Calliope Tsoupaki: ‘Amsterdam breathes hope’
Born in Greece, Calliope Tsoupaki made it to Composer Laureate of the Netherlands, (2018-2021) in which capacity she wrote consolatory compositions during the covid-pandemic.* On the occasion of Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary, she composed Another Day for the Concertgebouw Orchestra, that will be premiered on 6 March. Anneke Brassinga wrote an accompanying poem.
Calliope Tsoupaki (c) Koos Breukel
‘I am so happy that I was commissioned to write a piece for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary,’ says Calliope Tsoupaki (Piraeus, 1963). In an unstoppable cascade of words, she sings the praise of the city where she settled in 1988. ‘I have lived here for more than half of my life and have become completely entwined with it, I am an Amsterdammer at heart!’
Polyphony of people
The strong appeal of the Dutch capital lies in its vibrancy and rich cultural life: ‘Everything is brewing here, there is constant movement. This has always been the case. Amsterdam was a port city from the start: the IJ was still in open connection with the North Sea, the Afsluitdijk that closed this was only completed in 1932. Wherever there is a lot of water, movement comes naturally. Trade arises, people with different backgrounds from all over the world meet. Thus new connections, different perspectives and ways of looking at things spring up. In this open and welcoming climate, you feel free to form your thoughts as you see fit.
Traditionally, this liberal atmosphere attracted philosophers, artists, musicians, writers and scientists, she continues. ‘It was a polyphony of people, who found space here to learn about and develop new ideas. That created a huge dynamic. It is important to be taken out of your comfort zone as a human being, to meet people with a different worldview than you. People who introduce you to things and thoughts you don’t know or don’t like. This is challenging and inspiring, and allows you to develop yourself further. All this has made Amsterdam the cultural city it is, it is multicultural to the core.’
Greece: no future for woman composer
It was exactly this open atmosphere that made her decide to move from Piraeus to Amsterdam in 1988. ‘Piraeus is also a port city, lively and multicultural, but the music climate in Greece was very conservative and, as a woman, I didn’t get the chance to develop as a composer. My teachers had absolutely no interest in the pieces I composed early on; the highest I could achieve was to become a music teacher somewhere in the province. That insight was a shock; I realised that I had no future as a composer in my homeland.’
Through colleagues, she heard about Louis Andriessen and the vibrant modern music scene in the Netherlands. After seeing a documentary about him during a summer course in 1986 in Darmstadt, she decided to go and study with Andriessen. ‘In Germany I also met Morton Feldman, who invited me to enrol at the Universitiy at Buffalo where he lectured, but I chose Louis anyway. As the only composer, he had strong views on harmony, sound, technique. I admired him for his modal harmonies and his use of chromatic modulation. He had a genius and unique musical language, in which I heard both Greece and the rest of the world. I wanted to know what his secret was.’
Leap into the unknown
It was not an easy decision to exchange her homeland for our country, she admits: ‘After all, you leave your parents, friends and acquaintances behind and cannot simply visit them. When my father fell ill and was dying, I was only able to sit next to his bed just in time. That’s tough and causes a lot of stress. My mother is 95 now – she is doing well at the moment, but one never knows for how long. I would like to be with her more often, but can only fly to Greece every other month. I have to live with this on a daily basis; it has become a part of my existence. Yet I have no feelings of guilt, because my parents have supported me from the very beginning in my efforts to develop as a composer.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSYTV23WVmU
About her departure from Greece in 2018, she wrote the moving Salto di Saffo (Sappho’s Leap), a double concerto for recorder and pan flute, which was premiered in the radio series NTRZaterdagMatinee. Her own leap of faith turned out to be a golden one: ‘Louis was very generous and taught me above all to listen keenly, without prejudice and non-hierarchically: one music is not better than another. He taught me a lot about voice leading as well, but above all he helped me discover and develop my own strengths. Thanks to him, I also learned to appreciate my Greek roots more. Those constitute a great cultural baggage, I listen to music with a different ear anyway.’
Gentrification
Had she stayed in Greece, she would probably have become a very different composer: ‘Perhaps I would have remained stuck in a certain aesthetic, from an abstract way of thinking about music, where you discriminate against certain genres and styles. With his radical, free spirit and powerful personality, Louis forced me to think clearly about what exactly I wanted to say. The climate here allowed me to find my own voice. Incidentally, Louis taught in The Hague, but I deliberately settled in Amsterdam because of its liberal cultural climate. This city gave me the opportunity to become the artist I had dreamed of becoming.’
It saddens her to see this changing of late: ‘The city centre is being taken over by a bourgeoisie of super-rich people who are flattening out everything. The sultriness, the versatility, the merging of rich and poor and of different cultures are falling prey to gentrification. But a country or city is only attractive because of a rich spiritual life.’ Nobody comes here to see that the people of the canal belt have four cars.’
‘Regrettably, this is happening in Athens as well. But ancient Greece, too, is remembered for its architecture, thinkers and poets. Art has a lot of impact on people, and politicians dread that force. That’s why the first thing potentates always do is to curb the art world, for fear of losing their power.’
Amsterdam breathes hope
About the collaboration with Anneke Brassinga, she is almost short of words: ‘I think she is the Sappho of the Netherlands, not so much in terms of style, but in terms of importance for Dutch poetry. Anneke and I consulted a few times, but independently created our work. Only when we had finished did we meet again. I was a bit uncertain about my title Another Day, but guess what: her poem is called Every Day Started New. Great, right?’
In Another Day, Tsoupaki has tried to express what Amsterdam means to her. ‘Its agility translates into great contrasts and variety in dynamics: ‘I used the wealth of timbres of the Concertgebouw Orchestra to capture the multicoloured nature of the city. Icy, heaven-reaching sounds are linked to my moving and taking root here, where I also learned to appreciate the mud.’
‘There is something hopeful about Amsterdam: even in these dark times, there is always hope for the next day. That gives buoyancy to get through the current one. Facilitating art is the greatest value of a country or city. I am very happy to be on the programme with Louis: everything you hear is a product of Amsterdam.’
This article was written for the March issue of Preludium, the magazine of Concertgebouw and Concertgebouw Orchestra.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wawdHi5UxOM
* As Composer Laureate Tsoupaki composed Thin Air for a freely chosen instrument, for the project Festivals for Compassion. It was passed from festival to festival in relay and was performed by over 50 different musicians and ensembles at as many festivals in the Netherlands and Europe.
#CalliopeTsoupaki #LouisAndriessen #RoyalConcertgebouwOrchestra #SaltoDiSaffo #ThinAir
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