Panayiotis Kokoras (1974)

Slide (2002)

for classical guitar and electronic device

electronic work

  • General information
    • Composition date: 2002
    • Duration: 8 mn 43 s
    • Publisher: Inédit
  • Type
    • Solo (excluding voice) [Guitar]
Detailed formation
  • 1 guitar

Premiere information

  • Date: 29 April 2004
    Location:

    Etats-Unis, Caroline du Nord, Durham, John Friedrick Educational Technology Complex


    Performers:

    John Mayrose.

Information on the electronics
Electronic device: dispositif électronique non spécifié

Program note

I started to work on Slide during the winter of 2002. Slide is a piece for classical guitar and electronics in which all the sound material comes from the classical guitar.

I explored in depth the unusual characteristics of the guitar’s sound idiom. I played the instrument by scratching on the strings, knocking on the back of its body, hammering and sweeping, and even breaking, the strings themselves. I coupled the guitar with the use of "unconventional" objects treated as extensions of the guitar, like brass or glass slides, metal sticks or brushes, in order to obtain a better control, development and transformation of the sound. Thus, with the help of digital tools, I tried to reveal moments that the ear would hardly hear normally. I tried to isolate fragments which are rarely perceived by the listener – or even the performer – in the course of a performance. I then tried to take the sound further from its true nature and make it suitable for the particular composition.

Every second in the work is very detailed and carefully elaborated. Each acquires its own importance; however, the dramatic succession of that particular "moments" assumes an essential role within the piece. Every gesture justifies both the next and the preceding one, and all join together to create phrases, then sections, and finally the composition itself.

Panayiotis Kokoras