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Konstantia Gourzi Leads the Bachchor Salzburg in the Premiere of Klothó, Láchesis, Átropos – an die Schicksalsgöttinn

Jun. 28, 2024

The Bach Choir Salzburg premiered Konstantia Gourzi's Klothó, Láchesis, Átropos – an die Schicksalsgöttinn on June 8 at Carabinieri Hall of the Residenz, Salzburg, under the composer's baton. Texts for this work, commissioned by the Bachchor Salzburg, include fragments from the Orphic hymns to the Moires, to the Earth, Moon and Sun in Ancient Greek and Konstantia Gourzi’s own texts in German. The concert also included works by Arvo Pärt, Rodion Shchedrin and Michael Ostrzyga. Gourzi notes:

"Láchesis, Klothó, Átropos – an die Schicksalsgöttinnen was commissioned by the Salzburg Bachchor for their concert series, “Chorage” on a program which is dedicated to the idea of fate.

I find it more interesting and necessary than ever to deal with the subject of fate today. Asking the question of whether we are powerless in the face of our fate or whether we can determine our own destiny and seeking the answer through music made me curious and at the same time grateful and happy about this task.

The word Móires (in ancient Greek Μοῖραι, goddesses of fate) comes from the ancient Greek verb moiráso (I divide). The three goddesses of fate share the time of life: the past, the present and the future. Klothó, the goddess of the present, spins the thread of life, Láchesis, the goddess of the past, measures the thread of life and Átropos, the goddess of the future, cuts the thread of life.

My friend, the visual artist Alexander Polzin, depicts the goddesses of fate intertwined in a small gold sculpture, dancing in a cocoon of the thread of fate.

This sculpture and its symbolism inspired the dramaturgy of the composition. I was inspired by Plato and the Orphic hymns, which deal with fate, and decided to use fragmentary texts from the Orphic texts (in ancient Greek) to the Móires for the prologue and epilogue. For the three goddesses, I used fragments of the three Orphic hymns dedicated to the planets Moon, Earth and Sun and mixed them with my own texts (in German).

The composition therefore consists of five parts, which are musically constructed from different sound elements. It was important to me to always lead the choir as a unison voice. This conveys the sound as a powerful whole and is intended to create the mood of a ritual. 

The ritual begins with the Prologue: a mood, like a call to prayer is created: we call to the Moires to ask them to listen to us humans. In the following movements: Láchesis, Klothó, and Átropos, soloists begin each piece and the choir follows them. In all three pieces, the melodic, the spoken (or declaimed) and the rhythmic elements are strongly emphasized. The Epilogue concludes the ritual with a song performed in unison, calling on the Moires with hope to dispel the pain of the world and bring mercy. The power of this collective rhythmic singing is particularly emphasized and celebrated.

Read more and preview the score here.

Additionally, on June 16, the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock performed Konstantia Gourzi's Variation 21 alongside works by Dvorák and Strauss under the baton of Marcus Bosch in Halle 207 at the Volkstheater Rostock. She notes:

"Variation 21 was commissioned by the Bamberger Symphoniker for their »encore!«-project. The piece was originally planned to be performed after Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations, but this turned out differently. Nevertheless, the idea of variation as a musical form occupied me. Above all, I asked myself whether a variation could exist without a predetermined theme and whether the theme could also be the variation in a composition. With Variation 21, I wanted to thematize the leap into the 21st century.

Rhythm, as well melody, plays a very important role for me. The percussion part is one of the most important in Variation 21. Sometimes the three players sound as if they were a single solo part - and sometimes they are the basis for the rhythm of the other groups. The mixture of percussion timbres is both complementary and necessary to the overall orchestral sound.

The composition presents three themes and then varies them throughout. The first eight bars are like an overture to the rest of the piece. The two themes appear in direct succession and become increasingly dense and tense rhythmically. A theme in 6/8 time, performed only by percussion, opens dramatically, and the theme in 7/8 time consists of repetitive melodic fragments performed by the entire orchestra. These two themes are varied and continually brought together, accompanied by dense changes of meter and instrumental groups. In the middle of the piece, a calm mood is created with the third theme, only to build up again the powerful percussion rhythms. Those rhythms lead Variation 21 to an energetic fortissimo ending."

To learn more about Konstantia Gourzi, visit universaledition.com.

Konstantia Gourzi
Klothó, Láchesis, Átropos – an die Schicksalsgöttinn, op. 107 (2024)
for mixed choir
   I. Prologue – as a prayer
   II. Láchesis – with admiration 
   III. Klothó – declamatory
   IV. Átropos – thoughtful
   V. Epilogue – with hope
12'

Variation 21 (2022)
for orchestra
2.2.2.2-4.3.3.1-timp.2perc-str
6'

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