The eminent composer Pigi Lykoudi brought to our country another distinction from abroad, among hundreds of entries from all over the world. This work has won the 1st prize for Composition in the competition for religion music. Gold with special mention: Classical Music Competition.Gold, Brahms International Music Competition and Silver Beethoven International Music Competition A work written with respect, faith and love for tradition, the light of Greece and the Glory of Orthodoxy!
“NIKAIA – CLEOS ORTHODOXIAS”, a symphonic poem signed by the distinguished composer Pigi Lykoudi and the lyricist-poet Yiannis P. Ioannidis, performed by the leading exponent of the church musical tradition, Petros Gaitanos.
I will never forget the awe I felt when I chanted this divine” music water “to invite all my senses to divine prayer as a small tribute for every soul kneeling before the weight of life’s difficulties. I will always remember the strength and upliftment I felt and hope returned to me again, like joy and faith in something much bigger than myself. I felt part of a whole that can’t be explained in words, but only with love because love is like music, you don’t need to translate it, you feel it !
17 centuries later, the music composer Pigi Lykoudi, the performer Petros Gaitanos and the poet Yannis P. Ioannidis had an appointment with the history of religious faith and each rendered it through their own personal ethics and point of view. The musician laid down the notes, the performer brought them to life and the composer generously offered them for the virgin birth of rapture, elegy, hope and faith to take place. Through a religious, almost mystical crescendo, talent and knowledge blend together, but also the need for expression to take off the sadness and the beauty of the initiatory prayerful rekindling of the religious is.
But why is it so important for the Orthodox faith, one might ask? Because this is happening 17 centuries after the First Ecumenical Sinod. and what takes off is this tender will and stubbornness for life and its holy struggles that our inner connection and contact with the divine gives us… The highlighting of the greatness and holiness of God through a passage of light and love with a deeper empathy and a way to touch and empathize with our neighbor.
The full voice of the amazing Petros Gaitanos enchants memories and awakens brave and tender feelings… The poet’s verbal and phrasal skill introduces the audience to a different approach to elegiac rhythm and myth and there is an otherness in how it is presented to the audience not as self-referential, but as a collective mirror that reflects the inner need of union. And this the composer achieves through the musical composition of each note that so lovingly embraces the words and interpretation and invites them to the dance of light.
Credits: Composition: Pigi Lykoudi Poetry: Yiannis P. Ioannidis Interpretation: Petros Gaitanos Orchestration: Christos Tresintsis, Pigi Lykoudi Instrument Programming: Christos Tresintsis
Instrument Mixing: Yiannis Roupakiotis – Studio Clock
Vocal Mixing & Mastering: Georgios Fanaras – Studio Fan Video Creation: Konstantinos Ioannou
Congratulations to all the contributors because they offered us triple joy, not to say quadruple, since today the struggles of cultural diplomacy have yet another fruit (February is officially designated the world day of the Greek language.) Should the contributors unite again for a melodic mention of the beautiful Greek Language?