8TH INTERNATIONAL PHAROS CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL
PRE-CONCERT TALK
Andreas Tsiartas: Memory and Oblivion –
Psychological and Musical aspects on Beat Furrer’s Lotófagos I
SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER 2016 /
7:30PM
THE SHOE FACTORY, NICOSIA
A pre-concert talk by composer Andreas
Tsiartas about Beat Furrer’s controversial masterpiece for soprano and
double-bass, Lotófagos I, which will be performed immediately after the
lecture, at 20:30, by soprano Hélène Fauchère and double-bassist Uli
Fussenegger.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE TALK:
Lotófagos I for Soprano and double-bass
(2006), which is based on José Ángel Valente’s poem describing Homeric
Ulysses’ companions and their adventure on the island of the Lotus eaters,
is musically approached by the composer of the piece, Beat Furrer, in a very
particular manner.
Furrer’s works pursue a process of deconstruction, of Oblivion. In the
composer’s sphere of imagination there is a space, where memory, social or
cultural, ceases to exist and what follows is a state of amnesia. This
specific observation comprises various deeply-rooted psychological aspects,
which Furrer has already treated thematically on a macrocosmic level: the
deconstruction of memory corresponds to the deconstruction of identities. In
this case, the identity comes up to a social phenomenon, of which the
deconstruction opens the path towards discovering our own self, a
confrontation with our true essence, our primeval image, our genuine
depiction. According to Furrer’s comments about Lotófagos I, it is all about
a lateral apposition of sounds. The phenomenon of Memory and Oblivion, as
seen through Ulysses’ companions, is being represented as the remembrance of
specific sounds through their apparently random repetition or even gradual
disappearance within the margins of the work’s overall form. The organic
development of his sound material is being disordered and re-shaped to such
an extent that it assimilates to a new space of memory: an anagram of a
person’s remembrances while he/she is at a state of oblivion, or even a
person who constantly educes his/her memories within new spaces.
The lecture is based on Andreas Tsiartas’ final dissertation for the
Hochschule für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber" in Dresden, as well as his notes
during the summer seminar in 2009 with Beat Furrer at the Hoschule für Musik
und Theater in Rostock, Germany and from lectures and interviews held during
the Spring Meeting in Darmstadt in April 2009. The lecture will be given in
English.
ANDREAS TSIARTAS
Andreas Tsiartas graduated with distinction (Diplom
Komponist) from the Hochschule für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber" in Dresden,
Germany, in 2010, where he studied composition with Manos Tsangaris and Jörg
Herchet and electronic music with Franz Martin Olbrisch and Michael Flade.
His works have been performed and commissioned by such renowned ensembles
and soloists as the Dresdner Philharmonie, the Studio for New Music Ensemble
Moscow, Musiques Nouvelles, Ensemble Courage, Rohan de Saram, having
received their premieres in renowned venues such as the BKA Theater in
Berlin, the Kulturpalast in Dresden and the ZKM in Karlsruhe.
INFORMATION & TICKETS:
Information: Pharos Arts Foundation Tel. (+357) 22-663871 /
www.pharosartsfoundation.org
Tickets: €10
for the concerts. All other events are
Free Entrance.
Box Office: Directly from the Foundation’s website
www.pharosartsfoundation.org or Tel. 9666-9003 (Monday-Friday
10:00am-3:00pm)
Educational Activities: The Festival will host a great number of educational
activities, some of them in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and
Culture, which will be open to the public. For more information about these
activities please contact the Pharos Arts Foundation.