Odyssey

Item details

• Description +

  • Duration: 22 min.
    
    As you set out for Ithaka
    hope your road is a long one,
    full of adventure, full of discovery.
    Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
    angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
    you’ll never find things like that on your way
    as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
    as long as a rare excitement
    stirs your spirit and your body.
    Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
    wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter
    them unless you bring them along inside your soul,
    unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
    
    Hope your road is a long one.
    May there be many summer mornings when,
    with what pleasure, what joy,
    you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
    may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
    to buy fine things,
    mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
    sensual perfume of every kind—
    as many sensual perfumes as you can;
    and may you visit many Egyptian cities
    to learn and go on learning from their scholars.
    
    Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
    Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
    But don’t hurry the journey at all.
    Better if it lasts for years,
    so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
    wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
    not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
    
    Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
    Without her you wouldn't have set out.
    She has nothing left to give you now.
    
    And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
    Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
    you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
    By C. P. Cavafy
    Translated by Edmund Keeley
    
    The composer defers this work  in different “scenes” from the night before Ulysses departure, the settling out, the battle, the pain of the loss, the agony, the pleasure at Kirki's Island, but also the pain of the return and finally the return itself as a salvation, as a final signature to life’s adventure.
    
    A work of programmatic music including influences from the French impressionism the mysticism of Aleksandr Skrjabin and the adventure of improvisation with elements of jazz, all together in a Symphonic Poem that attempts to describe the life philosophy of the traveler and the way to knowledge and wisdom.

• Instrumentation +

  • Orchestra
    
    Flute
    Oboe
    Cor anglais
    Clarinet in Bb
    
    Horn in F
    Trumpet in Bb
    Tenor Trombone
    
    Timpani
    Percussion
    
    Strings
    
    Jazz Rhythm Section
    Vibraphone
    Guitar
    Piano
    Double Bass
    Drum Set

• About the composer +

  • Born and raised in Kefalonia, Ionian Islands, Greek pianist and composer Georgios Tsolis currently resides in the Hague, the Netherlands since 2004. Studied at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague where he gained his bachelor and masters in jazz piano performance. Emerging from the jazz scene as an established musician, he has been active for the last 15 years with appearances in various festivals and locations around Europe, receiving excellent reviews for his work both as a composer and performer.
    
    Composition has always been the key element and life companion in his musical journey. “Daring to diverge” is an expression of creativity for him. A constant quest for oneself as the key to continuous progress and development is a view of life and music is his vehicle to this quest. He composed music for solo piano, jazz trios, quartets, big band and orchestra. Lately he is debuting as a composer into the world of contemporary classical music with a series of sonatas for solo marimba and many more to come.
    
    As a composer, he has the tendency to experiment with the expansion of the harmonic and melodic language within traditional forms. His musical influences from jazz and improvisation, to Greek traditional music and classical, is incorporate into his music; a coexistence and guide on the way to the development of his own sound and language.

• Credits +

  • Front Cover Artist: Nicola Lee
    Photo: YIannis Lostopoulos
    Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
    Copyright © Edition SVITZER
    www.editionsvitzer.com
    With support from Koda’s Cultural Funds

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