Product Description
This witty and extremely
fun work to perform by composer Apostolos Paraskevas was conceived after real
events. There is a version for Soprano/tenor and Piano and one for guitar as
well. Easy to perform and the text was inspired of the following narrative.
I Slaughtered an Orange
over the Sink...
...and it just sat thereIt didn't say a word, not a sound of anguish, not even
when my teeth started to tear apart it's flesh little by little... I knew it
was a special orange but I couldn't fathom the magnitude of its characterEven
when gentle I took it away from its friends there at the top of the kitchen
counter, it looked at me almost with a sense of gratitude. Yes, gratitude.! As
if it was saying: "Thank you! Thank you for helping me to fulfill the
purpose of my lifeSince I was a little seed I knew I would serve a higher
purpose. My sacrifice will help a human to become a healthier mother, doctor,
composer, a better scientist".
Yes, I think I felt it saida better composer as well.
...and there I was, sinking my teeth deep inside its flesh and taking all of
what it had to offer. It's life, it's substance, it's gratitude for serving a
higher purpose.
I slaughtered it over the sink, to avoid any evidence of what had happen there.
The remaining outer sell, I placed it on the stove top and lighted up with
fire, as my mother use to do, to release the heavenly smell and there it was.
Evaporated everywhere! I inhale it, It became totally a part of me.
Today, I slaughtered an orange over the sink and I didnt say thank you!
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
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