Album of the Week #20: Ithaka by Lydia Kakabadse

Check out our new ALBUM OF THE WEEK! 

Each week, we will post a different album that will make your Wednesday way easier! This week, listen to:

Ithaka, by Lydia Kakabadse

About the album:

British composer Lydia Kakabadse (with roots in Greece, Austria, Russia and Georgia) reflects her cultural heritage in music that has western and mediterranean elements while this is strongest in her choral music, it is heard to good effect in her chamber works, which are often written in modal intonation; her previous recorded collections have been very positively reviewed. This album is in two parts first the stunning choral work Odyssey absolutely traditional in its rich harmony but carrying one or two surprises, a work commissioned by the Hellenic Institute at Royal Holloway College in 2018; and a set of songs written in 2018 and 2019 spanning a range of styles from ballad, to arioso to folk jazz, Romantic, antiphonal and minimalistic! 

The performers are all top rate: Clare McCaldin is an outstanding mezzo-soprano with a significant recorded legacy already. Paul Turner specializes in chamber music and accompanying singers and instrumentalists. Sara Trickey is becoming well known as a fine violinist and Cecily Beer is in great demand as both singer and harpist. The Choir of Royal Holloway is considered to be one of the finest mixed-voice collegiate choirs in Britain.

Source: Presto

About Lydia:

Lydia Kakabadse is a British composer, known for her compositions for choral, chamber and vocal music. She has a unique style - it incorporates tonal and modal harmonies with Middle Eastern traits and melody. She is also a Latin enthusiast, and has written original Latin texts for her vocal works.

She was already on Donne's Meet the ComposHer. Read the complete interview here.

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WEBSITE

MAY 13

ENEA VERARDINI - ITALY
Death 13 May

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MARIA MARGHERITA GRIMANI

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 Check here last year's composers of the day

Meet the ComposHER: Lydia Kakabadse

Lydia Kakabadse is a British composer, known for her compositions for choral, chamber and vocal music. She has a unique style - it incorporates tonal and modal harmonies with Middle Eastern traits and melody. She is also a Latin enthusiast, and has written original Latin texts for her vocal works.

Her works have been included in music festivals both in the UK and abroad, most recently in the Three Choirs Festival Eucharist (2019) and Chatsworth Arts Festival (2019).

Learn more about her and her awesome work in the Meet the ComposHer of this week!

 

Yes, since I was 12 years old

Medieval, Middle Eastern and nineteenth century Russian music as well as poets of the Romantic era (1800 – 1850).

Depends on where I was in my career:

Early on, my biggest challenge would have been finding the right musicians to perform my music as well as getting my music published, recorded and released on a record label.

More recently my biggest challenge is to come up with exciting new ideas in respect of choral, chamber; vocal music, to obtain further commissions and increase my profile in international circuits/musicfestivals.

I firstly need to be inspired by something (e.g. poetry/literature/art/drama etc), then decide on musical format and then instrumentation, voice types, language, any particular choir/singer/instrumentalist.

From my choral/vocal album Ithaka, released by Divine Art on 15 th Nov 2019:

Jocelyn Pook - Masked Ball (from film Eyes Wide Shut):

I was 16 in 1972. Technology has changed so much since then that any advice would be wholly irrelevant and of little use. Indeed, technology has changed the music industry. In 1972 there were no photocopiers (I had to write out all scores and parts by hand on manuscript paper); no CD’s or CD players, no internet, no emails, no social media, no Sibelius software, no websites, no PC’s, lap tops, iPhones, iPads, no downloads. As a result, marketing was wholly different then. Experimental musical instruments had not gained much popularity in 1972 - they gained wider audiences in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Electronic music has also developed since then. It was also easier to get music published then – now there are far more composers and far fewer record labels and music publishing companies. Consequently, it is now a publisher’s and record label’s market. With these improvements in technology, music has been changing along with the methods of its recording and publishing. Composers can now make their own records and publish online through different platforms.

Earnings made by a composer generally come from publishing, performance and mechanical royalties as well as commissions and concert takings. These days, it is rare for a record label to pay for all or any costs of recording (artists, producer, sound engineer, venue, distribution, marketing, etc). If the composer does not know how to use Sibelius software, s/he will need to pay for someone who can transcribe their music from manuscript, as publishers do not generally accept manuscripts. As it can take years before composers can secure publishing contracts/record deals or receive commissions and royalties, I would advise that, at least in the early years, they think about how to finance their music projects.

FOLLOW LYDIA:
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04 FEBRUARY

RHENÉ JAQUE - CANADA
Born 04 February


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INGA CHINILINA - RUSSIA
Born 04 February

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 Check here last year's composers of the day

02 SEPTEMBER 2019

LYDIA KAKABADSE - UK
BORN 02 SEPTEMBER

British born “Lydia Kakabadse is a phenomenon and a virtual reincarnation of an early music master” (Gapplegate Classical Modern Music). A “very gifted and accessible composer” (MusicWeb International), Lydia composes choral, chamber and vocal music. Of Russian/Georgian and Greek/Austrian parentage, she grew up in Altrincham, Cheshire and started composing at the age of thirteen. Her works include string quartets, string duet, mixed ensembles, songs, musical drama, cantata, concert Requiem Mass and sacred/secular choral works for male voices, mixed choir (SATB) and children’s choir. Her unique distinctive style – demonstrating “a mastery of counterpoint and a richness of ideas“ (MusicWeb International) – incorporates tonal and modal harmonies with Middle Eastern traits and rich melody. An avid Latin enthusiast and inspired by medieval music, Lydia has written original texts in Latin for her vocal works. She also draws inspiration from poets of the Romantic era as well as from Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox liturgical music – “Kakabadse’s talent at writing in the Greek Orthodox music style is supreme” (Tamvakos Archive).

Source: Lydia Kakabadse Official Website

♫ LISTEN

The Phantom Listeners by Lydia Kakabadse

➺ Lydia Kakabadse's Website

GEORGINA DERBEZ ROQUE -  MÉXICO
BORN 02 SEPTEMBER

Georgina Derbez Roque was born in México City in 1968 where she studied piano with Lea Levine and Marta García Renart. She later entered the Escuela Superior de Música where she studied piano with Ana María Tradatti and composition with Arturo Márquez. Her later work in composition was with Ana Lara. She has participated in composer workshops with composers Franco Donatoni, Theo Loevendie, Roberto Sierra, Javier Alvarez, Hebert Vázquez y Mario Lavista, Cristóbal Halffter, and Mauricio Sotelo, among others.

Her works have been selected for performance in various festivals of new music, including the prestigious Manuel Enríquez Forum of New Music in México City and the Festival of Contemporary Music of León, México. In October of 1999 the Arditti Quartet collaborated with Derbez during their Interpretation and Composition Workshop in the National Center for the Arts in Mexico City and recorded her Cuarteto No. 1. Her music has also been recorded by the Trio Neos (Music of Women Composers of the Americas, Quindecim Records, 2000), and by soprano Encarnación Vázquez and pianist Alberto Cruzprieto (Canciones de Luna, Euram Records, 1999). In 1998 -99 Derbez was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Culture and the Arts (FONCA). She currently serves on Composition Faculty of the Superior School of Music of the National Center for the Arts in México City.

Source: Georgina Derbez Official Website and Hildegard

♫ LISTEN

Symphonia by Georgina Derbez Roque

➺ Georgina Derbez Roque's Website