Evlogitária - Ευλογητάρια
(In Memoriam Iannis Xenakis)

Evlogitária (2001)
in Memoriam Iannis Xenakis
for percussion solo

When Greek Orthodox monks gather to mourn the death of a person, they sing their melancholic songs, known as evlogitária. It was these songs that fascinated and inspired me to write a work – in memoriam Iannis Xenakis – after the death of the Greek composer Iannis Xenakis in February 2001.

The composition, which premiered in April 2002 at the “les muséiques” festival in Basel, is based on the rhythm of tálanton, a signal that Greek monks play on wooden or metal rods to gather for prayer. The numbers three and seven, which are very important to the Greek Orthodox Church, form the architectural structure of the work. Parallel to the symbolism of the two numbers, I tried to develop a “rhythmic melody” without using any melodic instruments. To this end, I used a range of horizontal and suspended metal instruments (gongs, tam-tams, brake drums, cymbals, metal objects), wooden instruments (wooden blocks, slit drums), and skin instruments (tom-toms, bass drums, congas, bongos).

A polyphony develops from different rhythmic structures, which continues on different levels according to the principle of “rhythm-melody” until the music reaches its final, highly expressive climax.  

Minas Borboudakis
2001
Translation by Edition Peters