Abstracts of issue 19 (2007)

Michalis Adamis: The Alchemist of Greek Electro-Acoustic Music

This paper examines the electro-acoustic musical work of the composer Michalis Adamis. At an initial approach, a categorisation of his electro-acoustic works is attempted, accompanied by a discussion on the composer’s aesthetic approach, and on his overall utilisation of compositional elements. In the second part, the analysis focuses on the electronic manipulation of the human voice through the prism of the composer’s timbral exploration. Here, important works by the composer are discussed, which combine traditional music techniques and the Byzantine chant with contemporary musical writing and electronically elaborated sounds. Finally, the originality of the composer’s musical idiom is highlighted, characterized by the convergence between contemporary and traditional music, an idiom which sets Michalis Adamis as the “alchemist” composer of contemporary musical innovation.

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