This gripping work for strings and marimba (and castanets) is inspired by the Goddess, Artemis, who was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. In the classical period of Greek mythology, Artemis was often described as the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity and protector of young girls, bringing and relieving disease in women; she often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows. The deer and the cypress were sacred to her. In later Hellenistic times, she even assumed the ancient role of Eileithyia in aiding childbirth. (courtesy: Wikipedia.org)
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What others are saying:
“With pleasure I’ve listened to ‘Artemis’. It has quite something to tell and provides such a wealth of instrumental techniques (Bartok pizz! ), that it remains thrilling from sec. 1 to the very end! I’ve also noticed that your string glissandi have improved a lot lately.
Very nice is the combination of the rather unusual instruments in one combo, but they function extremely well and speak to each other as in a polite quarrel (contradicting, repeating, completing… ) But what I like best is the tiny acoustic environment in which the combo plays so closely and with great detail, as if the instruments are right in front of the listener. The intimate character of the performance is definitely a plus point (to me anyway).” – J. Wylin
“I love that, it is a very appealing rhythmic piece, not at all off-putting in harmony which seems perfect for the subject. I really like the allusions to Greek myth which is such an inspiration. I think this could be of real interest to live players if somehow marketed to marimba/percussionists who would expand their performances to include some strings. Or on the other hand, to string players who wanted an unusual addition to the usual string performances. Anyway I was really intrigued by the crazy and fascinating sound.” – W. Kersten
“I admire your creativity, what a lovely piece. The moment at 0:52 was particularly interesting, If I can hear it correctly, the chordal notes are preceded by a grace note that gives the passage this “scratching” feeling. Together with the harmonic colour, this is a really interesting idea, although I’m (as it often happens) completely puzzled as to what it means, given the title. Bartok’s pizzicato also added to this somewhat animalistic vision of the whole piece.” – Crusoe