A composition for flute, oboe, English horn, bassoon, two solo violins and string orchestra written on top of Contrapunctus XIV (the last incomplete fugue) from The Art of the Fugue by J. S. Bach. While the original triple fugue by Bach is maintained (almost) intact by the string orchestra throughout, each section of the triple fugue is accompanied by a new composition by Hatzis, the first scored for woodwinds, the second for two solo violins and the third again for woodwinds with all the instruments joining in a closing coda of Hatzis's invention at the end. The new material has its own thematic development which is independent of the Bach material but exists within the framework of Bach's harmonic and contrapuntal language while reference different styles of music. It is an experiment in what Hatzis calls "Cultural Counterpoint".

Farewell To Bach

The piano adaptation of Christos Hatzis's "Quantum Entanglements 2-IV" for two marimbas composed for Theodor Milkov. It is based on the Sonata K.94 in F major by Domenico Scarlatti. For information on the four volume project of Quantum Superpositions 1 & 2 and Quantum Entanglements 1 & 2 for one, two and three marimbas, you can download my  monograph,
PATTERNS & METAPHORS: 
Quantum Superpositions and Entanglements
(The Theodor Milkov – Domenico Scarlatti Project)
https://www.christoshatzis.com/document/32

Quantum Entanglements 2-IV for two pianos (MIDI track)

Please note that this is an excerpt only, to purchase the complete track please go to: jeffreilly.bandcamp.com  or press the BUY button above

EXTREME UNCTION is part of Jeff Reilly's release TO DREAM OF SILENCE which was released at jeffreilly.bandcamp.com on September 22nd, 2017 and internationally on all major download and streaming sites on September 29th, 2017. 

Jeff Reilly, bass clarinet with the Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra conducted by Kevin Mallon

Extreme Unction is the name given to the last rite of the Catholic Church reserved for people who are on the threshold of passing from the material consciousness and state of being to a different one. As the title implies, Extreme Unction is a dark piece about dying and the difficult but inevitable transformation from a physical consciousness, to a higher one. It depicts the quiet opening of the floodgates of the Spirit, as our connection to the material world weakens and eventually ceases altogether. This process is often not a willing surrender. It alternates between our sense of an approaching light and the peace and joy that accompany it and the often violent efforts of our physical body to cling to that which we already know and hold dear.

Half notated, half improvised, Extreme Unction is a composition that allows for an imaginary glimpse of our afterlife and of our instinctive struggle to cling on to the things we know. It is a meditation on dying and on what may lie beyond, as well as a (hopefully) early attempt to come to terms with this important and inevitable milestone in my own life.

(From program notes by Christos Hatzis)

Jeff Reilly, bass clarinet with the Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra players:

First violins: Manuela Milani, Martine Dubé, Sara Mastrangelo, Geneviève Petit 
Second violins: Solange Tremblay, Marjolaine Lambert, Maria Nenoiu,Brigitte Amyot 
Violas: Catherine Ferreira, Sonya Probst 
Cellos: Julian Armour, Thaddeus Morden
Bass: John Geggie

Conducted by Kevin Mallon
www.thirteenstrings.ca
www.jeffreilly.ca

To Dream of Silence

Extreme Unction

Excerpt from Extreme Unction, by Christos Hatzis

In the Fire of Conflict - Christos Hatzis (*1953)
Fabian Ziegler, Marimbaphone
Mario Bruderhofer, Audio

Christos Hatzis - In The Fire Of Conflict

With two recent Juno awards and a SOCAN Award to his credit and a slew of recent commissions by internationally recognized touring artists such as violinist Hilary Hahn, percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, soprano Suzie Leblanc, flutist Susan Hoeppner, the Pacifica Quartet and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra among others, as well as pop celebrities, such as George Dalaras, Sarah Slean and Steven Page,  Christos Hatzis is widely recognized as “one of the most important composers writing today” (CBC) and "a contemporary Canadian master" (New Yorker.) An unusually large number of performances and CD recordings of his music for Naxos, EMI, Analekta, Sony, CBC and other major and independent labels as well wide internet distribution of his audio playlist (over 1,700,000 hits since 2008) have garnered a loyal international following for his music. Recent and current work includes the premiere and US and European tour of Coming To and Dystopia by violinist Hilary Hahn, Lamento, a song cycle for pop singer Sarah Slean and Symphony Nova Scotia in April, Departures, Hatzis' second flute concerto, which premiered in August 2011 by Susan Hoeppner and the Kyoto Symphony and in September by Patrick Gallois and the Thessaloniki State Orchestra and will be recorded for upcoming CD releases in 2012. Recent and upcoming orchestral tours include Hatzis' Telluric Dances with the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, which culminated in a concert at the Herod Atticus open amphitheatre at the foothill of the Acropolis in Athens last June; Mirage? with Dame Evelyn Glennie and the Berlin Chamber Orchestra in October and Pyrrichean Dances, with the Wiener Concert Verein in November. Hatzis’ music is influenced by early Christian spirituality, Pythagorean and Hermetic ideas, his own Byzantine music heritage, world cultures and religions, and various classical, jazz and pop music idioms from the past and present. He is a believer in borderless culture and the uninhibited flow of cultural information. A professor of composition at the University of Toronto, Hatzis writes extensively on these and other related subjects. His writings, audio playlists and other information about the composer are available at www.hatzis.com

Farewell To Bach

christoshatzis

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