Product Description
A very
energetic and virtuoso work by Apostolos Paraskevas. The Dance of Desire was written for Laura
Villafranca and Ai-Ying Chiu and had its premiere in Mexico City in 2017.
The beauty of a percussive, polyphonic, melodic
and sonorous instrument as the piano makes me always think that I compose for
at least three or four different instruments. To have the chance to write for
four hands it was a "the sky is the limit" invitation. The dance of desire starts in a barbaric
pulsate motion to give room to a melody that is both haunting and dancing. The
desire to move ahead unfolds several variations of this idea between pianists.
A slow dark-pensive part unfolds after the initial theme almost as a prayer in
the dark that the following fugato idea brings back the order in its existence.
Here is where both pianists sharing my love for Bach and yes Samba. The slow pensive but now monotonous haunting
melody re appears to prepare the final dance of desire. The work ends in
fireworks, full of energy and with a touch of insanity.
Dedicated to Laura and Ai-Ying and their unique talent.
Duration: approx. 10
minutes
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.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.