“Colours (Sounds) are not used because they are true to nature but because they are necessary to the particular picture (composition)” [Wassily Kandinsky – 1912]

Having this statement in my mind, slightly transformed into a musical context by my adjustments in the brackets, I started to work on Slide during the winter of 2002. Slide is a piece for classical guitar and electronics in which all the sound material comes from the classical guitar.

I explored in depth the unusual characteristics of the guitar’s sound idiom. I played the instrument by scratching on the strings, knocking on the back of its body, hammering and sweeping, and even breaking, the strings themselves. I coupled the guitar with the use of ‘unconventional’ objects treated as extensions of the guitar, like brass or glass slides, metal sticks or brushes, in order to obtain a better control, development and transformation of the sound. Thus, with the help of digital tools, I tried to reveal moments that the ear would hardly hear normally. I tried to isolate fragments which are rarely perceived by the listener – or even the performer – in the course of a performance. I then tried to take the sound further from its true nature and make it suitable for the particular composition.

Every second in the work is very detailed and carefully elaborated. Each acquires its own importance; however, the dramatic succession of that particular ‘moments’ assumes an essential role within the piece. Every gesture justifies both the next and the preceding one, and all join together to create phrases, then sections, and finally the composition itself. [Panayiotis Kokoras, 2002, York].

This piece was awarded First Prize at the Insulae Electronicae 2003 – International Competition of Electroacoustic Music in Milan / Italy; Highest Distinction at the 1st Computer Aided Composition Competition 2002 “RAM-AKMH” in Athens / Greece; and Prix Residence at Bourges 2004 – Concours International de Musique et d’Art Sonore Electroacoustiques in Bourges / France.

Panayiotis Kokoras