Constitution Article 91

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The piece is quite demanding from a technical point of view and unfolds many sonorities for both solo instruments as well as orchestra, including dense texture, polyphony, and a flavor of minimalism just before the end. After an agitated orchestra introduction, the flute enters with a lamenting and painful melody. The guitar then takes over and introduces some of the core motivic elements of the work. Next, the flute and guitar join in a chase -like duo with virtuosic passages in both instruments, playing off the orchestra in a frenzied commotion. The slow and almost distorted cadenza (with the snare drum) comes as a surprise and, at the same time, as a moment of relief. The tension increases as propulsive rhythms drive through the finale and build with rapid agitation to the end.

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The title of the work, Constitution Article 91, refers to a part of the former Greek constitution used by the dictatorship between 1976 and 1974 to abolish democracy in Greece. Certain rhythms in the work come from a fearsome and agitated speech that the dictator delivered to the academicians in 1973 following the students movement against the tyranny.