Product Description
Program Notes, Night Wanderings
"A night in Athens...
A lonely wandering in the nocturnal life of one of the most ancient cities on earth...
A lonely wandering inside the darkness that covers everything we want to avoid..."
Thus, Mr. Paraskevas describes the influence of Night Wanderings on the composition. Using his idiom as a composer, he sought to convey the distinctive Greek musical colors in what he considers his "most Greek-influenced work thus far."
The score of Night Wanderings calls for the typical instrumental forces of a classical orchestra, with the addition of a piano and a wide variety of percussion, including timpani (four), bongos, and tam-tam, as well as xylophone and sleigh bells.
The work is written in one movement, but one can clearly distinguish the following three parts:
Part One starts with solo timpani, like a distant echo, in 5/8 time - a rhythm immediately becoming a persistent ostinato. The opening slow section (A) leads to a fast dance.
Primarily by the woodwinds (B), only to subside again into a slow espressivo (C), with rapid repetitive patterns on the flute. The fast dance (B) returns, gradually leading to the climax (D), which concludes the first part. After a short, slow introduction to the second part, a solo clarinet line, reminiscent of similar passages in folk songs of northern Greece, soars above the rest of the orchestra. The solo clarinet leads us to the third part, an energetic tutti, where material¥ from the previous parts is recapitulated. The final sonority of the work, E minor, is played staccato and sforzando by the whole orchestra.
The 5/8 meter and the characteristic interval of the augmented second (with its "exotic" connotations) permeate the whole piece, suggesting the influence of familiar rhythmic and modal patterns often encountered in Greek traditional music. As the music evolves, one is encouraged to "wander" with its night colors and surprises.
Night Wanderings was written in Boston in April and May 1996. Its chamber version premiered in Athens in September 1996, with the Hellenic Contemporary Orchestra and Theodore Antoniou as conductor. A year later, Lukas Foss presented the work in Boston with the Boston University Symphony Orchestra in its orchestral version and at Carnegie Hall with the National Festival Orchestra on January 14, 2001.
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