For my eighteen-thousandth first listening, I wanted to pick something at least a little special, so I chose Christos Hatzis’ 90-minute work for soprano, middle-eastern vocalist, piano trio, and digital audio. When I listened to it, my reaction was “wow” ― not a word that comes up very often, considering my jaded listening experience.
About five (maybe six) years ago, I heard a fragment of music over the radio that struck me as very beautiful. It was clearly a modern piece, but unlike most of the mildly interesting, but bloodless items ground out by the conservatory crowd, it was suffused with intense emotion. Technically, it could have been by any of the eclectic composers of today, but emotionally, it could have been by Rachmaninov! Whatever it was, it was profoundly moving. But I was interrupted, and didn’t learn what it was or who composed it. Two years ago, I heard another piece, very similar, performed by the Gryphon Trio. It was labeled “Old Photographs”, by the Toronto composer Christos Hatzis. I liked this almost as much as the first, and it was clearly connected to the mystery piece I had heard before, part of a suite or something. I subsequently found a number of his choral pieces, all of them enjoyable.
I eventually picked up a copy of Hatzis’ Constantinople, noted that it was a multi-media work on a large scale and that “Old Photographs” was one of its movements, so I set it aside to play when I hit the approaching item 18000 mark. I discovered that the piece that had so moved me half a decade ago was the movement entitled “On Death and Dying”. The entire work maintains an astonishing degree of involvement and intensity, though the first part I heard remains my favourite. I don’t say this about many works: listen to it in darkness, or in some other contemplative setting. There is no snobbery in this work. It weaves middle Eastern, Greek Orthodox, classical, jazz and even some pop components together without the “wink-wink” poseur attitude that many eclectic composers indulge in. Every element there is to serve the musical drama, not merely to establish “post-modern” credentials.
Hatzis has carved out a place as Canada’s most dynamic composer, drawing huge crowds and standing ovations from an audience as varied as his influences. If I had been paying more attention to the local concert scene, I would have known this. Hatzis has an extensive and well-designed website, here.
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