Half notated, half improvised, Hatzis's Extreme Unction is a work that is inspired by an imaginary glimpse of our afterlife and our instinctive struggle to cling on to the things we know. The orchestration for the strings includes semiotically-rich timbres, such as violet gesturing, microtonally tuned overtone spectra, an ever-present heartbeat-like sound in the lower strings and distant echoes of Doppler effects reminiscent of passing ambulances. All these effects notwithstanding, the creative spotlight always remains focused on the bass clarinet and its wide sonic and dramatic pallet.
Born in Greece, educated in the United States and a Canadian citizen since 1985, composer Christos Hatzis (b.1953) is becoming widely known as a leading figure in contemporary classical music. His works are performed and broadcast throughout the world, and their frequent combination of a powerful spiritual foundation with an immediately accessible appeal has made a deep emotional impact upon audiences and performers alike.
