Perspectives, Op. 26 (1966)

Description:

Perspectives, Op. 26, for large symphony orchestra, completed in Athens in September 1966, is a study of space as an expressive factor in music.

The sound acquires a kind of acoustic perspective, thanks to a special arrangement of the musical instruments on stage. Three mixed groups of instruments (woodwinds — brass — percussion) are placed left, right, and at the back of the stage, while the strings, with the double basses in front, occupy the centre. The resulting acoustic impressions are emphasised or fade in successive waves of sound within the space.

Apart from a brief Epilogue, which summarises the material of the beginning in a condensed form, the work is divided into two main parts. In the first part, the musical material is heard in various “stereophonic” contrasts between the strings and the other groups of instruments, while in the second part a serial organisation of rhythm is added. However, the work is performed entirely without any intermediate pauses.

Perspectives had its world premiere on 4 October 1967 in Prague, where it represented contemporary Greek music at the 41st Music Festival, organised annually in the capital of one of the member states by the International Society for Contemporary Music, which was founded in 1923 in France and of which Greece became a full member in 1964.

-This is a near-verbatim translation of Sicilianos’s Greek text.