written for and performed by ensemble Phace
conducted by Nacho de Paz

performed at Imago Dei
Krems, Austria

cocommissioned by ensemble Phace and Land Niederösterreich, as part of my residency in AIR-Krems

Zesses Seglias_madrigali alla luce e al sangue

after e.e.cummings and S. Beckett

performed by ExVoCo and Duo Klexs

Klangraum Festival, Stuttgart
26.xi.2021

______________
Beyond special techniques, 2 poems was composed upon the principle of the renaissance madrigals, as it tries to musically paint the words of the poems shown below. To this end, I make use of two concepts; the inner singing and the touch concept. Both concepts mainly refer to actions taken before the actual production of the sound. Inner singing divides thought or sentiment from expressing them, in the sense that some times people think differently than what they say. For this reason, an extra staff for the singers is frequently used, calling them to deliver or think words and occasionally interact with the main staff calling for usual expression, i.e. singing.
The touch concept refers both to the singers and instrumentalists, and it explores the moments before the birth of musical sound, where different parts of the body touch each other and/or the instrument.

The music serves the text, even though the latter is not clearly heard throughout the piece. The performers should read the poem and keep it in mind; the sounds they play are meant to create a context within which the listener is asked to get sunk, in order to experience both poems.


lady, i will touch you with my mind. 
touch you and touch and touch 
until you give
me suddenly a smile, shyly obscene

(lady i will
touch you with my mind.) Touch 
you,that is all,

lightly and you utterly will become 
with infinite care
the poem which i do not write. 

― e.e.cummings

We shall be here all night, 
Be here all night shall we, 
All night we shall be here, 
Here all night we shall be. 
One dark, one still, one breath, 
Night here, here we, we night, 
One fleeing, fleeing to rest, 
One resting on the flight.

― S. Beckett, Watt

Zesses Seglias_Two Poems

To the Lighthouse (2017)
Opera in three parts for nine soloists and big ensemble

End of Part I
Scene X-Mrs Ramsay
Scene XI-Mrs Ramsay, Mr Ramsay
Scene XII-Tutti
Scene XIII-Mrs Ramsay
Libretto after Virginia Woolf by Ernst Binder

Mrs. Ramsay | Christie Finn
Mr. Ramsay | Jean Marc Salzmann
Lily Briscoe | Sophie Burgos
James Ramsay | Alexander York
James Ramsay (Child) | Matthew Richardson
Augustus Carmichael | Adrian Clarke
Charles Tansley | Taylan Reinhard
William Bankes | Sébastien Soules
Mrs. McNab | Dalia Schaechter

Musical Direction | Claire Levacher
Stage Direction | Olivier Tambosi
Stage | Jakob Kolding
Costumes | Vibeke Andersen
Lights | Stefan Pfeistlinger
Dramaturgy | Olaf Schmitt

Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg

©Bregenzer Festspiele
Recorded by ORF
photo ©Rudolf Sagmeister

To The Lighthouse_End Part I

[2020/2022]
 
for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, viola and violoncello (13')
 
commissioned by Konzerthaus Vienna
supported by SKE Fonds
 
dedicated to Schallfeld Ensemble

________________________________
conversations with myself, conversations with Cecil Taylor, conversations with Eric Dolphy, conversations with my friends. energy in Vienna, energy on the hair, energy in the breath, ener- gy in the body. further conversations with myself. gesture in the space, gesture in the body, gesture in the air. rhythm in the room, rhythm as a mass, a smash on my face. new conversations.

Conversations VII

[2010]
for flute, clarinet, piano, violin, viola and violoncello
live recorded by Ensemble Reconsil at Reaktor, Vienna
https://www.reaktor.art/programm/muddy 

Ensemble Reconsil 
Flute: Eric Lamb 
Clarinet: Thomas Schön 
Piano: Kaori Nishii
Violin: Christina Neubaur-Kraushofer 
Viola: Martina Bischof 
Violoncello: Manuel Schager 
Conductor: Antanina Kalechyts 
Recording: [RMP-Records ATPJ7] Ing. Rainer M. Picha.

Sei Strumenti In Cerca Del Compositore

Simiomata|Σημειώματα
for saxophone, accordion, viola and double bass

Gerald Preinfalk, saxophone
Krassimir Sterev, accordion 
Dimitrios Polisoidis, viola 
Philipp Kienberger, double bass

premiere
18.03.2023
MUWA, Graz

commissioned by Ute Pinter|Open Music
supported by SKE fonds


Simiomata — Σημειώματα in greek means Notes.
Noting down the material is not merely a preparatory work before the actual composition process, but rather the beginning of it. The fragmental character of such work is confronted with a continuous flow that derives from an aesthetic approach calling for an everlasting feedback between form and material.
The piece is thought as consisting of different versions for a possible beginning, put in order to create a rather static texture.
It is heartily dedicated to Ute Pinter.

Zesses Seglias - Simiomata_extracts

..𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯
Hommage à Josquin
for alto, two tenors and bass (20') 


Composed for Cantando Admont
 
Cornelia Sonnleithner, Alto
Hugo Paulsson Stove, Tenor
Aleksander Rewinski, Tenor
Ulfried Staber, Bass

Cordula Bürgi, Conductor


Tuesday 23 January
20:00
Mariahilfekirche
Graz

…sans fin pays hommage to composer Josquin de Prez.
It drives material and inspiration from his œuvre as a whole, but also from certain works, such as his mass Missa L’homme armé super voces musicales,
Mille Regretz, El Grillo, Nymphes des Bois, Miserere. In addition to the musical material and Josquin’s techniques, it borrows fragments from the lyrics of
the aforementioned pieces.
Besides any reference, ...sans fin tries to transcend Josquin’s essence in a personal sound world, through his main medium: the choir. Beyond melodic lines
and harmonic progressions, this is a piece of melting sound spheres that dissolve into thin air. In their microform, the patterns repeat themselves before
ending in a resolution, meant either literally -in a purely music sense- or metaphorically. To this direction, cadences and formulas clearly addressing
Josquin’s techniques serve as a guide, in order to give more vague processes a similar meaning.
The whole piece is a lament, sunk in an unending sorrow where death is anticipated as a sweet sleep.


…sans fin is dedicated to my dear teacher Panagiotis Adam, to whom I owe most of my knowledge and love for Josquin.

Zesses Seglias ...sans fin

la poétesse et sa flute: monolouge. varations (2023)
for solo female voice (9')
Helēna Sorokina, contralto/mezzo-soprano

13.12.2023
Universalmuseum Johanneum
Graz
Austria
recorded by Carlos Gonzales Bolanos

la poétesse et sa flute: monolouge. varations was commissioned by and composed for Helēna Sorokina. The premiere was given on October 5h 2023 in Graz, during the ARTikulationen festival of Artistic Research and
is heartily dedicated to Esaias Järnegard, a great composer and friend.

la poétesse et sa flute: monologue. variations is a piece that stands between music and theatre field.
It is heavily based on A’s monologue found in Sarah Kanes Crave.
Along with this monologue, a text by the composer is used as well.
Both texts are provided below.
The composer’s work investigates the borders between theatrical and musical performance.
The soloist is seen as a modern version of a rhapsodist; singing (mezzo soprano) and reciting (poetess) are the main actions, while a third (flute) is also applied. These actions call for different ways of interpretation and different techniques to shape the voice accordingly.

Sarah Kane - Crave
A: Don’t say no to me you can't say no to me because it's such a
relief to have loved again and to lie in a bed and be held and
touched and kissed and adored and your heart will leap when
you hear my voice and see my smile and feel my breath on your
neck and your heart will race when I want to see you and I will
lie to you from day one and use you and screw you and break
your heart because you broke mine first and you will love me
more each day until the weight is unbearable and your life is
mine and you'll die alone because I will take what I want then
walk away and owe you nothing it's always there it's always
been there and you cannot deny the life you feel fuck that life
fuck that life fuck that life I have lost you now.

Zesses Seglias - Tombeau
My desire is reflected on you
You are the other me.
I exist not without you.
I am my desire.
But I am not what I want.
I try to sleep
Sleep is another state of my desire.
The reflection is absorbed.
The mirror is shut.
The dream is on

Zesses Seglias_la poétesse et sa flute: monologue. variations for solo voice

Christie Finn, soprano

after e.e.cummings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6DCVNntE-4&feature=plcp

lonesingness

after W. Shakespeare's Sonnet 98

for female voice, bass clarinet and percussion

extract from the opera in progress To the Lighthouse

Frauke Burg, soprano
Markus Beer, bass clarinet
Matthias Schmidt, percussion

Recorded live at Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria on the 11th of May, 2015 during the Einblick 1 of the Opernatelier, co-organised by Kunsthaus Bregenz and Bregenzer Festspiele.

More info: http://presse.bregenzerfestspiele.com/en/operaworkshopinsight120150512



sonnet98_fragments

hystera - extract

after e.e.cummings's "l(a"

for speaking voice and bass flute 

performed by Gina Mattiello and Elena Gabbrielli
28.ii.2015, Kunstraum Sellemond, Vienna

lonesingness[singless] (2010/2015)

Performed by Maria Flavia Cerrato
18.xi.2017
Incontri Musicalli
Montepulciano, Italy

read more: 

Let no one know
the only 'n' only howl I yowled
was for somebody to listen

Sssssh (2006)

for string quartet (4')
commissioned by Bregenzer Festspiele - extract from the opera in progress To the Lighthouse
dedicated to Ernst M. Binder
premiered by Karin-Regina Florey, Markus Kessler, Monika Baziger and Detlef Mielke

for Ernst M. Binder

for amplified voice and 12 instrumentalists 

commissioned by Opus XXI Academy

performed by members of L'Instant Donné and members of the Academy
Stefanie Flaig, mezzo soprano
Aurélien Azan Zielinski, conductor

dedicated to Olaf A. Schmitt

live recording from Seestudio, Festspielhaus, Bregenz

photo © Bregenzer Festspiele / Anja Köhler

where the light never reaches (2017)

[for solo keyboard]
Performed on Rhodes by Jana Luksts (https://www.janaluksts.com)
Recorded by Daniel Baruch at https://dbstudio.tv.  


Let no one know
the one 'n' only howl I yowled
was for somebody to listen

as time runs out 
beyond our head
just like the air
caresses your hair
in an empty square
all alone
on a Sunday noon 
my sigh vibrates
my breath
and so we sing
__________________

Ensemble MusikFabrik
Christian Eggen, Conductor

read more:
 http://composer-collider-europe.de/programme/public-concerts-and-workshops/

madrigali al vento e ai sospiri (2018/2020)

noli turbare circulos meos iii is part of the concert installation Namphaise.

Concept and music direction by Leonhard Garms.
Visuals and lights by Patrik Lechner
Sound by Davide Gagliardi

Performed by Schallfeld ensemble 
Dom im Berg, Graz, Austria

read more: https://www.schallfeldensemble.com/namphaise/

noli turbare circulos meos iii (2018)

per clarinetto basso, accordéon e violoncello

to Natassa

MCME 
Oleg Tantsov, bass clarinet
Sergei Tchirkov, accordion
Sergei Astashonok, cello

Ivan Bushuev, direction


17.ix.2012, Moscow Philarmonics Chamber Hall, Moscow

http://academy.iscmrussia.ru/index.html

cover design: Vassiliki Spyrou

for flute, bass clarinet, piano, violin, viola, violoncello and doublebass

performed by the dissonArt ensemble [http://dissonart.gr/]
cond. Vladimiros Symeonidis


15.xii.2012, Thessaloniki


dedicated to my beloved friend Dimitris Tsitsis [1985-2012]

the morning light came slowly tumbling through the crack in the window,

To the Lighthouse (2017) ― Scene XIII

Last moment from the opera To the Lighthouse
after W. Shakespeare's Sonnet 98

To the Lighthouse (2017)
Opera in three parts for nine soloists and big ensemble

Libretto after Virginia Woolf by Ernst Binder

Mrs. Ramsay | Christie Finn
Mr. Ramsay | Jean Marc Salzmann
Lily Briscoe | Sophie Burgos
James Ramsay | Alexander York
James Ramsay (Child) | Matthew Richardson
Augustus Carmichael | Adrian Clarke
Charles Tansley | Taylan Reinhard
William Bankes | Sébastien Soules
Mrs. McNab | Dalia Schaechter

Musical Direction | Claire Levacher
Stage Direction | Olivier Tambosi
Stage | Jakob Kolding
Costumes | Vibeke Andersen
Lights | Stefan Pfeistlinger
Dramaturgy | Olaf Schmitt

Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg

©Bregenzer Festspiele
Recorded by ORF
photo ©anja koehler | andereart.de

From you have I been absent in the spring (To the Lighthouse)

To the Lighthouse (2017)
Opera in three parts for nine soloists and big ensemble

Second part - Time Passes
Soloist: Dalia Schaechter (Mrs McNab)

Libretto after Virginia Woolf by Ernst Binder

Mrs. Ramsay | Christie Finn
Mr. Ramsay | Jean Marc Salzmann
Lily Briscoe | Sophie Burgos
James Ramsay | Alexander York
James Ramsay (Child) | Matthew Richardson
Augustus Carmichael | Adrian Clarke
Charles Tansley | Taylan Reinhard
William Bankes | Sébastien Soules
Mrs. McNab | Dalia Schaechter

Musical Direction | Claire Levacher
Stage Direction | Olivier Tambosi
Stage | Jakob Kolding
Costumes | Vibeke Andersen
Lights | Stefan Pfeistlinger
Dramaturgy | Olaf Schmitt

Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg

©Bregenzer Festspiele
Recorded by ORF
photo ©anja koehler | andereart.de

To The Lighthouse - Time Passes

performed by Jana Luksts at 918 Bathurst Center, Toronto, Canada
March 12, 2020

https://www.janaluksts.com/calendar/2020/3/12/muted-blast-2

conversations with myself, conversations with Bill Evans, conversations with Cecil Taylor, conversations with my piano. energy in the sound, energy on the fingers, energy on the elbows, energy in the body. further conversations with myself. gesture on the paper, gesture in the body, gesture in the air. rhythm on the paper, rhythm as a tree, a bird on my fingers. new conversations.

©zesseseglias.com

Conversations I (2019)

Zesses Seglias is a composer of sonic bodies and lingual structures. His compositional output focuses on the relationship between the sound of voice and its semantic, as defined by language. Much of this repertoire is staged, although concert pieces also share the same principle. Latest compositional activity focuses on unifying musical and spoken language in an hybrid of sound and meaning described as spoken sound theatre.

read more: http://zesseseglias.com/about

zesseseglias

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