Konstantia Gourzi: Whispers

Gourzi, Konstantia (b.1962):

wind whispers, Op. 85 /William Youn (piano)

I. raindrops

II. floating leaf

III. gliding albatross

IV. shimmering light

evening at the window II, Op. 75b /Nils Mönkemeyer (viola), Konstantia Gourzi (percussion), Konstantia Gourzi (piano)

I. The yellow moon

II. a rooster in the sky

III. the Yellow moon

IV. smoke from the chimney

V. the yellow Moon

VI. in your arms

VII. The Yellow Moon

call of the bees, Op. 77b /Nils Mönkemeyer, William Youn

I. attention

II. a prayer for protection

III. transition

IV. unification

messages between trees, Op. 84 /Nils Mönkemeyer (viola)

a love song, Op. 63 /Nils Mönkemeyer, William Youn

melodies from the sea, Op. 86 /Nils Mönkemeyer (viola), William Youn (piano), Konstantia Gourzi (percussion)

I. wave

II. turtle

III. iceberg

IV. clouds

V. whale

VI. reflections

VII. lighthouse

Nils Mönkemeyer’s latest album “Vivaldi – Paganini – Tartini” received excellent reviews and entered the German classical music charts like all his past albums. Rbb Kultur chose the album as CD of the week and on this occasion called Mönkemeyer “one of the leading soloists of our time” and praised the intelligently chosen repertoire with numerous novelties. Mönkemeyer’s new album, which he recorded with pianist William Youn, features only premiere recordings written especially for Nils Mönkemeyer and William Youn by composer Konstantia Gourzi. Both musicians are friends with the composer Konstantia Gourzi, who was born in 1962 and lives in Munich, and all three share a special love of nature. Almost all the works on the album “Whispers” also have a connection to nature. With her music Konstantia Gourzi wants to convey appreciation and sensitivity for nature and inspire to think about the beauty of nature. Pieces like “call of the bees”, “messages between trees” or “melodies from the sea” suggest the stories and voices of whales, bees, waves and trees through expressive sound figures, rhythms, tempos and timbres. The majority of the works on the album are written for viola and piano. However, there are also atmospheric solos for viola and piano, respectively, such as “wind whispers””. The composer herself is part of the recording on two works. On ‘evening at the window II’ as well as ‘melodies from the sea’ Konstantia Gourzi plays percussion instruments “Whispers” is an album with interesting, sonorous, atmospheric music pieces and a topical reference to an important issue of our time.

Music, man, nature – this is the triangle in which the poetic compositions of Konstantia Gourzi move, who has found two top-class collaborators in Nils Mönkemeyer and William Youn.