still flying

op. 105, 2024

For string quartet
Duration: 14 min.

World premiere on 8. February 2024, Sala de Cámara, Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid
Cuarteto Quiroga

Composer’s Notes

still flying is a composition commissioned by the Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical (CNDM) and the Cuarteto Quiroga, to whom the piece is dedicated. 

The inspiration for the composition is a graphic with the same title by my brother Yannis Gourzis. The picture shows an angel flying over the ruins of a war and conveying hope.

I started composing this piece during the current wars. Several conversations with those affected, strengthened my desire to describe certain situations with music and thus transform them. 

still flying consists of eight miniatures that are played attacca. They consist of various musical elements that describe certain emotional states. Each piece has a different duration, and they are linked by “action-reaction” of specific feelings.

A melody, parts of which were played in different ways and with varying instrumentation in the seven preceding miniatures, is performed in its entirety in the eighth miniature. My tendency to compose melodies or to “hide” melodies in chords is based on the desire to awaken the energy of reflection and hope in the listener.