Dimitris Andrikopoulos¹, Nuno Aroso²

¹CESEM / ESMAE – Porto Polytechnic Institute, Portugal
²Inet-MD / Minho University, Portugal

Abstract

The last decades we see a redefinition in the way of interaction between the performer and the composer, an interaction that led to the discovery of new paths of creative collaboration between parts.

This article is a study of this relationship as presented in the works “Solo I” for multipercussion and “Solo for Two”, a duo for two multipercussion sets by Dimitris Andrikopoulos. We aim to address, firstly, issues related to the generation of compositional material through algorithmic processes, material that was used in the creation of the pieces, itself a type of collaboration between the composer and the computer inside a Computer Assisted Composition (CAC) environment.

Further we address the collaborative process between the composer and the interpreters from the early stages of the creation of the works up to the moment of performance and recording of the pieces. We address how this process and collaborative attitude influenced basic parameters of the composition, parameters as the sonic identities of the works and the research into instrumental sets that are moving away from the conventional/established instrumental setups, as well as, how it influenced, on the compositional level, the transformation of the abstract created material to a viable technically musical text in the final form that the pieces were presented.

Keywords: CAC, Collaborative musical activities, Multipercussion, Research on unconventional instrumental setups

Biography

Dimitris Andrikopoulos (Larissa, Greece). He studied composition in the Netherlands, in Rotterdam with Klaas de Vries. In 2013 he successfully completed his PhD in composition at the University of Birmingham. He has collaborated with several groups, such as the Asko Ensemble, Mondrian Quartet, Remix Ensemble, Nederlands Ballet Orkest, Orchestre National de Lorraine, the National Orchestra of Athens, Jazz Orchestra of Matosinhos, Drumming Grupo de Percussão, among others. He won in May 2002, the NOG competition in Holland. He was selected at the “Centre Acanthes 2005” in Metz where he worked with W. Rihm, P. Dusapin and A. Solbiati. In 2010 he was awarded the Centre for Composition and Associated Studies Price at the University of Birmingham. In 2012 he was awarded the “ITEA / Harvey Phillips Award for Excellence in Composition”. His works have been presented in several countries in and outside Europe. Since 2004 he has been a composition teacher at Escola Superior de Música, Artes e Espetáculo (ESMAE) of Instituto Politécnico do Porto.

Teacher, researcher and percussion soloist with intense concert activity, Nuno Aroso develops his career focused on the innovation of literature for his instrumental area.  He performs live on contemporary music stages all over the world. Nuno Aroso graduated from the Escola Superior de Música do Porto with the highest classification and went on to study in Strasbourg and Paris. He holds a doctorate from the Portuguese Catholic University, where he defended the thesis The Gesture’s Narrative – Contemporary Music for Percussion. He is a researcher at INET, where he is developing a post-doctoral program on Percussive Gesture. He teaches at the Music Department of the University of Minho and at the Escuela Superior de Música de Extremadura – Musikex. He extends his activity to other prestigious universities, conservatories and music festivals in all continents.