The Gods of Old are Silent – Live Performance

On 24th June, 2017, my work ‘The Gods of Old are Silent’ (on Lord Byron’s poem) was performed in Orestiada, Greece, during one of the open air recital in frame of the annual music and art urban festival ‘Oresteia’. The performance had been conducted due to the kindness of the administration of the Municipal enterprise of cultural development for public benefit (DIKEPAO), the Municipal music school (Odeio), and its choirmaster and vocal teacher Maria Dimitriadou.

Originally composed for the 2-part chorus, the work had been arranged for two female voices by Maria Dimitriadou (the flute part was omitted).

The performers:

Poem reciting, vocal: Stella Pantou, Dimitra Fydanidou (pupils of the vocal department of the Odeio)

Introductory speech, piano: Maria Dimitriadou

For the Greek audience, the translation of the English text of the Byron’s poem was made by Dimitrios Pispinis:

Οι αρχαίοι Θεοί είναι σιωπηλοί στην ακτή  

Από τότε που ο μεγάλος Πάν χάθηκε, και με ένα βρυχηθμό    

Από τα νερά του Ιονίου ακούστηκε μία φοβερή    

Φωνή που διακήρυξε «ο Μεγάλος Παν είναι νεκρός.»     

Πόσα πέθαναν μαζί του! ψέματα ή αλήθεια – το όνειρο 

Ήταν όμορφο που γέμισε κάθε ρυάκι   

Με περισσότερο από πτερυγωτούς κατοίκους, και στόλισε    

Δάση και νερά με ντροπαλές νύμφες που περιφρόνησαν 

Τις θεότητες που τις κυνήγησαν, ή στις αγκαλιές  

Με τους θεούς γέννησαν την υψηλή γενιά των ηρώων

Τα ονόματα των οποίων βρίσκονται στους λόφους και στις θάλασσες.

 

It was my honor and great pleasure to be performed first in Greece and in Orestiada.

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The Gods of Old are Silent, on Lord Byron’s poem

For a long time I wanted to compose a choral work with English lyrics but related to Greece. Among the first things there was Lord Byron’s philhellenism that came to my mind, and after searching I found one of his poems, a passage which is practically unknown. It looks rather like an unfinished draft, but the more I was reading it, the more impact it had on me. At once, this rough but yet genius fragment had given to me what I was seeking for: a retrospective view where great Greek mythology, history and spirit of freedom would be condensed just in few lines. Thus I’d made my choice. The choral song is easy to perform, it has only two choral parts (soprano-alto and tenor-bass). The flute pastoral solo (reference to ‘the mighty Pan’) had been added to the classical chorus+piano ensemble as an option.

Structure and technique

The song is in C major, Con moto e narrante. The lyrics are Lord Byron’s passage from his unfinished poem ‘Aristomenes’ written in Cephalonia island in September 1823, shortly after his arriving to Greece to help the Greek people in the liberation:

The Gods of old are silent on the shore.
Since the great Pan expired, and through the roar
Of the Ionian waters broke a dread
Voice which proclaimed “the Mighty Pan is dead.”
How much died with him! false or true—the dream
Was beautiful which peopled every stream
With more than finny tenants, and adorned
The woods and waters with coy nymphs that scorned
Pursuing Deities, or in the embrace
Of gods brought forth the high heroic race
Whose names are on the hills and o’er the seas.

The musical form is free and reflects the text. Natural modes have been chosen as the appropriate for the solemn, epic character of the piece. The phrases are evenly distributed between female and male voices to provide the easiness of singing of choral texture, and that makes the work suitable for amateur singers (while the piano and the flute parts should be considered of intermediate level of difficulty).

Performance notes

The performance is expected to move in moderate tempo and strict, stable rhythm. The flute part is optional and can be omitted.

Date of composing March 2017

Genre choral song for mixed 2-parts chorus, piano and flute

Language English

Style Neo-Romantic

Duration [2’20”]

Level of difficulty beginner or amateur chorus

Copyrights music: 2017 Natalia Pispini; George Gordon Byron’s poem ‘Aristomenes’ from public domain (https://en.wikisource.org)

Look at the score sample

Listen to the MIDI-rendering on YouTube

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This work had its first performance on June 24, 2017, in Orestiada, Greece. read more…

 

…eventide will come…

Sunny day on a beach in the Gulf… So noisy, busy and shiny all day long, and suddenly getting quiet by the evening… And before the evening there was an hour or so when you could sense this turning to the slow mood. I was fascinated by those slight changes… Playing this music, I thought of the moment when our thoughts are calming down and we feel that happiness  of the being itself, no matter what is around. For that expression I chose simple major scale and slow change of bases of harmonies (pedal points).

Title …eventide will come…

Genre improvisation (live playing on MIDI-keyboard)

Tasks piano; major scale, pedal points; expression of calming down and happiness

Duration [2’40]

Date of creating May 8, 2017

Copyright © 2017 Natalia Pispini; CC BY-NC license (for non-commercial use)

(Raw score is available on demand. You can order similar style music from Natalia)

Watch on YouTube

Two Salon Pieces, for string quartet

1. Expectation. A major. Tempo di Valse
2. Determination. A minor. Tempo di Mazurka

 Genre pieces for string quartet (2 violins, viola, cello) in character of waltz and mazurka dances

Date of composing October 2014; March 2016 – revised

Style Neo-Romantic

Duration [2’00”], [1’57”]

Level of difficulty beginner to intermediate; intermediate to advanced

Copyright © 2014-2016 Natalia Pispini

Description

Here is my first attempt to compose miniatures for string quartet, with classical approach to musical form and texture, and touches of Neo-Romantic emotionalism on the level of harmony and tonalities. Both pieces display an airy and capricious character; both are connected with the dance meters / rhythmic patterns. Maybe, these things have eventually brought me to the title ‘Salon Pieces’. Both are composed in a simple ternary musical form ABA₁. The texture is basically homophonic (melody or ‘thickened’ melody vs. harmonic support) and enriched by flashes of ‘spicy’ chromatic notes. The bowing technique is specified if necessary.

To learn the details please click on the links below

Expectation

Determination

Expectation, for string quartet

 

 

 

From ‘Two Salon Pieces‘, for string quartet

Date of composing October 2014; March 2016 – revised

Genre a piece for string quartet (2 violins, viola, cello) in character of waltz

Style Neo-Romantic

Duration [2’00”]

Level of difficulty beginner to intermediate

Copyright © 2014-2016 Natalia Pispini

Description

In A major, Tempo di Valse. The composition displays pure lyrical character based on waltz meter ¾ and, at the same time, develops in changeable motion which corresponds to the emotion of ‘expectation’. The contrasting middle section (C minor) of the ternary form ABA₁ brings for a while more dramatic sounds.

Performance notes

Although the composition holds the dance rhythm, the manner of playing is a piacere, so the musicians are free to alternate slightly the tempo. (The phrases with wider melody supported by arpeggio chords are the most suitable for slowing down.) The important part of expressiveness in this piece is the legato technique applied to the variations in phrasing.

Look at the score sample

Listen to the midi rendering

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