Barrett, Richard (b. 1959)

[RichardB]

Just uploaded to Soundcloud here

https://soundcloud.com/zaricustra/richard-barrett-pektis

is a new recording of pēktis for vocalising harpist, written for Milana Zarić in 2022. (The audio recording was made in conjunction with a video which will follow in due course.) This composition is based on two texts by Sappho which are so fragmentary that some lines consist only of a single word or syllable and no single line is complete, although, since the metre is known, the metrical structure of the entire poem can be reconstructed, and this forms the basis of the music, with the extant phonemes, words and syllables incorporated as they occur. There is enough material to give the impression of an intimate love poem expressing a sense of abandonment and loss, most of the poem is also lost, and the music attempts to "give voice" to both of these absences.

[Mandryka]

Just uploaded to Soundcloud here

https://soundcloud.com/zaricustra/richard-barrett-pektis

is a new recording of pēktis for vocalising harpist, written for Milana Zarić in 2022. (The audio recording was made in conjunction with a video which will follow in due course.) This composition is based on two texts by Sappho which are so fragmentary that some lines consist only of a single word or syllable and no single line is complete, although, since the metre is known, the metrical structure of the entire poem can be reconstructed, and this forms the basis of the music, with the extant phonemes, words and syllables incorporated as they occur. There is enough material to give the impression of an intimate love poem expressing a sense of abandonment and loss, most of the poem is also lost, and the music attempts to "give voice" to both of these absences.

Cheers . I saw "6 hours" when I clicked on the link and thought "Shit -- he's written a six hour harp piece!" But no, you'd uploaded it six hours ago.

It's a great pleasure to hear. I started by thinking "this is very Stockhausen-y" but after a few minutes it seemed to depart from that Klang vibe.

Did you study Ancient Greek?

[Joseph K]

Very nice! Sensuous and colourful. What strikes me is how 'orchestral' the harp sounds as though Milana was reading through an orchestral score or something, trying to recreate all the instruments - there is that variety of timbre and texture, and attention to detail, not to mention an impressive polyphonic conception. I listened to it earlier but am listening again now. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed that this piece wasn't performed in Bangor, so it's good to hear it now.

[RichardB]

Thanks Mandryka and JK.

Indeed the harp is capable of much more timbral variety than most people think, and it's good to know that this aspect comes across clearly in the recorded performance.

Yes I have studied ancient Greek, I've worked with it a couple of times before. I think I could say it's my favourite language for setting to music, partly because its poetry already contains a strong sense of pitch and rhythm (since it was a tonal language, like Chinese and Swedish, and its poetic metres are articulated by duration rather than stress).

[RichardB]

For those who might be interested:

The video version of the recording of pēktis is available to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPVnlG_nADo

... and there's a new addition - a new composition, splinter for solo contrabass performed by Kathryn Schulmeister of the Elision ensemble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd_82bfaU3w

[Serial_Apologist]

For those who might be interested:

The video version of the recording of pēktis is available to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPVnlG_nADo

... and there's a new addition - a new composition, splinter for solo contrabass performed by Kathryn Schulmeister of the Elision ensemble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd_82bfaU3w

Tremendous - huge thanks Richard: looking forward to setting time aside for viewing those.