The Results of the
International Composition Competition - in honour
of the Greek poet Pindar and the athletes of the ancient Hellas
Hellenikon Idyllion spoke with the
jury member Werner Schulze, Professor at the University of Music and Art Vienna,
about the results of the international composition competition.
How did the jury judged the received compositions?
....We paid attention on certain characteristics, for example whether the five
ancient disciplines run, long jump, discus, javelin, wrestling became effective,
whether the metrical measure of Pindar’s text was converted, how the orchestra
and the choir or speakers were used or how the quality of a composition is
jugged in general. We did not prefer any specific style; It was important to try
to go towards a new direction. We examined whether the composer -by dealing with
the topic- was able to develop his own view, with the courage to find and
express his own personal language. Further it was important, that people who are
interested in music are able to find an access to the musical representation of
the topic. The piece of work, which had a too popular style or on the other hand
a too avant-garde style one was less in demand.....(The
hole interview with Prof. Werner Schulze can be read at the end of this
message.)
more information about the
Composer's Competition
Twentyone compositions from eleven countries - Brazil, Canada, USA, Australia, Japan, Austria, Finland, Germany, Greatbritain, Greece and Spain – were submitted. The jury met on Saturday, July 12th 2003, under the presidency of the competition´s initiator Andreas Drekis at Hellenikon Idyllion. Personalities from Austria, Germany and Greece formed the jury.
Unanimously one first, two second and special prices were assigned:
1.
Price: Andrew Michael March (London, Greatbritain)
- "5 Songs of Pindar" for Soprano Solo, Choir und Orchestra -
(1 or 2 pianos, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, Bb Clarinets, 2 bassoons, piccolo, cor
anglais, clarinet in A, Contrabassoon, 4 french horn, 2 Bb trumpets, 2
Trombones, bass trombone, tuba, doubling trumbets in C, Timpani, bass drums, 4
low tom-toms, crash cymbals, medium stand-mounted suspended cymbal, triangle,
large tam-tam, large thunder sheet, fine grade sandpaper blocks, fine bead
maracas, crotales, chimes, Glockenspiel, marimba, 1 harp, 16 first violins, 14
second violins, 12 violas, 10 violoncellos, 8 bouble basses)
Concert in honour of the First Prize Winner
and
to hear the first taste of the
'Wrestling' discipline transforming
the ancient Greek athletic spirit into music inspired
by the text of Pindar.
click
here
2.
Price: Ken Ito (Tokyo, Japan)
-
"Choreia Pteroessa" („Flying Choir“) for
Tenor Solo, Choir und Orchestra - (2 flutes, 2nd. doubling with piccolo flute, 2
oboes, 2 nd. doubling with corno inglais, 2 clarinets in B flat, 2 bassons, 2nd.
doubling with double basson, 4 horns in F, 2 Trumpets in C, 2 Tenor Trombone, 1
bass trombone, 1 bass Tuba, Timpani, 2 suspended cymbales, 1 anvil, 1 sistre, 1
triangel, chromatic cymbales antiques (with water bath), 1 glockenspiel, 1
xylophone, 1 vibraphone (without motor, with double bass bow), 1 marimba, 1 pair
of small crush cymbales, 1 small Tam-tam (or Korean SAMULNORI middle-sized
Tam-tam), 2 tom-toms, 2 caw-bells, 1 triangle, 1 chromatic tubular bells, the
same instrument for that of Perc.3 player is available; 1 pair of large crush
cymbales, 1 gran cassa, 1 tam-tam grave, 1 snare drum, 1 pair of bongoes, 1 pair
of congas, 1 triangel, 1 chromatic tubulas bells, the same instrument for that
of Perc. 2 player is available; 1 celesta, 1 Pianoforte, 1 harp, wood winds,
brass, strings)
2.
Price:
Shigeru Kan-no (Fukushima, Japan - Hilgenroth, Germany)
- "Millenium Soldier III
- Hymnen Pindars“ for Choir
und Orchestra - (2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, 2 fagottes, 4 horns in F,
2 trumpets in C, 2 tenor trombone, bass trombone and tuba, timpani, metal
percussion, violins, violas, violoncello, contra bass)
A special price was given to Aaron David Miller (Bowling Green, Ohio, USA) - "Five Hymns of Pindar" for Soprano Solo, Tenor Solo, Choir und Orchestra. (2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in Bb, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in Bb, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani (4 drums), glockenspiel, chimes, suspended cymbal, tam-tams, bass drum, tom-toms, sleigh bells, triangel, bell tree, crotales, snare drums, violins 1&2, violas, cellos, basses)
A special price for young composers was given to
Enrique Hernandis Martínez (25 years, Cárcer/Valencia, Spain) - "The Musical Games 2004"for Choir und Orchestra.
Other compositions recommended for performance:
Gerold Amann (Schlins,
Austria)
- "Olympias Agona"
-
"Hellenikon Idyllion"
for Speaker and Orchestra
- "Olympic Music"
for Speaker and Orchestra
-
"Pindar´s Hymns"
-
"Five Rings"
for Solo Singer, Choir and
-
"Hymns of Pindar" for SATB Choir und
The jury was impressed by the general high level of the submitted compositions. In total the compositions solved the competition´s task, to remind the present on the antique olympic games, in an outstanding way.
Initiator of the competition:
Andreas Drekis
Manager of the cultural centre “Hellenikon Idyllion”
Jury:
Alois Springer
Principal conductor, director of music
Frankfurt/Main
Werner Schulze
University professor for music and representing art Vienna, composer
Vienna
Rafaïl Pylarinos
Conductor, composer
Athens, Greece
Andreas Drekis, Rafaïl Pilarinos, Werner Schulze Rafaïl Pilarinos,Werner
Schulze and Alois Springer
and Alois Springer
1st Prize
Andrew Michael March
Andrews Biographie :
Born 1973, studied composition and orchestration with Jeremy Dale Roberts at the Royal College of Music from 1992 - 1996 gaining BMus (Hons) RCM.
Performances
(inter alia)
Marine - à travers les arbres (1997) Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra
European Union Youth Orchestra, Conductor Vladimir
Ashkenazy
A Stirring in the Heavenlies (2000)
London Symphony Orchestra, (World Premiere)
Nymphéas for 2 Pianos (2002) piece was premiered in the Royal Palace, Stockholm in Autumn
2002, and received a total of 5 live performances in and around
Scandinavia in 2002
Awards
(inter alia)
1996
Winner at The Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize
1998 Winner
at Masterprize International Composing Competition
PINDAR - the greatest lyric
poet of Ancient Greece522 - 446 v.Ch.
Concert in honour of the First Prize Winner and to hear the first taste of the 'Wrestling' discipline transforming the athletic spirit into music inspired by the text of Pindar.
Pindar-Text Song Video with choir (half) (Click the right mouse button and press SAVE TARGET
Video "Pale"with Choir
(full)" He Pale"
"Wrestling"
his competition discipline "Wrestling" is performed by the
Chorus Urbanus of Gozo (Malta) in the Ancient Greek language with piano instead
of orchestra. The conductor was John Galea. The concert took
place in the Archeological Museum in Egion, September the 20th /
2003. Present at the concert; (pictured above left), was the
Mayor of Egion, Mr. Andreas Drekis President of Hellenikon
Idyllion,
composer Enrique Hernandis Martínez
winner of the Young Persons' Prize, the composer
Andrew March winner of the 1st Prize and the president of Chorus
Urbanus. Also present was competition jury member Alois
Springer, the Chief of Police for Egion, the High Priest of the
Greek Orthodox Church and Professors of the University of
Patras.
A pretaste of the other
future performances of all honored compositions worldwide
with symphonic orchestra and choir.
English Translation:
Wrestling (Isthm. 5, 56-63)
The long toil of their men is not hidden in blind
darkness,
nor has thought of the expense fretted away their devotion to
their hopes. I praise Pytheas also among limb-subduing
pancratiasts, skillful with his hands in guiding straight the
course of Phylacidas' blows, and with a mind to match. Take
a garland for him, and bring him a fillet of fine wool, and
send along this winged new song.
Born 1973, studied composition and orchestration with Jeremy Dale Roberts at the Royal College of Music from 1992 - 1996 gaining BMus (Hons) RCM.
Performances
(inter alia)
Marine - à travers les arbres (1997) Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra
European Union Youth Orchestra, Conductor Vladimir
Ashkenazy
A Stirring in the Heavenlies (2000)
London Symphony Orchestra, (World Premiere)
Nymphéas for 2 Pianos (2002) piece was premiered in the Royal Palace, Stockholm in Autumn
2002, and received a total of 5 live performances in and around
Scandinavia in 2002
Awards
(inter alia)
1996
Winner at The Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize
1998 Winner
at Masterprize International Composing Competition
2nd Prize
Ken Ito
- "Choreia Pteroessa" („Flying Choir“) -
1965 in Tokyo, studied composition, piano, cello and physics in Tokyo.
Positions Held (inter alia)
Present
• Professor of
composition and conducting, University of Tokyo
• Commissions of Composing
and Conducting
• Music Technological
Collaboration with bigger Japanese companies
• Colaboration with visual
media
Performances (inter alia)
1998
Orchestra Director of posthumous work by John Cage "Ocean" together
with Merce Canningham and his Dance Company
2001
recording Beethoven´s "Symphony No. 5 " and Tchaikovsky´s
"Violin Concerto"
2002
Conducting Japan Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra
Awards (inter alia)
1993
Awarded 1st Prize of Tokyo Metropolitan Competition of
Orchestra
Composition
1999
Awarded Toru Takemistu Award judged by Luciano Berio
2nd Prize
Shigeru Kan-no
- "Millenium Soldier III - Hymnen Pindars“ -
Born 1959 in Fukushima/ Japan, studied music and musicology in Tokyo, conducting at the college of music Vienna, composition at the college of music Stuttgart and conducting and composition at the college of music Frankfurt from 1980 - 1997.
Performances (inter alia)
1986 - 1992
conducting for example with the Tokyo Symphonie Orchestra and the Radio Symphonie
Orchestra Stuttgart particularly within the range of "New Music"
1992
Assistent for Professor Karlheinz Stockhausen with Ensemble Modern
Frankfurt
since 1998
conduction for
example at the Lisboa Philharmonic Orchestra and National Symphonie
Orchestra Uzbekistan
Awards (inter alia)
2000
2nd Prize at Quebec/Canada French Chorus Composition Concour
2001
3rd Prize at 2 Agosto in Bologna/Italia
2001
1st Prize at Cantus Ensemble in Croatia
Special Prize
Aaron David Miller
- "Five Hymns of Pindar" -
born 1972, studied Composition and Organ Performance at the Manhattan School of Music, New York, NY, graduated D.M.A. in 1999
Positions Held (inter alia)
1998 - 2002
several larger compositions and public recording, especially for organ
2001 - 2002
several professional engagements for festivals in the USA
1997 - present
Assistant Musicologist, Scarsdale, NY
Music transcriptions and analysis for copyright infringement disputes
Awards (inter alia)
1998
Improvisation and Bach Prizes, Calgary International Organ Festival and
Competition, Calgary, Canada
1999
Helen Cohn Award for Research in Medieval and Renaissance Music,
Manhattan School of Music, New York, NY
Special Prize for young composers
Enrique Hernandis Martínez
- "The Musical Games 2004" -
born 1977 in Spain, studied music in Valencia and graduated "Profesor de Percusión, Composición e Instrumentación" (2000).
Positions Held (inter alia)
Present
• Director de la Unión Artística Musical de
Navajas (Castellón)
• Professor de Armonía, Análisis y
Fundamentos de Composición
en los Conservatorios Profesionales de Chella y Amussafes (Valencia)
• several recordings for Orchestra for brass
band and
Symphonyorchestra
• several broadcasts at Spanish broadcasting
stations
Awards (inter alia)
2001
1st Price in Concurso Nacional de Composición Musical"Ciudad de
Alicante"
2002
1st Price in Concurso de Composición de Tolosa (Guipúzcoa)
Other compositions recommended for performance:
Gerold Amann
-
"Olympias Agona" -
born 1937 in Voralberg/Austria, studied (i.a.
Dinos Constantinides
- "Hellenikon Idyllion" -
studied first in Athens and later Composition und Violin in U:S:A:, Boyd Professor und Coordinator of
Composition at the School of Music at Louisiana State University
Claude Lachapelle
- "Olympic Music" -
born 1951 in Drummondville (Qu
Spiros Mazis
- "Pindar´s Hymns" -
born 1957 at Korfu, studied (i.a.) Composition, Director of the "Classic and Contemporary Music and Center of Elektronic Music" Conservatory in Athens
Tina Ternes
- "Five Rings" -
born 1969 in Kaiserslautern/Germany, studierd (i.a.) School- and Filmmusic, Collegeteacher
John White
- "Hymns of Pindar" -
studied Cello und Composition, Ph.D., Professor for Music
Interview: 12.07.2003
“… that’ s the athletic idea!”
Hellenikon Idyllion spoke with the jury member Werner Schulze, Professor at the University of Music and Art Vienna, about the results of the international composition competition.
HELLENIKON IDYLLION: Did you expect that so many composers from all over the world would develop such an enthusiasm for this competition?
SCHULZE: To be honest: No! The task was not that simple to solve, because there were ancient Greek texts and sports of the ancient games supposed to be converted into music. As you know ancient Greek is not spoken any longer nowadays as well as it is taught less and less. We were very happy about such a worldwide interest. However without Hellenikon Idyllion and the initiator of this competition, Andreas Drekis, it wouldn’t be possible to make it that known. Indefatigable he sent electronic post to every kind of musical institution around the world and answered a multiplicity of questions. A big “Thank You” to him.
Classical music and the athletic games, how does this fit together?
For us it was important to express the ancient athletic idea with the means of the art of music. Moreover sports training and artistic activity were both an equivalent part of an extensive education in the antiquity. Sports and art were regarded as absolutely equal and important.
How did the jury judged the received compositions?
We paid attention on certain characteristics, for example whether the five ancient disciplines run, long jump, discus, javelin, wrestling became effective, whether the metrical measure of Pindar’s text was converted, how the orchestra and the choir or speakers were used or how the quality of a composition is jugged in general. We did not prefer any specific style; It was important to try to go towards a new direction. We examined whether the composer -by dealing with the topic- was able to develop his own view, with the courage to find and express his own personal language. Further it was important, that people who are interested in music are able to find an access to the musical representation of the topic. The piece of work, which had a too popular style or on the other hand a too avant-garde style one was less in demand.
Could you tell more details about the participants?
We received twenty-one compositions from four continents; among them there were two female composers. We were glad to see that also younger musicians took part in the competition.
Is it known already, when and where the compositions are going to be presented for the first time?
For a first impression, an orchestra is planning to play a concert on the island Kefalonia, in Olympia, in Corinth, in Galaxithi near Delphi and at Hellenikon Idyllion in the end of July End of July. Where honored pieces will be presented. Furthermore two recommended compositions for representation will be presented for the first time this July and September in concerts, in Athens, Olympia und Corinth.
So far a successful competition?
Absolutely! Noticeable was the generally good dealing with the verse measure of the Pindar text. And it was marvelous to hold works in our hands from all over the world-from Brazil to Australia- that represents exactly the ancient Greek athletic Idea!