Ta Olympia

Commissioned by Khari Joyner www.kharijoyner.com Ta Olympia is a reflection on the ancient Greek competitions, and how they relate to the modern games. It also covers sporting events from the ancient games, modern games, and modern professional sports. The first movement, The Tennis Match, is about the sport as it occurs both in and outside of the modern games. For this, I used an altered blues scale, passed back and forth between the cello and piano. The cellist and pianist must speak syllables to represent the sounds of the players during a match. The second movement, The Ode to Champions, is a variation on the end of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, including the famous Ode to Joy. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 is often played at award ceremonies at sporting events to commemorate the winners of matches and competitions. It is a musical manifestation of a champion, hence the movement’s title. The third movement, The Pommel Horse, is a difficult etude for solo cello inspired by the gymnastics feat of the same name. The gymnast uses the pommel horse apparatus to perform dramatic swinging and balancing feats, suspended on their arms alone. The gymnast finishes the routine by hoisting themselves in the air and landing. For this, I employed musical scales going up and down in expanding intervals. These extend high into the cello’s register, landing on a pizzicato on the instrument’s open strings. The final movement relates to the numerous forms of racing that occurred in both ancient and modern games, including running and chariot racing. The music depicts the athletes aggressively competing against one another, the turns in a stadium, hurdles, and relays.