CMRC - Thomas Simaku - Integrating Aspects of Modality into Contemporary Idioms
Event details
In this seminar presentation, Professor Thomas Simaku will discuss certain aspects of modal expression and how they have been integrated into and become part of his own idiom. This will be illustrated with examples from a number of works, vocal and instrumental, which are based on, or take their point of departure from ancient modes. They include pieces such as ‘La Leggiadra Luna’ (2018) for mixed choir – a setting of a poem by the Greek poetess Sappho translated from ancient Greek to modern Italian by the Nobel-prize Sicilian poet Salvatore Quasimodo - and ‘Morea for Violin & String Orchestra’ (2022) - inspired by an ancient folk song, which has its origin in Southern Italy and it is sung to this day by the Arbëresh people – an Albanian community, whose ancestors settled in the Kingdom of Naples some 500 years ago.
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About the speaker
Thomas Simaku's music has been reaching audiences across Europe, the US and further afield for more than three decades. Described by the British Composer Award judging panel as ‘visionary and entirely original’ and by Neue Zeitschrift für Musik as ‘breathtakingly original’, it has been awarded a host of accolades, including the Lutosławski Prize. His works have been selected by international juries in ten editions of ISCM, and his latest CDs with Quatuor Diotima and Soloists of Ensemble Intercontemporain, released by BIS and NMC respectively, have received international critical acclaim. A substantial new work for solo piano – Catena IV – written for the British pianist Danny Driver, will receive its world premiere at Wigmore Hall in London in January 2025. Published by UYMP, Simaku is a Professor at the University of York.
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