Theodore Antoniou
Interview by Giorgos Frangiskos
Theodore Antoniou, one of the most eminent and prolific contemporary musicians, has had a distinguished career as composer, conductor and professor of composition at Boston University. He studied violin, singing and composition at the National Conservatory of Athens, with further studies in conducting and composition at the Hochschule fur Musik in Munich and the International Music Centre in Darmstadt. After holding teaching positions at Stanford University, the University of Utah and the Philadelphia Musical Academy, he became professor of composition at Boston University in 1978. As a conductor Antoniou has been engaged by many major orchestras and ensembles. In 1974 he became assistant director of contemporary activities at Tanglewood, a position he held until 1985. Theodore Antoniou’s works are numerous and varied in nature, ranging from operas and choral works to chamber music, from film and theatre music to solo instrumental pieces - his theatre and film music alone includes more than a hundred and fifty compositions.
I find your questions to be very well put. I will try to answer as briefly as possible.
In what ways do you use technology in your music? When did your relation to technology begin and how has it evolved over the years?
Technology has become an indispensable part of our everyday life. Electroacoustic Music began in the mid-20th century. Technology, though, entered the world of music (with many breakthroughs and different tendencies) with the invention of the vacuum tube during the first decade of the 20th century. I first tried my hand at electronic music (in the sense it had in those days) when I worked (during my studies in Munich) in the famous Electronic Music Studio of Siemens. This was a vast studio, with bulky equipment that only special engineers could operate. We were trying to create music despite their ironic comments.
The result of this experience was the use of electronic music in some of my works for short films, electronic music compositions as well as music for theatre, such as Philoctetes for the National Theatre and in many other instances mainly in theatrical plays. I was actually the first to buy in Greece the smallest size synthesizer - the “synthi” - which was designed under the directions and suggestion of a very eccentric English composer, Peter Zinovieff. The synthesizer was “L”-shaped initially. In its next incarnations though it was no bigger than a common briefcase. This shrinking of size has freed composers to move in many creative directions. Technology has evolved and is evolving. The 'Midi Revolution', Frequency Modulation and computers in general, have played and still play a substantial role in modern composition. I consider music technology to be a prerequisite for students of composition if they are to meet the standards of the new era. They should be able to reflect on its use and its aesthetics. So my relation to technology goes back a long way. In fact I might be one of the first musicians in Greece to use the new technologies in my music and to introduce them to the wider audience.
Technology is no more the prerogative of the rich or the computer specialists. Does this make the music produced with such new means more uniform? Is it less fascinating to write music today?
Since technology has become a commodity and everyone is able to build a small home studio it plays an important role in the music making process. It is very important that people can express themselves through this technology.
Since technology has penetrated everyday life to such an extent, how can one avoid being or sounding common?
This may be one of the biggest problems. The charm of the new possibilities affects composers in various ways. Sometime this is negative, since they must overcome the homogeneity of electronic music. From all the concerts I have attended, older and newer, only a few I would say have a unique standing in contemporary music. In my opinion, there has yet to be created an electronic music piece comparable to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony or Bach’s Oratorio in B minor. It is very hard to express a personal character in electronic music without becoming a bit of a victim of the possibilities technology offers; it is very hard to say no to the facilitation offered by technology.
It appears to me that in Greece, while there is interest in Electroacoustic and electronic experimental music among composers, this is not equally the case with listeners. Why do you think that – on the contrary - ‘pop’ electronica has such a following and strong culture?
This is common to all musical activities. The state has not made the right investment nor has it spent money in research into education. There have existed and still exist many interesting composers, such as Yianni Christou, who – at the time - had no equipment other than a Farfisa and various tape recorders. In the score I composed in 1962 for Carolos Koun’s theatrical play Rhinoceros, in some parts I had to craft a sort of electronic sound, and I was working with really no tools: simple recordings, slowing down the tape’s speed etc. During my first period when I did not own a synthesizer I used a Philicorda (which I still keep as a souvenir), and music concrete techniques. Pop Music – of course - touches another kind of wide-audience. Much of the equipment used in pop music was made by the “unrecognizable” and often poor pioneer ideologist researchers of the sound domain.
Electroacoustic Music is often used within other art forms such as video art or theatre. Do you think that this is where its future lies or is this to its detriment?
It is and should be combined with other art forms. We have seen the use of electroacoustic sounds in the very first films, trying to imitate the electronic sound or even the machinery of that time. We live in a time where media is mixed and naturally all combinations are welcome and possibly meaningful.
Do you believe Sonic Art in Greece has found its place among other contemporary arts?
In Greece there have been many composers like Yiannis Christou and Michalis Adamis who tried and succeeded to express themselves with the least amount of equipment at an early stage of the electronic music movement. A number of their works did find acclaim and a place in this rather limited space of electronic creation in our country. I believe art should be free to be expressed by any means or medium. However, the equipment used should not dictate what the artist does. The artist should be able to tame it in order to express what he wants. Having said this, I believe that in this era electronic music and technology in general are a necessity. Is technology promoting creation aesthetically? I believe creation can exist even without fascinating technological breakthroughs.
In a more macroscopic level, how do things happening in Art in Greece compare to what is happening in Western Europe? Are Greeks in the forefront or do we have a lot of ‘catching up’ to do?
There are two main principles with regard to technology. One is technical, the constant strive to the next perfectly designed machine. The other concerns aesthetics. These two must be in harmony. A composition doesn't’ t have to use the most advanced technology, since a good work can be created even without the help of space-aged technology. If this was not the case, would we always refer to the landmark works Gesang der Jünglige by Stockhausen or Orient-Occident by Xenakis?
When I was teaching at Stanford University, in the late 60s and early 70s, I was lucky enough to become acquainted with the discoveries of John Chowning. If it wasn’t for Frequency Modulation, Yamaha synthesizers would not have existed. Whatever the new popular pop music genres have accomplished would not have been possible without the pioneering researchers of Avant Garde music like Moog and Zinovieff.
Do you believe technology makes modern art ‘cheap’? Given that the number of people who can present a piece of work in a festival like this has grown enormously in the past 10 years, do you believe this to be in art’s advantage?
I think that technology opens new possibilities but also conceals many dangers. It has to serve creativity and aesthetics. Artists that have something to say will always find a way to say it, under any circumstances. They know how to control their freedom and how to avoid the traps of creativity. The right education (and this applies not only to music and technology, but to all art forms) could bring more people into art. Whether technology makes art cheap or not depends on who uses it.
What are your current projects and future plans?
As Professor Emeritus from now on, I maintain my relationship to Boston University and ALEA III, which will continue with its activities. I will be conducting two “ideologically” and educationally important concerts: the international composition contest organized every autumn, and the workshops for young composers from around the world (the workshops I hold in Greece are only for Greeks). At the same time other concerts are being organized with guest composers. This month, since I am not in Boston any more, these are being conducted by Gunther Schuller. My future music plans have not changed during the last fifty years. I write music trying to discover. I search, I research. At the same time - and not only as president of the Greek Composers Union - I am conducting numerous concerts which offer opportunities to mainly young colleagues for the performance of their works. I am also participating in various committees focused on the improvement of music education. I still continue my educational work and activities to promote music.
