Dionysis Boukouvalas
Encyclopedia
Dionysis Boukouvalas is a Greek composer, pianist and musicologist.
As a pianist he is particularly interested in improvisation, his main influences being Keith Jarrett
and Wim Mertens
.
He is also interested in contemporary music, having given Greek premieres of works by John Cage
, Morton Feldman
, Cornelius Cardew
and Howard Skempton
, and world premieres of works by contemporary Greek composers (like the Gaudeamus Prize winner of 2006 Lefteris Papadimitriou
).
As a musicologist he is mainly active in the study of the music of the Ionian islands (west of Greece). He has also given many similar concerts as a pianist. His MA thesis at the university Paris 8 is dealing with the element of chance in music.
As a composer he has written music for solo instruments, chamber music, vocal music (choral and songs), stage music and electronic music.
His early works are mainly influenced by Béla Bartók
. A turn is observed by his discovery of minimalism. Processes are a constant characteristic of his music from that time on. A crucial point was the discovery of aleatoric music with Iannis Xenakis
. Even more influential was John Cage
, more characteristically with his free-floating harmonies (what Cage called “proto-tonality”). A romantic feeling is a recurring feature of his music.
He is co-organizer of the Zante Jazz Festival.
As a pianist he is particularly interested in improvisation, his main influences being Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
and Wim Mertens
Wim Mertens
Wim Mertens is a Flemish Belgian composer, countertenor vocalist, pianist, guitarist, and musicologist.-Life and work:Mertens was born in Neerpelt, Belgium...
.
He is also interested in contemporary music, having given Greek premieres of works by John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
, Cornelius Cardew
Cornelius Cardew
Cornelius Cardew was an English experimental music composer, and founder of the Scratch Orchestra, an experimental performing ensemble. He later rejected the avant-garde in favour of a politically motivated "people's liberation music".-Biography:Cardew was born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire...
and Howard Skempton
Howard Skempton
Howard Skempton is a British composer and accordionist. Since the late 1960s, when he helped organize the Scratch Orchestra, he has been associated with the English school of experimental music...
, and world premieres of works by contemporary Greek composers (like the Gaudeamus Prize winner of 2006 Lefteris Papadimitriou
Lefteris Papadimitriou
-Biography:He was born in Volos, Greece and lives in Athens. He studied composition with Iannis Ioannidis and has written many compositions for live instruments and electronic media....
).
As a musicologist he is mainly active in the study of the music of the Ionian islands (west of Greece). He has also given many similar concerts as a pianist. His MA thesis at the university Paris 8 is dealing with the element of chance in music.
As a composer he has written music for solo instruments, chamber music, vocal music (choral and songs), stage music and electronic music.
His early works are mainly influenced by Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
. A turn is observed by his discovery of minimalism. Processes are a constant characteristic of his music from that time on. A crucial point was the discovery of aleatoric music with Iannis Xenakis
Iannis Xenakis
Iannis Xenakis was a Romanian-born Greek ethnic, naturalized French composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer. He is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers...
. Even more influential was John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, more characteristically with his free-floating harmonies (what Cage called “proto-tonality”). A romantic feeling is a recurring feature of his music.
He is co-organizer of the Zante Jazz Festival.
Selected works
- Fantasy on a theme by Steve Reich (1999), for piano six handsPiano six handsMusic described as piano six hands is for three pianists at one piano, as distinct from piano duet which is music for two pianists at one piano, and from piano trio which is music for piano, violin and cello...
(the theme is the initial motif of Piano phase). - To Zante (2001), Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
song for mezzo, mandolin and guitar. - Preludes, I (2001), T.S. Eliot song for baritone and piano.
- Lullaby (2001, revised 2008), for solo clarinet.
- Two pieces for string quartet (2002–2003).
- Blue pearl (2003, revised 2004), Andreas Embiricos song for baritone and piano.
- Chemins fermés (2003), for 4 violins, cello and double-bass.
- An invisible city (2004, revised 2006), for bassoon and piano.
- Momo (2004), stage music for the Michael EndeMichael EndeMichael Andreas Helmuth Ende was a German author of fantasy and children's literature. He is best known for his epic fantasy work The Neverending Story; other famous works include Momo and Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver...
play. - Fungi from YuggothFungi from YuggothFungi from Yuggoth is a sequence of 36 sonnets by cosmic horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Most of the sonnets were written between 27 December 1929 – 4 January 1930; thereafter individual sonnets appeared in Weird Tales and other genre magazines...
(2004, ongoing), H.P. Lovecraft song-cycle for baritone and piano. - An invisible city 2 (2005), for 12 performers.
- Movements (2005), for solo clarinet.
- Movements 2 (2005), for solo mandolin.
- A midsummer night’s dream (2005), stage music for the William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
play. - Vocalise (2005–2007), for mezzo and 10 performers.
- Rejouissez-vous ! (2006), for four part female chorus and organ, on poetry of Guillaume ApollinaireGuillaume ApollinaireWilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki, known as Guillaume Apollinaire was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic born in Italy to a Polish mother....
, Arthur RimbaudArthur RimbaudJean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
and AragonAragonAragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
. - Meditation (2010), for grand piano solo and auxiliary sounds.
- Winter concords (2010), for clarinet in B, horn in F, viola, piano and percussion. A collaboration with Rob Haskins.