Byzantion (βυζάντιο)
A NEW CYCLE OF WORKS FOR
DOUBLE-REED PIANO TRIO
Referencing the Byzantine Empire, poems by W.B. Yeats,
& Byzantine Orthodox chant
COR ANGLAIS, BASSOON & PIANO
IN VARYING COMBINATIONS
A NEW CYCLE OF WORKS FOR
DOUBLE-REED PIANO TRIO
Referencing the Byzantine Empire, poems by W.B. Yeats,
& Byzantine Orthodox chant
COR ANGLAIS, BASSOON & PIANO
IN VARYING COMBINATIONS
|
Introducing Byzantion COMPLETED
Byzantion I - Hagia Sophia (2022): CA/EH, Bsn & Piano Byzantion II - Through Space and Time (2024): Bsn & Piano Byzantion III - Dolphins (2025): EH & Piano STILL TO COME Byzantion IV - Apokalypsis (2025/6): CA/EH, Bsn & Piano CONSORTIUM NOW OPEN! "O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall, Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre, And be the singing-masters of my soul." "Sailing to Byzantium" (1927) "Astraddle on the dolphin's mire and blood, Spirit after spirit! The smithies break the flood, The golden smithies of the Emperor!... That dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea." "Byzantium" (1930) |
|
Lead Commissioners Kathleen Carter Bell Cor anglais/English Horn Conor Bell Bassoon |
|
Byzantion I - Hagia Sophia (2022)
EH, Bassoon & Piano
Duration: 5'15"
CLICK ON SCORE, to visit information page
EH, Bassoon & Piano
Duration: 5'15"
CLICK ON SCORE, to visit information page
|
|
Byzantion II - Through Space & Time (2024)
Bassoon & Piano
Duration: 5'30"
CLICK ON SCORE, for information page
Bassoon & Piano
Duration: 5'30"
CLICK ON SCORE, for information page
|
|
BYZANTION III - δελφίνια (Dolphins) (2025)
English Horn & Piano
Duration: 6'30"
CLICK ON SCORE, for feature page
English Horn & Piano
Duration: 6'30"
CLICK ON SCORE, for feature page
WORLD PREMIERE (PAST EVENT)
Wednesday 12 November 2025 at 1800 CT
Kathleen Carter Bell, EH
Sarah Rushing, Piano
WATCH HERE (31:12 onwards)
Wednesday 12 November 2025 at 1800 CT
Kathleen Carter Bell, EH
Sarah Rushing, Piano
WATCH HERE (31:12 onwards)
|
|
Understanding Byzantion (βυζάντιο)
The Byzantion concept brings together three distinct, but related, things: the history and aesthetics of the Byzantine Empire, represented by the Emperor Justinian - builder of Hagia Sophia and immortalised in the mosaics of Ravenna, Italy; ancient Greek Orthodox chant; and three poems by William Butler Yeats, namely Sailing to Byzantium (1927); Byzantium (1933); and The Second Coming (1919).
These three major themes are being combined in both obvious and subtle ways, to create a new cycle of pieces for the instruments which form the double-reed piano trio. These pieces can either be performed in their entirety (once the cycle is complete), on their own, or in varying combinations.
For example, in Byzantion I - Hagia Sophia, 12th-century chant from the holy island of Patmos forms the departure point of the piece. Once the chant and ison are performed by the trio, my music takes over, and the piece develops from there, before concluding with my answer to the original chant. The structure of the piece is identical to Yeats' structuring of Sailing to Byzantium. The second frame of Hagia Sophia, immediately after the initial chant, moves into the musical equivalent of iambic pentameter in ottava rima. The time signature is 5/4 (10 quavers or eighth-notes per bar - i.e. iambic pentameter), and there are four central frames (sections) of eight bars, representing the four eight-line stanzas of the poem. The final section is a coda.
The focal point of the piece is the Hagia Sophia - once the world's largest church - and founded by Byzantine emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD. Hagia Sophia was the jewel in the crown of the Byzantine Empire, and the centre of Orthodox worship.
Byzantion II - Through Space and Time focuses on two verses from Sailing to Byzantium which feature in the video, above, of Hagia Sophia. It is intentionally written as a recital piece for Bassoon & Piano, so that performers can still participate in the cycle, should a third player not be available.
Byzantion III is also a recital piece, for the same reason - but for English Horn & Piano.
Byzantion IV, the concluding part of the cycle, will bring all three instruments back together, once again.
These three major themes are being combined in both obvious and subtle ways, to create a new cycle of pieces for the instruments which form the double-reed piano trio. These pieces can either be performed in their entirety (once the cycle is complete), on their own, or in varying combinations.
For example, in Byzantion I - Hagia Sophia, 12th-century chant from the holy island of Patmos forms the departure point of the piece. Once the chant and ison are performed by the trio, my music takes over, and the piece develops from there, before concluding with my answer to the original chant. The structure of the piece is identical to Yeats' structuring of Sailing to Byzantium. The second frame of Hagia Sophia, immediately after the initial chant, moves into the musical equivalent of iambic pentameter in ottava rima. The time signature is 5/4 (10 quavers or eighth-notes per bar - i.e. iambic pentameter), and there are four central frames (sections) of eight bars, representing the four eight-line stanzas of the poem. The final section is a coda.
The focal point of the piece is the Hagia Sophia - once the world's largest church - and founded by Byzantine emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD. Hagia Sophia was the jewel in the crown of the Byzantine Empire, and the centre of Orthodox worship.
Byzantion II - Through Space and Time focuses on two verses from Sailing to Byzantium which feature in the video, above, of Hagia Sophia. It is intentionally written as a recital piece for Bassoon & Piano, so that performers can still participate in the cycle, should a third player not be available.
Byzantion III is also a recital piece, for the same reason - but for English Horn & Piano.
Byzantion IV, the concluding part of the cycle, will bring all three instruments back together, once again.
