Filum (after Lotti) was written for and premiered by Mivos Quartet. 


Filum (after Lotti)

BOOM, BUM BOOM BA-BADA BUM. It's a painfully catchy drumbeat inspired in part by my favorite Ravel piece (you know the one). This one took a little while to complete from beginning to end, but it was well worth it to finally release it almost a year later.

Lament of Sinners

Echoes in the Sky finally gets a variation in the form of a slow, brooding strings variation. It's in the organizational structure that this theme sometimes feels like the estranged sister of DR05/Behind the Shadow. I find that a little interesting.

Rise Tonight

In an interesting case caused by arranging these in rough order of appearance within the episode, the two string quartet variations are presented back to back. This wrenching take on Lament of Sinners underscores a pretty heavy conversation between a companion and the pope. You had to be there, really.

Pain & Absurdity

BAJ07A was a little theme I initially wrote for strings and piano, but it grew in scale over time to the monster it is now. I originally planned to do a few more variations, but in the end, I ran out of episode to score. As a standalone piece, though, it makes for a great showcase for GALENAIA, the newest member of our virtual chorus.

His Favorite Son

Counter, or Counterpoint, was a special variation on the Undoing leitmotif that I cooked up for this episode, and it appears in three tracks within this score. If you can find the third one, you're my favorite.

Undo & Counter

A digital realization of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op. 18 No. 1, created using MIDI sequencing and virtual instruments. This version follows the original score note-for-note, preserving Beethoven’s original structure and intent.

베토벤의 현악 4중주 1번 (바장조, Op. 18 No. 1)을 미디로 그대로 구현한 디지털 연주 버전입니다. 원곡 악보를 충실히 따라가며, 가상 악기를 통해 연주된 순수한 재현입니다.

Original composition by Ludwig van Beethoven (public domain). No copyright infringement intended.

Beethoven - String Quartet No.1 (MIDI Realization)

ESPRESSO MACCHIATO (Tommy Cash), arranged for string quartet. 

Espresso Macchiato (Tommy Cash) Estonia, Eurovision 2025

Music by Ryuichi Sakamoto, arranged by Christian Ryan (2022)

Opus (Ryuichi Sakamoto, arr. CR)

String Quartet No. 3 is the result of exploration of technology and tradition. The piece was
composed entirely within Ableton Live, utilizing a custom Max for Live (M4L) patch that I
developed using Max/Msp visual programming environment. At its core, the composition is
driven by four oscillators that interact and blend, each contributing to the sonic fabric of the
work. The transcription of the material from Ableton into conventional notation was undertaken at a subsequent stage of the process. These synthesized elements aim to engage with and expand upon the timbral palette of the string quartet, an ensemble whose sonic possibilities have been continually redefined since its establishment in the common practice era.

This work received its premiere during the MIAM 25th Anniversary Gala, commemorating a quarter-century since the department's founding.

Conductor: Kamran Ince
Violin I: Ceren Türkmenoğlu 
Violin II: Seçil Işıksoy 
Viola: İlay Öztürk 
Cello: Gözde Yasar

String Quartet No. 3 (2024)

How can form  evolve under a nowadays psychological framework? Is it more difficult to compose long or short pieces and is there any morality in it that serves as a proof of the composer’s skills? My musical interests are focused on a personal composition method that started from my late integrated masters years in Thessaloniki and which eventually was the subject of my PhD research in York. It used to serve as a preliminary stage for an instrumental composition; however, since 2017 the “Selective Subtraction of tone and rhythmic material” composition technique serves as a tool to create but mostly to sculpt the tone and rhythmic material of the instruments that will interweave with the electronics. As its name signifies it is based on a subtractionprocess that gives a certain amount of material. This material forms the basis for an evolutionary process where finally, all these elements are combined in order to give the final piece. Under the scope of electronics it incorporates computational methods like Csound software, Ableton Live and MaxMasp (Sound Synthesis private patch library) in the direction of finding new ways of pattern development and thus evolution of the form.

For examples of the Selective Subtraction of tone and rhythmic material” composition technique enter here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/alutmo3h0ue30ec/AAC-LmZExoUMBr6lVgabz1YOa?dl=0

Sound Synthesis private maxmsp library: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AvxYMmv9_S-sgfRtKB-Vq4t2l1PE_g?e=o8BN6A 

PhD thesis: http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/20111/
Website: https://manolisekmektsoglousite.wordpress.com/
email: ekmektsoglou8@gmail.com 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Manolis Ekmektsoglou studied composition in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece with Dimitri Papageorgiou and in the University of York (PhD) with Thomas Simaku. He also spend a year in Hannover studying acoustic and electronic music (Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover), with Professors Ming Tsao, Gordon Williamson and Joachim Heintz. He is currently Assistant Professor of Acoustic and Acousmatic composition in the Technical University of Istanbul, Department of Sonic Arts, Center for advanced study in Music (M.I.A.M.).

Manolis participated in the “Labor Beethoven 2017-2020” project, funded and organized by the Berlin Academy of the Arts. The project comprised participants from Basel, Tel-Aviv and Thessaloniki. This intensive 4-year period included commissions and performances from various ensembles in Germany and Switzerland and culminated in a final performance that took place in Berlin in 12-13/04/2020. For more info enter here: https://www.labor-beethoven-2020.de/de, and for the final output: In Love…, for voice, ensemble and mixed media https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORJfUvJ0iUo, Circus Story: Taming the animals, for alto saxophone, percussion and fixed media https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhBiIEBGrY4

His pieces have been performed in Greece (DissonArt ensemble, New Hellenic Quartet, Off Borders Festival for electronic music in Thessaloniki, Music in Motion festival for dance and music, Athens), Germany (Neues Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Earth, Sky, Space festival, Hitzacker Musiktage 2018), Italy (Soundiff project), Hong Kong (AMGA ensemble), Spain (ensemble Regards Mixtur festival 2016), Austria (NAMES ensemble, Synaesthesis ensemble, Crossroads festival), Iran (International Electronic Music Festival, Reza Korourian Awards 2017), and the UK (Kinetic nights festival, Manchester, Andersson – Gallois – De Saram trio, Diotima Quartet, Psappha ensemble). Upcoming activities comprise performance of the existing work Ripping…having…standing…oben!!, for ensemble in Versipel New Music festival, Louisiana (postponed for 2021 due to pandemics) and a premiere of a work specifically written for MISE-EN festival, New York (postponed for 2021 due to pandemics). 

For a detailed CV follow this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hprdtba1p9plqhj/CV.pdf?dl=0

I like writing original orchestral music for my favorite TV shows. It's just my thing! 
For new and expanded releases, as well as full albums, check out my Bandcamp. 
https://thecelestialmechanic.bandcamp.com/
I also publish select cues alongside their respective scenes, which can be found on my YT channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_UJNKx5RfxZCZyoOMNNZGQ

New tracks tagged #String Quartet