I. à Viaro Kapodistrias/Lazaro Koundouriotis
II. à Petrompeis Mavromichalis
III. au contre-amiral Lalande
IV. au Prince Soutzos
V. à N.N.

Commissioned by the Greek National Opera, for the project "A Greek Song Book", based on texts by Ioannis Kapodistrias

Anthony Rivera, Baritone
Kornilios Selamsis, Conductor

Dedicated to Kornilios Selamsis and Marcin Habela

Greek National Opera, SNFCC, November 21st 2021

Vents  Contraires (2021), for baritone and ensemble

Comp Project 3c

for soprano, 4 amplified dictaphones, and mixed ensemble

Performed by Nina Guo and Ensemble Modern
text by Alexandra Kleeman
Conducted by Sara Caneva
Recorded by Felix Dreher, mixed by Katherine Balch

waste knot

Contrafactum: “the substitution of one text for another without substantial change to the music.” (from New Grove Dictionary on Music and Musicians)

Contrafactum refers to the state of consciousness that Milan Kundera describes in Immortality as the “marvelous swinging between wakefulness and sleep.” In Contrafactum one finds oneself in state of drowsiness in an unfamiliar place. Initially, all surrounding objects are barely discernible: one senses only their presence through shadows of tones and faint pulsations. As time progresses, their shape, volume, and texture become increasingly tangible, conjuring memories and a sense of déjà vu. How did we arrive here? Have we been here before? The three movements of Contrafactum propose three different, perhaps counterfactual narratives that answer these questions.

01 Minakakis - Contrafactum, I Adagio Ma Fliente

Stratis Minakakis is a composer and conductor whose creative work engages issues of memory, cultural identity, and art as social testimony; it also explores the rich possibilities engendered by the interaction between arts and sciences. He teaches at New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit https://www.stratisminakakis.info.

01 Minakakis - Contrafactum, I Adagio Ma Fliente

stratis.minakakis

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