2002

double concerto for percussion, piano and orchestra

By:

• John Psathas

Duration:

20' 00"

Instrumentation:

2222;4331; timp; 2 perc. ( triangle, snare drum, mark tree, glockenspiel, tubular bells, marimba,cowbell, vibraphone, cymbals -splash, medium crash, china crash), bass drum, tambourine, 3 high tom toms (different pitches), finger cymbals; harp; strings; solo piano; solo percussion ( vibraphone, marimba, simtak, dulcimer, bass steel drums, wind chimes (2 or 3 sets), bell tree, mark tree, triangle, finger cymbals, drum station (4 octobans, 4 tom toms, 3 paddle drums, cymbals (trash, splash, medium crash, china crash, plus a cluster of smallest-possible splash cymbals), hi-hat)

Contents:

Four movements: 1. The Furies 2. To Yelasto Paithi 3. Dance of the Maenads 4. Fragment (optional encore for vibraphone and piano)

Samples

	Score (311k)	Pages 121-125	© Promethean Editions
	Recording (467k)	From 5:36 - 6:36 NZSO conducted by Marc Taddei with Michael Houstoun (piano) and Pedro Carniero (percussion)	© Rattle Records
You must enable JavaScript and install the Flash plugin to view this player

Availability

• This work has 2 scores, 3 Media on Demand, 5 recordings and 2 resources

Media on Demand

Programme Note

I The Furies – The Furies were avenging spirits of retributive justice whose task was to punish crimes outside the reach of human justice. Their names were Alecto, Megæra and Tisiphone. This movement contains an adapted transcription of a fragment of improvised playing by one of my favourite Greek violinists, Stathis Koukoularis (It appears as a solo for violin about 2 minutes into the movement).

II To Yelasto Paithi (The Smiling Child) – This is the closest I’ve come to expressing – in a way not possible with the spoken or written word – the feelings inspired by my precious children, Emanuel and Zoe. In this movement is also caught the summer I spent working on the concerto at my parents’ house just outside the village of Nea Michaniona – a house perched on a cliff which looks down on the Aegean and up to Mount Olympus.

III Dance of the Mænads – Draped in the skins of fawns, crowned with wreaths of ivy and carrying the thyrsos – a staff wound round with ivy leaves and topped with a pine cone – the Mænads roamed the mountains and woods, seeking to assimilate the potency of the beasts that dwelled there and celebrating their god Dionysos with song, music and dance. The human spirit demands Dionysiac ecstasy; to those who accept it, the experience offers spiritual power. For those who repress the natural force within themselves, or refuse it to others, it is transformed into destruction, both of the innocent and the guilty. When possessed by Dionysos, the Mænads became savage and brutal. They plunged into a frenzied dance, obtaining an intoxicating high and a mystical ecstasy that gave them unknown powers, making them the match of the bravest hero.

John Psathas, 2001

Commissioned:

The composition of this work was funded as original research by Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and commissioned by Evelyn Glennie.

Difficulty:

Advanced

Influences:

• Greek
• Myth

Dedication:

Dedicated with the utmost love and gratitude to my wife and children, my parents and my sister

Related Works

Fragment	John Psathas
Fragment	John Psathas
Fragment	John Psathas
Fragment	John Psathas
Maenads	John Psathas

Performance History

	26 Jul 2002	Performed by Evelyn Glennie (percussion), Philip Smith (piano) with the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Mark Elder at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, UK as part of the Friendship Royal Gala Concert
	14 Apr 2007	Performed by the Vector Wellington Orchestra, conducted by Marc Taddei with soloists Michael Houstoun (piano) and Lenny Sakofsky (percussion)
		Marc Taddei    Michael Houstoun    Vector Wellington Orchestra
	21 Jun 2008	Performed by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marc Taddei with soloists Michael Houstoun (piano) and Pedro Carniero (percussion)
		Marc Taddei    Michael Houstoun
	27 May 2009	Performed by Michael Houstoun (piano), Pedro Carneiro (percussion), and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marc Taddei. This was broadcast on Radio New Zealand Concert in May 2009
		Marc Taddei    Michael Houstoun    New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
	12 Feb 2010	Performed by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Mickelthwate with Jenny Lin (piano), Aiyun Huang (percussion).

Awards

• IAMIC 'Sounds of the Year' (2009)
  

  View from Olympus by John Psathas was chosen for the list of orchestral works presented in 2009 for ‘IAMIC sounds of the Year’.

• SOUNZ Contemporary Award (2002)
  

  View from Olympus was the winner of the 2002 SOUNZ Contemporary Award.