Drops

Introduction

We are pleased to announce the release of Drops, the new and deeply moving recording project by guitarist Kostas Tosidis. This work arises not only from innovative artistic research, but also from a place of mourning and tribute. Dedicated to the victims of the tragic train accident that occurred in Tempi, Greece, on February 28, 2023, Drops is, in the performer’s own words, a tribute to the 57 lives lost and a gesture of support for the survivors and their families.

Through ten works by contemporary composers—several of them guitarists closely connected to Tosidis—this album explores the guitar from a new perspective: bowing technique applied to a plucked-string instrument. The result is a collection of intensely expressive pieces that expand the instrument’s timbral boundaries and engage in a dialogue with grief, memory, introspection, and hope.

In this post, we share the liner notes written by Pedro Mateo González, which accompany the CD and offer a revealing perspective on each of the featured works. His text guides us through the listening experience of an album that, beyond music, pulses as an act of remembrance, humanity, and commitment.

About the Project

Kostas Tosidis has been involved in contemporary guitar music for decades and has extensive experience working directly with composers. Drops is an innovative project born from his PhD research. It dives into the art of suit bow technique in guitar transcriptions, blending technical mastery with creative exploration to redefine the boundaries of guitar performance.

He commissioned eight composers to write solo guitar pieces that would follow the opposite path, as if they were meant to be played by a bowed instrument. Most of these composers have developed significant careers as guitarists, and many share a friendship with Kostas, having crossed paths at some point in their lives, mostly in Greece, Austria or Spain.

This recording is the result of this journey, and it is completed with a lesser-known work by Dutch composer Ton de Leeuw (1926-1996) and a transcription of piano music by Kostas Parisiadis (1982-).

The ten compositions that make up this recording are arranged following a symmetrical mirror structure. Paradoxically, the first and last pieces are interludes, originally brief musical moments meant to be performed between longer works. They are also the only pieces in this project composed by non-guitarists and the only solo guitar pieces they have written.

Featured Works

In Between — Marco Döttlinger

In Between is a solo guitar piece by Austrian composer and sound artist Marco Döttlinger, a prominent specialist in computer music, electro-acoustic music, and sound installations, and a member of the SEM Studio for Electronic Music at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

Inspired by the acclaimed transcription of Ligeti’s Sonata for Cello made by Kostas Tosidis (Schott Music 2011), the composer creates a fantasia in seven sections, developing motifs from Ligeti’s Sonata with great melodic and rhythmic richness. Döttlinger here writes a sequel to the cello masterpiece that goes beyond mere variations, pushing the original material to its ultimate consequences.

Pulso de la vida — Yorgos Nousis

Pulso de la vida was written by Greek composer and guitarist Yorgos Nousis (1978-). It is deeply honest and poetic music, with recognizable influences from jazz, flamenco, and traditional Greek music.

In his own words: “The character of the piece changes from simple and meditative to rhythmic and tension-filled, reflecting different stages of our lives. Using a C, G, D tuning for the bass strings, the guitar utilizes resonance to create sustained, cello- sounding melodies on the fourth string, complemented by harmonies on the fifth and sixth strings. The bowing technique is introduced with a continuous tremolo accompanied by an extended form of the first theme. The more dance-like and rhythmic part of the piece uses a 19/16 measure that allows us to experience a sense of disparity. Finally, the simplicity combined with a sense of completeness, but also of abandonment of the beautiful gift of life, leaves us in a state of stillness for any kind of introspection.”

Run — Marios Joannou Elia

Cyprus-born composer Marios Joannou Elia (1978-) is undoubtedly one of the most important and influential composers of his generation. The piece presented here Run is a thrilling Moto Perpetuo in which small dissonant cells are developed and sounded simultaneously on different open strings of the guitar, producing a hurdy-gurdy-like effect.

This toccata begins and ends almost from nothing, creating a sense of relief, as if one had just escaped from danger.

Five Steps to Godspeed — Kostas Parisiadis

The program continues with the small five-movement suite Five Steps to Godspeed by composer and guitarist Kostas Parisiadis (1982-).

• Dawn: a dialogue between the two guitars with clear influences from popular music.
• Heat: a rhythmic Toccata based on an ostinato with possible latin music reminiscences.
• Breakdown: unfolds as a rhapsodic improvisation with an Phrygian flavor.
• Rebirth: a minimalist and polyrhythmic prelude.
• Godspeed: a groove-filled fugato in a bittersweet Keith Jarret aesthetic.

Kostasketch — Atanas Ourkouzounov

Atanas Ourkouzounov (1970-) is without doubt one of the most important and widely performed guitar composers today.

In Kostasketch, he tackled the initial challenge proposed by Tosidis —writing for guitar with bow instrument techniques—by using implied polyphony, juxtaposing various ideas with different techniques and colors.

O que Deu a Terra — Kostas Manolkidis

Kostas Manolkidis (1994-) is the youngest composer involved in this project.

In O que Deu a Terra, he uses a complex scordatura that allows for lower sounds than usual and produces surprising sonorities on the guitar.

Mountains — Marco Smaili

Marco Smaili (Algeria, 1967-) is a main figure in guitar music over the last few decades.

Based on material from his work Evolutions for Alto Saxophone, Mountains is constructed from brief, widely spaced arabesque exhalations that result in magical harmonies.

Rhythmology II — Giannis Papakrasas

Guitarist and composer Giannis Papakrasas (Thessaloniki, 1958-) has written music for a wide variety of ensembles.

Rhythmology II is an exhausting Moto Perpetuo in monody, full of mathematical and architectural games with an almost palindromic, symmetrical structure.

Preludis Meditatius — Feliu Gasull

“I HAVE dipped the vessel of my heart into this silent hour; it has filled with love.” Rabindranath Tagore

After this quotation, Catalan composer Feliu Gasull (Barcelona, 1959-) wrote one of his Preludis Meditatius.

Interlude — Ton de Leeuw

Ton de Leeuw was a prominent Dutch composer and student of Olivier Messiaen.

This Interlude from 1984 consists of different contrasting sections, combining medieval techniques with more dissonant textures and percussive effects.

Pedro Mateo González