Prayers of Incompetence

So after almost a year of close collaboration with my friend, composer Thanasis Deligiannis, the performance "Prayers of Incompetence" is coming on the 7th of March at Orgelpark, Amsterdam! It's a really special work with Thanasis' wonderfully otherworldly music and texts of mine around the ideas of praying, wishes and desires for 4 singers and hyperorgan. You can read more about it if you click on the image below. And, if you happen to be in Amsterdam, you can get your tickets here.

Article by Jacqueline Oscamp about the performance

"I am not a pessimist," says Thanasis Deligiannis (1983) in response to his new production Prayers of Incompetence, which will premiere on March 7 in the Orgelpark. When asked about the meaning of this somewhat enigmatic title, the originally Greek composer replies that the piece revolves around the word "in vain".

Pepper and salt

The prayers (prayers) have no religious connotation, but refer to our continuous desire: a desire for either the things we want or the things we prefer to avoid. This desire is driven by hope, but in reality, life is full of friction or even frustration. That is why inability, the constant failure (incompetence). Deligiannis: "That takes a lot of energy, but it is also the salt and pepper in our lives."

Magic box

Deligiannis also encountered the imperfection of life in all kinds of ways during the making of this concert. No matter how much time he has spent exploring the possibilities of the Utopa Baroque organ since the summer, he still knows only a fraction of this musical "magic box". He feels the same feeling of failing with regard to the singers. Seven rehearsals are planned with them, but that is not enough to get to know the unique richness of each voice individually.

Interesting defects

Deligiannis started his research without a concrete idea. "I was curious about the baroque organ, the sound, how it works, how you can combine organ sounds with other sounds, how you can have your own material processed into organ sound. The special thing is that you are not only dealing with a digital console, but also with an analog, mechanical instrument that produces all kinds of noise: small defects that are just as interesting as the intended sounds. '

Light-footed and associative

In Prayers of Incompetence he tried to bring four different layers together: organ, text, voices and concrete sounds (through the speakers). The texts contain small anecdotes written by the Greek writer Andriana Minou, which together form an associative universe steeped in a light-hearted melancholy.

Watch a video of the full performance below: