Confessional is based on the chant sung in Greek Orthodox churches on the eve of Palm Sunday, "Ton Nymphona Sou Vlepo" ("I behold your bridal chamber my Lord, and I wear not the proper vestments to enter"). The chant is stated twice in its entirety at the outset by the cello and reappears in various guises throughout the composition.
While the intervallic and melodic content of this chant and its constant metamorphosis account for most of the melodic and harmonic material, it is the literal and metaphorical content of the text which has been the driving force for the formal unfolding of the composition. The soloist leads the orchestra away from the stability of the home environment symbolized by the chant and its supporting drone into an adventure full of unexpected turns. The original language of the chant – the musical language, that is – is being constantly translated and modified to ascribe meaning to, and become meaningful within, the newly discovered and increasingly bizarre soundscapes, as the voyaging soloist and the orchestra constantly distance themselves from home. At the same time the chant acts like a compass, an inner voice, always pointing the way back. The voyage itself is full of contradictions; there is transcendence and banality, forward drive and nostalgia (particularly at the point where the chant morphs into the well-known theme from Brahms' Third Symphony) complexity and utter simplicity, usually all within a few measures from each other.
The deeper meaning of the text, the ability to see, feel and desire transcendence pitted against a sense of impotence in realizing such lofty a pursuit, gives the body of the composition its necessary psychological truth which over the years has become the only means of establishing musical continuity in my work. This entrenchment between opposites reaches its climax at the very end of the work. The cello soloist and some other solo instruments of the orchestra ride above a long slow fugal exposition of the chant by the strings in independent rhythmic and melodic configurations. The tension is eventually resolved by the soloist who literally "shuts off" the orchestra at the point where in a textbook concerto situation a cadenza would normally take place. Instead of a cadenza, the soloist restates in resignation the first phrase of the chant, this time without the accompanying drone. The safety and stability of the drone, the dogma or backbone of a certain belief system, has now been abandoned in favour of personal communion and the constriction and humility that come with it. The restatement of the chant by the soloist is no longer a credo as in the beginning. It is a confessional, singing to the words "I see your bridal chamber my lord..." with no proper vestments to conclude the musical undertaking.
(Confessional) represents a series of evolutions in faith and is profoundly beautiful, sensuous and full of contrast, with a radiant (and difficult) part for the cello. How often do you hear a piece of new music and want to rehear it again right away?
One might expect the jazzy bit to sound out of place in a piece like this, but the work's organic integrity never falters.
Confessional by Christos Hatzis, based on a Byzantine chant, is another superb work from this composer. Fluid lines caress the listener so that the ending seems to come all too soon...
