ergon ensemble
contemporary music, athens
IN C terry riley
21 Sept 2024
ERGON ENSEMBLE
Dimitris Travlos (cello)
Kostas Tzekos (bass clarinet)
Babis Taliadouros (percussion)
Kostas Panagiotidis (violin)
Nikos Tsoukalas (double bass)
Andreas Rolandos Theodorou (trombone)
Manos Ventouras (french horn)




One single page. Without pre-set instruments; without separate scores. Fifty-three musical motifs, most of them miniscule. Without counterpoint. Without any obvious form. Scattered instructions, with many aspects left deliberately vague. Without any rhythmic symbols. And a title as laconic as they come: In C.
In this piece, Riley is proposing a delicate balance between the individual and the group, an approach that is deeply rooted in American traditions, but also unprecedented in its form.The music produced is the result of a group decision, but each entity retains its distinct character and autonomy — a great tribute to the ideals of individualism and democracy. Indeed, one might see this piece as an exercise in anarchy, albeit in its most benign and constructive form.
But In C is also the product of community. This act of listening implies that all players devote themselves to the greatest good of the piece; that they not only listen to their interaction with their immediate neighbors, but also listen to the influence of their actions on the overall project. While playing, one must listen to the ends of the piece and adapt decision-making to the true will of the collective. In this sense, one might say that In C is a musical ecology, where a network of relationships engenders an ever-evolving aesthetic outcome, which has its own genetic design, but can never be precisely predicted.
Ergon presents this seminal composition on the open grounds of the S.Niarchos Foundation & Cultural Center.