos

Erevos

night pulses... and the idea of 'night' is used to represent an abstract sound-world, an 'electronic landscape', which gradually unfolds, often revealing something we might recognise there. 'Pulsations' are dominant: sound events often interwoven with variable pulses, which interact and develop an unsteady, kinetic environment, set in a static harmonic field. 'Pulsations' may also symbolise the continuous cycle of life in relation to time: eternity

Awarded First Prize and Audience Prize @ SCRIME 2003 International Electronic Music Competition, Bordeaux, France

CD release: Scr02SCRIME.768650402 
http://www.worldcat.org/title/prix-scrime-200/oclc/768650402

Night Pulses

Rous means flux. It relates to the ideas of Heracletus about the energy that flows and sets everything in motion. The sounds in this piece continuously transform, representing the way in which the materials of nature transform into different shapes and forms of life, throughout its eternal circulation. Solids become fluids, gases and vice versa, insects turn to waves, mountains, or human gestures.  There is a power that sets them in this continuous change and conflict: the "soul", (which Heracletus called "fire"): A condition of eternal motion and transcendence, the archetypal centre of matter and life.

Composed 2001 @ City University Electroacoustic Music Studios
C0-awarded the Noroit Competition Audience Prize

CD release (compilation) by the Ionian University, 2004

ROUS

Shore

A work composed mainly with flute sounds. Wood-wind sounds.
Part of composition portfolio for postgraduate composition classes.
2001 City University London

Original flute sounds produced by performer Myrto Korkokiou

WOODS

Paremvoles (flute and electronic sound)

A piece for flute and electronic sounds... 
The electronic part was made from recordings of nature, transformed and mixed with recordings of flute playing tonal and paralinguistic sounds (noises, whistles, clicks etc).
It is inspired by the behaviours and images of nature (animal motions, stormy weather) and beyond... The flute sounds (recorded and live) follow this attitude towards the morphology of the work: it is (flute playing) like being part of the natural world, evoking known or unkknown elements of the environment, aiming to create the impression of natural life and geology in a musical way. The development of sound follows traditional musical development (like in classical music, separate parts, motifs etc), only that this work is not written for an instrumental orchestra, but for the orchestra of nature and the extended flute sounds.

Flute part (composition and performance) was made by Myrto Korkokiou

video segment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2ST1wDrZrY

Score: (for flutists interested in performing this)
http://www.fortonmusic.co.uk/product/behaviours/

-advanced level of flute playing-

Behaviours (mix 2012)

'Spirit' is related to breath and soul. The ancients described it as 'breath of life', or 'air in motion', or 'vital heat', meaning a powerful substance, a creative energy that brings matter to life…            
'Spirit' is an unstable sound-world, with sudden motions and dramatic shifts of space, suggesting a supernatural reality that crosses the borders of our physical world. Airy-whispering timbres, fast moving, flying voices and sound-clouds, and the juxtaposition of aggressive and calm sounds and of tonality and noise, are some of the main characteristics one comes across through listening.

'Spirit' is selected for the finals of Metamorphoses 2012 International Composition Competition in Belgium.

http://apostolosloufopoulos.wordpress.com





Spirit

Apostolos Loufopoulos works with sound and digital media and is interested in the sound of the natural world and its potential for musical exploration…
and not only...

apostolos-loufopoulos

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