Theodore Antoniou - Complete Piano Works

Theodore ANTONIOU (1935-2018)

Complete Piano Works

Entrata (1983)*

Aquarelle (1958)*

Piano Sonata, Op.7*

Syllables (1965)*

Prelude and Toccata (1982)

Inventions and Fugue, Op.4, No.1 (1958)*

Inventions, Prelude and Fugue, Op.4, No.2 (1958)*

Seven Rhythmic Dances (2000)

Synaphes (2001)*

Konstantinos Destounis (Piano)

*World Premier Recordings

 

Theodore Antoniou (b. 1935 in Athens) is one of the most significant contemporary Greek composers with international recognition and a multitude of awards. He belongs to the same generation of renowned composers as Ligeti, Crumb, Penderecki, Stockhausen and Xenakis. Antoniou is currently a professor emeritus at Boston University and the president of the Greek Composers’ Union—a position he has held for over 25 years. For his overall contribution to the international musical scene, he was elected as a member of the Academy of Athens, Greece’s highest intellectual establishment.

I first had the opportunity to work with Antoniou in 2015, when I was invited by the Greek Composers’ Union to perform his Synaphes in Athens. This performance marked the beginning of a close and fruitful collaboration, which inspired me to perform his complete piano works and to study them in depth, as the main focus of my doctoral research at the Royal College of Music in London. During the preparation period for the current recording, I worked under the close guidance of the composer, who was also present during the recording session.

Antoniou was born to a non-musical family and grew up under difficult conditions: as a child he experienced the early loss of his father, the German occupation in Greece and the Civil War. He also had to work from his teenage years to make a living. With his mother’s encouragement and the support of several scholarships, he studied the violin, singing and composition in Athens and continued his musical training in conducting and composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich. Thereafter, he led a long international career as composer, conductor and professor, dividing his time mostly between the United States and Greece. He was engaged by major festivals and orchestras all over the globe and also founded several contemporary music ensembles in places where he taught, such as ALEA II at Stanford University, ALEA III at Boston University, the Philadelphia New Music Group and the Hellenic Group of Contemporary Music.

Antoniou is a prolific composer with an output of more than 450 works which include operas, theatre music, choral works, symphonic works, concertos, chamber music and solo instrumental pieces. What makes his works unique is his refusal to let creative instincts be bound by convention or strict stylistic rules. His music integrates Greek traditional elements within a wide range of post-war musical styles, always approached in an intuitive, personal way.

The composer’s main sources of inspiration have been theatre and Ancient Greek drama. Many of his works are composed for theatrical plays. According to the composer himself, this has left a strong imprint in his musical identity in general; he perceives the flow of music as a sequence of events, which defines the structure of his compositions. In an attempt to best describe his music, Antoniou invented the term ‘Abstract Programmatic Music’ at the beginning of the 1960s:

‘There is always an underlying dramatic plot behind my music. No matter if it is for piano solo or any combination of instruments, theatre is always in my head… Abstract Programmatic Music introduces an abstract scenario, an abstract idea, which controls the four parameters (pitch, volume, duration and timbre). The concept can be similarly illustrated by the role of a narrative in programmatic music. In my music, though, the extra parameter, the extra idea, is abstract.’

The opening piece of this recording, Entrata (‘Entrance’), was composed in 1983, at the same time as Antoniou’s Cantata Prometheus. Dramatic tension is apparent in both works, which share thematic material—a lamenting hymn to Prometheus, the Titan subjected to everlasting punishment for stealing fire from the Olympian Gods and donating it to mankind. Entrata opens with a grandiose, declamatory introduction. Then, the composer creates musical episodes based on the characteristic rhythm of 9/8, in the form of the Greek traditional Zeibekiko dance. The piece is very virtuosic, with intense climaxes. It also contains various sound effects, produced through extended techniques on the instrument’s strings.

In Aquarelle (1958), one of Antoniou’s earliest piano works, the composer aims to bring out the light and transparent effect of a watercolour painting. He also attempts to combine elements of his inherited musical tradition with the modern compositional techniques that he was exploring at that time. Aquarelle consists of ten pieces of different character. The first piece is in 2/4 and in every subsequent piece the number of beats per bar is increased by one, thus concluding with 11/8. This results in several irregular rhythms, which constitute a major characteristic of the Greek musical tradition.

Sonata (1959) is essentially a neo-Classical work, following the established four-movement structure (Allegro moderato, Scherzino, Adagio, Presto). The Allegro moderato is characterised by austere lyricism and the alternation of two brief, contrasting ideas. The Scherzino has a light and playful temperament, at times grotesque. In the Adagio, the left hand imitates the pizzicato sound of strings and keeps a steady pace, allowing the melodic line to unfold in the right hand. The Sonata concludes with a fiery, percussive Presto.

Syllables (in German: ‘Silben’), composed in 1965, is based on the ancient Greek discipline of rhetoric. The work consists of six short pieces, each one offering a musical analogue of a verbal device. In Parechesis (‘Alliteration’) a chord recurs frequently, in a similar manner to a recurring syllable in rhetoric. In Anagramme (‘Anagram’), the position of notes is interchanged within rapid passages. Paragogen (‘Derivatives’) is based on harmonics, which are essentially ‘derived’ from the chords that precede them. In Epenthesis (meaning the addition of a letter, sound or syllable in the body of a word), the middle register of the piano is altered in timbre by placing a paper on the strings. In Aphairesis (‘Subtraction’ or ‘Abstraction’) the music becomes calmer and has a rather abstract nature, containing seemingly unrelated elements. Finally, in Synchysis (‘Confusion’), a characteristic motif appears among ideas from the previous movements. In the end, however, it is assimilated.

Prelude and Toccata (1982) is based on the traditional form which dates back to the Baroque period. Antoniou’s Prelude explores the piano’s resonance and has a fragmented nature; the flow of music is often interrupted by long rests during which broad sound masses are sustained. As the last notes fade away, the dazzling Toccata bursts into the scene. It has a constantly motoric texture, where time signature and bar lines are absent.

Inventions and Fugue and Inventions, Prelude and Fugue are two sets of polyphonic pieces, composed in 1958, at a time when Antoniou was introduced to the twelve-tone technique by his teacher in composition, Y. A. Papaioannou. However, Antoniou follows his own aesthetic principle in terms of form and pitch, with a free use of twelve-tone rows. For the composer, each theme represents a statement and polyphony means dialogue. The distinct character of each of these pieces describes a different mood of interaction among people.

Seven Rhythmic Dances (often referred to as Seven Greek Dances), composed in 2000, are short pieces based on Greek traditional rhythms. With this work, the composer intends to expand young pianists’ repertoire and to bring them closer to tradition. Unlike common practice, Antoniou avoids quoting original folk melodies in his Dances.

Synaphes (2001)—meaning ‘connections’, ‘contacts’—is related to Antoniou’s previous works with the same musical material—mostly his Piano Concerto, composed three years earlier. Synaphes is a highly demanding piece for the pianist, with challenging passages of double octaves, double fourths and leaps. Its virtuosic opening is followed by a meditative, atmospheric section which explores the instrument’s possibilities in terms of timbre, occasionally using extended techniques. Virtuosity is gradually brought back in the recapitulation. After reaching its climax, the piece leads to an enigmatic, dark ending.

Konstantinos Destounis