Evis Sammoutis (1979) Selected for the Second Year
Evis Sammoutis, composer and guitarist was born in Cyprus in 1979. In 1998 he moved to England on a scholarship from Hull University where he continued his studies with Thomas Simaku (composition and orchestration) and Gilbert Biberian (guitar performance). Since then he has also studied in masterclasses and workshops with Helmut Lachenmann, Beat Furrer, Toshio Hosokawa, Georges Aperghis, George Benjamin, Brian Ferneyhough, Augusta Read Thomas, Johannes Schollhorn and Fausto Romitelli at renowned Festivals, Seminars and Workshops.
In 2005, Evis completed his PhD studies in Musical Composition at the University of York and was subsequently awarded a Wingate Foundation Scholarship (2005 – 2007) to pursue his compositional research more independently, whilst teaching Composition and Creative Orchestration at Nottingham University (2005 – 2007) and guitar performance at York University (2002 – 2007). Evis has also taught composition at Hull University in 2006.
His studies were supported by a number of scholarships and awards such as the PRS Foundation, Solti Foundation, O.R.S, and Sir Roy Marshall Scholarships and the Nonhebel, Vinson, Thomas Beecham and Bliss Trust Awards.
Evis was an SPNM short-listed composer (2004 – 2007) and selected composer for the LSO Discovery Panufnik Young Composers’ Project, the National New Composers’ Forum, the Spring Festival, the Huddersfield Young Composers workshop, the Ensemble Eleven Composer’s workshop and competition, the Athens Concert Hall Young Composer’s Workshop, the International Youth Music Forum in Kiev, Ukraine, the New Music North Festival in Canada and composer in residence at the Visby International Centre for Composers in Sweden. He has been awarded First Prizes at the Irino Prize, XVII Andres Segovia Composition Competition and the 2005 Dundee Guitar Festival Composers Competition; Second Prizes at the 5th Triennial Concours Dutilleux and the Y.A Papaioannou Composition Competition; an honourable mention at the IMRO Composers Competitions and he was a finalist for the 2004 and 2007 Gaudeamus Composers competition.
His works have been performed in over 30 countries throughout Europe, America, Africa and the Far East, and broadcast on countless radio stations worldwide.
He has served as the adjudicator of the Second Malaysian Guitar Competition, where he also gave masterclasses and a lecture and in 2005 he was a member of Jury at the XVIII Concurso de Composición “Andrés Segovia” in Spain.
Evis is currently a freelance composer, arranger, and lecturer, dividing his time between professional projects in the UK, Cyprus and the US.
Website:
sammoutis evisPRESENTAZIONE OPERA
In a conversation I had yesterday, I was asked how I decided to leave one island for another. It is true; I grew up in Cyprus and moved to the UK when I was 19 where I spent 11 years before relocating back to Cyprus. Of course, moving to the UK was a very easy choice because of its cultural, historical and educational ties with Cyprus, but I believe that there was also another reason. Living on an island, one becomes very aware of boundaries, not only geographical but also psychological. On an island, you can reach up to a certain point and then no more. So, in many ways, you have to do a lot within a limited space. Therefore, it is no surprise that I really like music that also deals with this issue of boundaries or with the issue of crossing boundaries, music that is very economical that can achieve a lot with very limited means. Whether the composer achieves this consciously or unconsciously is secondary to me. Perhaps that is the reason why I have always been drawn to the music of Giacinto Scelsi. I am also drawn to the music of Scelsi because his music deals primarily with sound. A big part of my work as a composer deals with the relationship between harmony and timbre so his oeuvre is not only important to me on a philosophical but also on a very musical level. In Scelsi's own words:
"Music cannot exist without sound, but sound can exist without music. Thus it seems that sound is more important. If you play a sound for a very long time, it grows. It becomes so big that you start hearing more harmonies, and it becomes bigger inside. The sound envelops you. It's all in this sound; the entire universe is in this one sound that fills the room."
This short quote from Scelsi not only summarizes what was discussed earlier but also has been one of the most influential perspectives for my own compositional work. I would in addition like to briefly touch upon a few other points that not only appear regularly in my work but will also help to better explain the work I will play today.
The first feature of my work is the use of extended instrumental and vocal techniques, not as effects but as truly important contributors to the musical argument. In terms of solo music, this is very straightforward, but in the context of an ensemble, it also becomes a case of combining these techniques together to create a new "super" instrument.
I also believe that as a composer, I cannot advance by abolishing the past but rather by building on it creatively. My aim is to rethink which of these techniques used in the past can be used today (especially performance practice techniques) and to find an appropriate context for them to develop. I often do this by acquiring a total control over certain features: for instance the use of vibrato and articulation as starting points.
Virtuosity plays a key role in my music not only in the traditional sense but also through the nature of my music. Many aspects of my work rely on the exact chrono-topological positioning of various parameters and precise execution. Consequently, there is virtuosity to the music that exists on two levels, one experienced by both the audience and the performers that can be felt directly and one felt predominantly by the performers. I want to challenge performers in a meaningful manner, in a way that makes sense not only musically but also dramaturgically. This notion of virtuosity is directly linked with another area of interest for me, that of the relationship between the visual and audible elements of a performance, between what one can see and what one can hear. This area has been greatly facilitated by exploring virtuosity as an external parameter and as a linking element between the two senses.
My use of form is also influenced by historical research. I have been trying to find a form that appeals to me through constant evolution. Again, I found a model that is of absolute and crucial importance to my work: the "developing variations," a formal device used by Brahms and Schoenberg.
Furthermore, I like to use computer technology as the means for achieving my aims rather than as the end result. If one composes for electronics, then the technological aspect is very evident, but I prefer to use technology to inform my writing for acoustic instruments. Therefore, I
1. use spectral analyses of certain sonorities to help me construct structures by understanding the sound in all its true complexity and
2. relocate techniques or notions of electro-acoustic domain to the acoustic medium (e.g. distortion, feedback, spatialisation, etc.)
All these issues are in play in the work that I will be playing in a few moments. One final issue that is worth mentioning, however, is the meaning of the title in my work. A title for me is like a theme in a symphony, one of the most important aspects of a composition's profile and its identity. I always start by naming a work first as the name usually describes the compositional process. So, the title of the composition I am presenting here today is: Ηχοπραξία - Echopraxia for string sextet. Echopraxia is a Greek word consisting of the words echo (sound) and praxis (action). The representation of this title is very apparent on a basic level, of course. But, echopraxia is also a neurological disorder where one involuntarily repeats or imitates the movements and actions of another. For example, instead of giving answers to a question, one repeats the question meaninglessly. A musical representation of this is very fascinating as in this context, antecedents inevitably become far more important that consequents.
Echopraxia was also used as a principle to help construct the formal profile of the work. This is primarily shaped through imitation (an integral aspect of the word itself), which can also lead to heterophony and so forth, resulting in a series of developing variations.