Folk Cadenza #5 - SOLO EH

Folk Cadenza #5
for unaccompanied English horn
by Minas I. Alexiadis (b. 1960) - Greek composer

ABOUT THE MUSIC
The Folk Cadenza No. 5 belongs to a series of works for solo instruments, with a similar orientation: they are all inspired by the style and the tone-material of folk music, with a quite demanding musical setting. 
In this particular case, the melodic manipulations (melisms) are connected with the (modal) musical tone-material of the southeastern Mediterranean region and they are linked to one another within a loose arch form, while still preserving a narrative style based on a central key (in A) and two collateral tonal centers (in E and G, being the roots of the dominant and the natural 7th degree respectively). 
There is also a version of this composition for solo oboe. This version for English Horn was premiered by Kostas Tiliakos in 1998 and published in 2013 in its final form. 

ABOUT THE COMPOSER 

Born in 1960 in Athens, Minas studied piano with Marika Papaioannou and George Platon, and theory and composition with Yannis Ioannidis. He gained a Diploma in composition under Guenther Becker at the Robert Schumann University, Duesseldorf, Germany. He is a Law School graduate and earned a PhD in musicology from the University of Athens. Many of his works have won prizes and have been performed and broadcast worldwide. Many have been recorded and released on 22 LPs and CDs in Greece, Italy, Germany, England and Japan. Operas of his have been performed in Frankfurt and Athens, such as “Viva la Vida- FridaKahlo” and “The Abduction of the United Europa” based on his own libretto. Other works involve symphonic, chamber and electronic music, music for the ballet, film and theatre. Minas was a member of the Board and Vice President of the Greek Composers’ Union from 1989-2013 and member of the Board as well as Secretary General of the Greek National Opera from 2002-2006. He has participated in international musicological and theatrological congresses. Many of his writings have been published like his analytical study on Stravinsky’s Histoire du Soldat, Orpheus’s Magic Flute: Ten studies on opera and musical theatre, etc. He taught at the Music Departments of both the Aristotle University and the Macedonia University in Thessaloniki from 2000-2004. He is currently a Professor of Opera and Musical Theater at the Department of Theater Studies, University of Athens, Greece.