Product Description
The Silver Swan
I composed this song back in the early nineties while I was
experimenting with extended tonality. The text of this anonymous poet propelled
me to use a more pensive style but without deviating from the romantic style I
had envision for this song.
The song form is
almost an announcement without repeats or technical remedies for a cyclic form
as we mostly are accustomed from the romantic period or in general from song
writing. It is a simple story that was told once.
Dedicated to composer Jakov Jakoulov who made me see that the fine
print of my music.
Apostolos Paraskevas is a
classical guitarist and composer as well as an award-winning film director and
producer. He has received multiple international awards for his compositions
and was nominated for a Grammy Award. He is the only guitarist ever to have a
major orchestral piece performed at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Lukas
Fossand the only musician who has performed there in a Grim Reaper outfit. He
was the founder and served for 16 years as the artistic director of the
International Guitar Congress-Festival of Corfu, Greece. He is a voting member of the Recording
Academy (Grammys).
After
his undergraduate music studies in Volos he pursued advanced studies in
classical guitar with Costas Cotsiolis (diploma, 1990) and Leo Brouwer (Havana
1984, 1988), as well as postgraduate studies in composition with Lukas Foss and
Theodore Antoniou (DMA in composition, Boston University, 1998). Paraskevas
embarked on a successful career as a guitar soloist and contemporary composer,
achieving distinctions in both disciplines: Grammy nomination for Chase
Dance (Bridge Records, 1999); first prize for Night Wanderings
(Lukas Foss Composition Competition, 2000); first prize for Phygein Adynaton
(National Composers Conference, 1997); and numerous prestigious commissions,
performances, and publications. Following teaching posts at Northeastern and
Boston Universities, Paraskevas has taught since 2001 at the Berklee College of
Music in Boston (professor of composition and classical guitar).
His
eclectic compositional style arises as an idiosyncratic integration of
seemingly conflicting influences from avant-garde approaches to harmonic
structure, form, and timbre, to pop-folk modal and rhythmical concepts
amalgamated into a personal evocative musical language, characterized by
rhythmic verve, melodic grace, dramatic (and sometimes unexpectedly humorous)
gestures, and ritualistic or theatrical elements. The latter feature has also
led Paraskevas to the creation of films, notably the acclaimed I Finally Did
It (Gold award, California Film Awards 2010), dealing wittily with Death, a
recurring extra-musical theme in his music.
The
Groves Dictionary of Music
Costas Tsougras
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