Kosta Vomvolos is a Greek composer of primarily theater music. From his discography on his web site plus the free albums he has on Jamendo, it appears that he is quite prolific. His influences are ancient and traditional Greek music, classical, jazz and electronic. The nine albums I’ve chosen give a good retrospective of this eclectic composer.

Doxombus may be a good place to start. Written as a soundtrack for the film of the same name directed by Fotos Lambrinos, it relies heavily on Greek folk music and traditional instruments, yet strings play important roles in such tracks as “The Lake” and “Tension”. A four note descending phrase acts as the theme uniting these pieces. This is an interesting example of atmospheric movie music.

A number of his albums are written to accompany ancient Greek drama. Not surprisingly, ancient Greek music is a major influence in these works. Hecuba: Music for Euripides’ Tragedy features a chorus of 16 actresses accompanied by lute, double-bass and drums. The lack of the visual and a translation hinders a full understanding of the work but the interplay between the instruments and monotonic chanting is still quite interesting. Sophocles’ Tragedy: Women From Trachis is much better. Vocalist Elsa Mouratidou and 20 actresses are accompanied by cello, violin, electric guitar and drums in a beautiful theater piece. It is a nice blend of ancient, folk and modern. Euripides ION Actors Touring Company-London is the last of the three works written for ancient Greek drama and it’s my favorite. It is an exotic instrumental piece that works well on its own. Vomvolos has a knack for blending the traditional with the experimental.

Two albums represent music written to accompany later dramas. The Deer’s Curse is a Kurdish tale presented with 30 actors who sing, chant, whisper the traditional story. Again, it is interesting but probably harmed by the fact we get only the aural experience. Kandalis’ Wife fares much better. This is an instrumental work with strong traditional influences. Alternately meditative and percussive, it hold up the best of the previously mentioned albums as a separate composition.

Fake Nightmare is a total different kind of theater music. Written for the National Theater of Northern Greece, this is very modern using elements of jazz, rock, electronic music, European cabaret and, of course, Greek folk music to make a dense and complex musical tapestry. Like the other theater works it still has a mostly dark mood. This is a piece that holds well on its own with “Saturday” and “Funky Finally” being especially compelling.

On My Birthday I Caught a Train to Thessaloniki is a dance piece. It starts out on accordion like a minimalist Reich composition but then moves into rock, jazz and at times an industrial sound. I can’t quite see this as a dance piece but it certainly kept me interested.

Finally, Vomvolos presents a short string quartet of 15 minutes duration titled …And Juliet. As Vomvolos’ other albums tend to be sonorous and dramatic, …And Juliet is light and breezy. The six piece suite is quite classical in feeling but it makes use of a tango in the second track while “Right Walk” has a jazz melody over a striding bass line. This may be the most pleasing and accessible of the albums but all nine will give you a different and worthwhile musical experience.

All nine albums are available in VBR MP3 with an average bitrate of 192kbps MP3. If you enjoy the music, support the artist by buying his CDs.

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…And Juliet: String Quartet
Deer’s Curse
Doxombus
Fake nightmare
Hecuba: Music For Euripides’ Tradegy
Euripes ION Actors Touring Company: London
Kandavlis’ Wife
On My Birthday I Caught a Train To Thessaloniki
Sophocles Tragedy: Women From Trachis

I must admit to a certain dislike for 8 bit music. In my opinion, it is comparable to playing Gene Krupa drum solos with one hand on wooden blocks. Occasionally though, as in all music, someone actually manages to make it into something exciting and worth listening to.

Take David Morneau’s dance score titled Abandoned Revolution. Morneau’s chosen instrument is a Nintendo Game Boy aided by a loop sequencer called Nanoloop. With this limited material he created a clever suite of compositons for Boris Willis’ multimedia work of the same name. After a Straussian introduction Space Invaders style, Morneau melds the simple Game Boy themes into catchy rhythms that keeps the listener’s interest. Stolen melodies from Strauss, Copeland, and others abound and blend effortlessly. “Martha Graham Cracker” is almost industrial while the sixth track “Abandoned Revolution” sounds like a chase scene involving Pacman and the Keystone Cops. Morneau’s own description of “Terry Riley vs. Donkey Kong” seems quite appropriate. This is a retro trip that even Mario will approve of.

The work is available as separate tracks in 192kbps MP3.

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