Holophony

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An object may be at one moment be an element of focus for the listener yet at another moment an element "collected into a composite image, wherein the "object" loses its identity but contributes to the quality of the more embracing image" (McAdams)

Holophony is a piece with a strictly monothematic character. It combines the symbolism of a concrète sound with an abstract sound object, that of the Doppler Effect. The Doppler Effect is a phenomenon whereby the perception of a moving sound varies according to its position in relation to the listener. As the sound approaches a listener it is perceived at a higher frequency and then, as it moves away, at a lower one. This is the idea, the starting point of the work. However, I have transferred it to the concert hall and applied it to musical instruments. Holophony is a kind of artistic or aesthetic simulation of that natural phenomenon.
Through spectromorphological processes, spectral content and sound objects constantly undergo transformations varied from ‘sonic boom’ to microscopic phase-shifting. The basic elements for a thorough understanding of the work’s abstract structural relations and behaviors are systematic morphological, timbral and synthesis procedures and models of the sound material and its chronotopological precision. In addition, tempo indications such as Allegro, Presto, etc. are replaced by expressions such as Noisy, Distorted, Squeaky, etc. The significance of the diatonic interval ceases to exist.
Finally, the title Holophony, as an effort to give a term of a likely musical evolution, cf.: Monophony, Polyphony, Homophony… signifies my intention to determine a rather general aesthetical frame for the work. Each independent sound (phonos in Greek), contributes equally into the synthesis of the total (holos). Abstract sound constructions are “collected into a composite image, wherein the ‘object’ loses its identity but contributes to the quality of the more embracing image”. The final musical output becomes perceptible as a single abstract sound with internal components and with focal points.
This piece was awarded First Prize at the International Jurgenson Competition for Young Composers 2003 in Moscow, Russia; First Prize Brave New Works Composers Competition 2005 in Michigan / USA; Honorable Mention at the International Gaudeamus Music Week 2003 in Amsterdam, Netherlands; and First Prize at the Megaron New Music Workshops 2003 in Athens, Greece.