In the past he was commissioned by the New York Classical Guitar Society, Trinity Lutheran / St. Michael's Episcopal Church, The Diller-Quaile School, Davka Dances, and numerous individual performers. In the US his compositions have been performed at the a.o. Carnegie Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, the 92nd Street Y, The Salon Theatre, CAMI Hall, and the Norwalk Youth Center; St. John the Divine, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Japanese-American, St. Mary of the Highlands and at the Trinity Church, Wall Street, while performances of his compositions outside the US, were given in Argentina, Romania, Bolivia and Spain.

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Information about and samples from a piece composed for Het Consort by Victor Kioulaphides

Diferencias “sobre Morenika”
for solo mandolin
composed by
Victor Vkioulaphides
played by Sebastiaan de Grebber.

The composition, a set of variations, is based on a traditional Sephardic poem called ´Morenika´. Up to the unfortunate events of WWII a large Sephardic community lived in Thessaloniki, Creece, and it is there that this classic song originates.

The original text of the poem is in Ladino, a colourful blend of 14th/15th-century Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, and (post-exile) Greek, Arabic, Turkish:


Morenika a mi me llaman;
Yo blanka nasí.

El sol del enverano
Me hizo a mi ansi.

Morenika, graciosika sos.
Yo moreno, tu morena,
Mavra matia.

---

A free translation of the text is given by the composer, himself:

A young woman is making a flirtatious mock-apology for her olive/tan complexion,
saying that she doesn't quite understand why people call her "morenika"
("little Moorish one", i.e. dark-compexioned),
when in fact she was born fair.
She offers as a logical (but probably untrue?) explanation that the summer sun made her so tan.
Her suitor/lover replies most diplomatically that she is both
dark-complexioned AND graceful.
And, after all, if she is, so is he, dark-skinned and dark-eyed.

About his composition Victor Vkioulaphides explains the following: my interpretation of the text is love-play, amorous repartée. The musical variations are ornamentation, embroidery, filigree; different veils, earrings, bracelets, same mysterious, charming young woman.

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Victor Vkioulaphides composed this work for a group that performs Sephardic music and dance, i.e. of the Judeo-Hispanic cultural heritage from the 15th century on. After the first performance(s) by this group, Victor made a public offer of a free copy to any and all of his Mandolin Cafe Message Board friends.

Besides the ´Diferencias sobre Morenika´ for solo mandolin, three sets of Mandolinatas (music that best can be explained as compilations, collections or anthologies of traditional Greek music) for mandolin with guitar accompaniment are published.

Scheduled for this year is Victor Vkioulaphides´ new composition ´Concerto per orchestra a pizzico´. It is dedicated to the Mandolin Chamber Orchestra ´HET CONSORT and scored for 1st and 2nd mandolins, mandolas, guitars, mandoloncellos and a chitarrone moderno.

Victor Kioulaphides about the ´Concerto per orchestra a pizzico´: ''The form of the piece was determined during several conversations with Alex: We mused over the idea of a concerto in the usual sense, one presumptively featuring, accompanied by the rest of the ensemble; we also considered some sort of a concerto grosso with more than one soloist. The final outcome, i.e. taking the multiplicity of soloists to the maximum, was a work that features each and every section as occasional soloists, all the way from the first mandolins to the warm, soulful chitarrone.
The Concerto per orchestra a pizzico is in three movements, fast-slow-fast: a Sinfonia first movement, a notturno second one, and a Rondo finale, subtitled Telemanniana, fusing the jolly, francophile galantries of the Master from Magdeburg with the 'modern' material of the earlier two movements''.

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A. List of Mandolin compositions by Victor Vkioulaphides:

1. Ionian Mandolinata
2. Athenian Mandolinata
3. Aegean Mandolinata
(the three anthologies of Greek folk music for mandolin and guitar).

4. Diferencias sobre Morenika for mandolin solo, played by Sebastiaan de Grebber.

5. Concerto per orchestra a pizzico for Mandolin Chamber Orchestra
(1st & 2nd mandolin, mandola, mandoloncello, guitar and chitarrone moderno (double bass).
6. ''Spanish Suite'' for mandola and guitar.

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B. List of Guitar works by Victor Vkioulaphides:

1. Autumn, a quartet for flute, guitar, double bass and percussion.
2. Sur des pensers nouveaux for clarinet and guitar,
(from Romain Roland´s : ''Sur des pensers nouveaux, faisons des verses antiques'').
3. Music to hear, a 4-part, "Renaissance" chanson for soprano and guitar.
4. Preludio, Fantasia e Toccata for guitar solo.
5. A (Mostly) Happy Suite for two guitars.
6. Notturno, trio for flute, guitar, and harp.
7. ''Spanish'' Suite for clarinet/viola/mandola and guitar.
8. Guitar Concerto for guitar solo and Orchestra.

Alex Timmerman ©2000

Victor Kioulaphides Homepage

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