Kostika Çollaku

Cinque Pezzi d'Amore

piano: Dionysis Pantis

soprano: Marissa Bili
drums: Stefanomario Gazilas
composition, text and bass: Kostika Çollaku
cover artwork: Ifigeneia Mavridou
text translation: Claudia Aquili
recorded at Cue Productions Thessaloniki, Greece by Yanis Mavridis
©2016

Four Seasons

The Four Seasons is a set of four songs for voice and piano.

I. SPRING (through the eyes of a depresed man)

not available yet

II. SUMMER (through the eyes of a widow)

Every time the wind blows
Τhe wheat ears are dancing
Τo the rhythm of the wind
Every time I watched you dream
As you were looking at the wheat
But where you are now there is no wheat,
Only rotting ground and silence.

III. AUTUMN (through the eyes of a blind man)

The golden leaves
Are scattered on the wet ground
I hear them every time they crumble under my feet.
I smell the rain that has wet the ground
And feel some raindrops on my face
Soon it will be raining harder
I feel a cloud approaching.

IV. WINTER (through the eyes of a schizophrenic)

I was gazing outside my window,
when I saw you tasting the snow.
Despite the distance
I heard you whisper
You told me it was sweet
Like sugar only colder

Suddenly you disappeared!
The moment that I blinked
you were gone.
It's so cold out there
where are you?

I wish I hadn't blinked.
If only I could hold your hands.
Surely they are as cold as mine.

Behind Closed Doors

The orginal score for the theatrical play "Behind Closed Doors" by Achilleas Psaltopoulos and Natasa Konteletzidou.

credits

released 18 March 2013
Vocal Ensemble:

Lila Zerva
Caterina Mirtsiou
Barbara Novikova
Antonia Polizou
Maria Kalpakidou
Giannis Mastrogiannis
Giorgos Siametis
Thanos Kandilas
Dionisis Pandis

Vocalise for Nine Voices (a cappella)

Vocalise is a short presentation of what we call "Life" with two reference points, Birth and Death which

are represented in a unison melody line. This drawing by Matthieu Barrère titled "Life Simplified" shows

exactly the structure of the piece.

Fearless Bird

Fearless Bird is the second song that belongs in the circle of songs composed by Kostika Çollaku, for selected performers.

Solo Soprano: Maria Taxidou
Drawings: Ifigeneia Mavridou
Music Composition, Lyrics and Piano: Kostika Çollaku

Lyrics:

As we suffer the absence of light,
in the darkness devided we stand.
Our life like a long dark tunnel
is waiting for us to be crossed.

Fly my fearless bird,
go to the other side
and then fly back
to tell me what you saw.

I have lost my faith,
for the answer and light.
My years of longing are over though,
I see a white spot in the sky.

Come to me my bird
and give me hope.
You look so calm,
but why are you bleeding?

The recording took place at studio "Polytropon", Thessaloniki
Photographer: George Iliopoulos, Rainbow Studios

Πικραλίδα - (Trailer)

''Dandelion'' is a concertante work that is still being composed (2014). It's for solo voices, mixed choir and string orchestra in German text.

The main subject of the work is the searching for the dividing line which can transform any man into “hero” or “monster”. The only character of the work is a former German soldier that during the WWII his task was to throw the gas into the gas-chambers. The same person, in the morning was completing his cruel tasks and later the night he was spending his time with his wife and his two young children who loved them so much. Now at the age of 84 his past hunts him and he is trying to answer the questions. The work is an inner pursuit of man with nature, God and his fellow mans. A work about the memory of humanity and its insecure future.

The interviews in the trailer are from the documentary: Auschwitz - Inside the Nazi State
The english translation of the final quote of the trailer is:

“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

- Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Ange

Lyrics - Soprano: Caterina Mirtsiou
Composition - Pianist: Kostika Çollaku
Special Thanks to: Sevastiana Mikrouli for her precious help.

Lyrics:

Tu entends?

Tu entends cette melodie bizarre?

Je pense que je sais d'ou elle vient

Derriere cet nuage rose

ou l'ange aux cheveux rouges

ayant toujours ses fleches de pres

est la, jouant de la musique

Tu l' entends?

Comme elle est magique!

Couchee sur un nuage rose

je t' attend de me couvrir avec ta chanson

pour confronter le froid

mon amour cesoir.

Fantasia for Saxophone and Guitar

A piece for tenor saxophone with guitar accompaniment.

Was composed on 2010 for a short film called ''How will she stay?'' by filmmaker Marcel Michalaris.

The purpose of this piece was to accompany a love scene.

Breathe

Composer: Kostika Çollaku

Lyrics: Maria Georgantzeli

Singer: Ifigeneia Mavridou

Guitar: Victor Voulgaropoulos

Awards

Work: ''Goodnight Mr.Renfield''

Award: 2nd

Category: Music for Cinema

Work: Kiwi

Award: 2nd
Category: Music for Video Animation

Work: Wings of Love

Commendation: 3rd

Category: Chamber Music

Results

Kostika Çollaku also was designated ''Artist of the Year 2009'' on the International Festival ''InterArtia''

Kostika Çollaku's Photostream

Dracula (1931) - Full Movie

Dracula (1931) - Rescored

From January until June of 2009 Kostika Çollaku completed his thesis composition for his school composing the soundtrack for classic movie Dracula – 1931 by Tod Browning. The movie haven’t original score, except the beginning titles were it was the Swan Lake by P.I. Tchaikovsky.

Kostika Çollaku said about his composition:

“My goal was to update the movie through the music. I didn’t want to compose a classic background horror music. Throughout the procedure of composition I had in mind of how a contemporary man living in 2009 sees the film which is already 80 years old. I used a technique in my composition inspired by a well-known cinema technique. In cinema we have various camera shots like the Mid-Shot, the Wide-Shot the Close-Up, the Extreme Close-Up and more which shows the main character or the actors involving in the movie from a specific angle, there is one more well-known shot angle thought which is called the Bird Eye View and the purpose is for the viewer to see from the eyes of a bird or an unknown observer that is not involving in the movie at all, like a third eye. So I decided to fit this idea in my composition, getting away from the two basic techniques in composing for movies.”

credits:

Composer: Kostika Çollaku

Solo Soprano: Eleni Komni

Cello: Victor Voulgaropoulos

Vocals: Eleni Iosifidi, Tatiana Triantafillidou, Xristina Sarakanidou

Bass: Aggelos Zorzovilis

All the pieces was composed, record and produced by Kostika Çollaku.
You can buy the complete album here: Buy It Now!