Evis Sammoutis
Nicosia Étude No. 7
for Violin
Evis Sammoutis
Nicosia Étude No. 7
for Violin
- Instrumentation Violin
- Composer Evis Sammoutis
- Edition Sheet Music
- Publisher University Of York Music Press
- Order no. YKM570801916
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Description:
Nicosia Etude No. 7 (Κινυ4ρας – Cinyras) takes its title from Cinyras, the legendary king of Cyprus. Ancient traditions describe him as a musician so gifted that he dared to contend with Apollo himself. His name has also been associated with the kinnor, a Near Eastern string instrument whose resonances traveled widely across the Eastern Mediterranean. The kinnor, akin to a small lyre, is famously linked in the Old Testament with King David and held an important role in Levantine and Phoenician cultures. It symbolized music and storytelling alike, bridging the sacred and the everyday in ancient life. Cinyras also appears in Homer’s Iliad, where he presents Agamemnon with a splendid corselet. Later traditions embroidered this tale, claiming he promised a Uleet of Uifty ships but sent only one, accompanied by forty-nine models fashioned from clay. This interplay of presence and absence, sound and silence, substance and image, resonates deeply with the spirit of the work. Composed for solo violin, Cinyras explores the instrument’s resonance through plucked textures, transforming it into a modern, abstract echo of the kinnor. Through layers of polyrhythmic writing, the etude reimagines a soundscape of antiquity, where mythology, music, and storytelling were inseparably intertwined. Like all of the Nicosia Etudes, this piece is written (and dedicated) in gratitude and awe for Peter Sheppard Skaerved, whose artistry and unmatched virtuosity continue to inspire me every day. All performance indications will be found in the score.