In focus

Photo: Ivan Moody · © CESEM

>> Ivan Moody · Playlist

Born in London in 1964 and with a strong connection with Portugal, where he had settled various decades ago, having developed an intense career as a composer and musicologist, Ivan Moody studied Music and Theology at the Universities of London, Joensuu and York, where he did his doctorate. Sir John Tavener, Brian Dennis and William Brooks were among his teachers. Like the first one, Ivan Moody was strongly attracted to the spirituality and liturgy of the Orthodox Church, whose music and faith were to play an essential role in his compositions and life. ‘My vision of musical creation is theological, or, rather, doxological. For me, music has a spiritual function, and a spiritual origin. In my case, I work very much with theological concepts of the Orthodox Christian tradition. In this sense, I have inevitably been described as a holy minimalist, and I greatly admire Tavener, Pärt and Górecki. But apart from being a composer who writes a great deal of music that arises from the Christian tradition, I don’t recognize myself in that label.’ ¹

At the age of 13, Ivan Moody understood that he wanted to be a composer. He got familiar with a significant part of the classical mainstream repertoire and some jazz through his father’s CD collection, and he quickly became a great admirer of Tchaikovsky and Sibelius. There also was the inevitable recorder at primary school and singing in the choir. ‘Later, I joined a music group semi-connected to the school I attended, in which I sang in the choir and played double bass in the orchestra, and I also took part in a production of “Ludus Danielis”, which was a remarkable introduction to the world of mediaeval music.’ ²

One of the moments that made Ivan Moody want to try to compose his first piece, a song, was listening to an analysis of Debussy’s song on the radio done by Anthony Hopkins. He then became conscious of many subtle points he had never previously thought about. Nevertheless, the music model of this first Ivan Moody’s piece was a song by Tchaikovsky, “Moy geni, moy angel, moy drug...”. ‘I took the song to my music teacher at school, who encouraged me, and after that, I never stopped writing.’ ³

Another moment from Ivan Moody’s education period, which marked him profoundly was the experience of singing Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms”. The composer remembers: ‘The last movement – that movement-in-stasis – became a model for me, and much of my music endeavours to arrive at a similar moment of complete transcendence.’ ⁴ Among the works that Ivan Moody came then to know and which became his essential references, one must mention Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 10”, Stockahusen’s “Inori” and Boulez’s “Répons”, whose first version marvelled him, particularly regarding the electronics opening a ‘new and magical sound world’ ⁵. During the university period, Ivan Moody also saw Ligeti’s opera “Le Grand Macabre” in London. This work opened his eyes to a different approach towards this music genre and the whole history of music. During that time, he also discovered, through scores and recordings, the music of Pärt and Górecki and early music. ‘I also learned Tavener’s music at quite an early stage. I later studied with him, and his music strongly influenced mine, though the resemblances naturally diminished over time. I consider certain works, such as “Akhmatova Requiem” and “Ikon of Light”, masterpieces. Other names that were very important to me are Sofia Gubaidulina, the Australian Peter Sculthorpe, and the Greek composer Michael Adamis, and Renaissance choral music continues to be very important (including the Portuguese Renaissance), as well as Byzantine and Russian liturgical chant.’ ⁶

Ivan Moody was an integrated researcher and direction member at the CESEM – Centre for Studies in Music Sociology and Aesthetics at the NOVA University in Lisbon. He was also a rector of the parish of Saint John the Russian in Estoril, a professor at the University of Joensuu (Finland), an academic at the Institute of Sacred Arts (St Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary, New York), president of the International Society for Orthodox Church Music and the music panel of the International Orthodox Theological Association. Between 2004 and 2005, Ivan Moody worked with the MIC.PT – Portuguese Music Research and Information Centre.

As a musicologist, he wrote and published broadly about the music of the Iberian Peninsula, Russia and the Balkans, contemporary sacred music and music and theology, having won the Santander-Totta Award various times. His book, “Modernism and Orthodox Spirituality in Contemporary Music” (ISOCM & SANU, 2014), was published in 2014. In 2017, Ivan Moody co-edited with Vesna Sara Peno the collective volume “Aspects of Christian Culture in Byzantium and Eastern Christianity. Word, Sound and Image in the Context of Liturgical and Christian Symbolism” (SASA & ISOCM, 2017). In the synopsis of the former book, Ivan Moody writes: ‘Modernism and the spirituality of the Orthodox Church may seem on opposite poles, the one innovating and fragmenting, the other rooted in an unchanging tradition. However, as this book shows, the reality is more complex.’ ⁷ Additionally, Ivan Moody was also editor of the Journal of the International Society for Orthodox Church Music and co-editor of the Revista Portuguesa de Musicologia (published jointly by the SPIM, CESEM and INET-md), significantly contributing to its affirmation within the Portuguese and international musicology environment. During various years, Ivan Moody also worked with the Gramophone journal, writing texts and reviews on contemporary music and choral music from different periods, from Hildegard von Bingen to Taverner, and beyond.

Ivan Moody’s substantial body of music includes such works and collaborations as “Canticum Canticorum I” (1985) for the Hilliard Ensemble and “Prayer for the Forests” (1990), which won the Arts for the Earth Festival Prize, and had its premiere by the Tapiola Choir in Finland; the oratorio “Passion and Resurrection” (1992), based on Orthodox liturgical texts and premiered by the Red Byrd ensemble and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste; “Qohelet” (2013) for choir and consort of viols, commissioned by De Labyrintho; “Vespers Sequence” for the New York Polyphony, a work premiered in New York in January 2017; and “Isangelele” premiered by the English Chamber Choir at the Patmos Festival (Greece) in August, 2018. His other recent projects have included works for the German vocal sextet Singer Pur, the cornetist Bruce Dickey, and a concerto for the American pianist Paul Barnes. Among the performers of Ivan Moody’s music, one should also highlight groups and artists, such as Raphael Wallfisch (the cello concerto “Epitaphios” from 1993), Trio Mediaeval, The Tallis Scholars, Chanticleer and Capella Romana, with ECM, Hyperion, Telarc, Warner Classics and Sony Classical among the labels to have released his music.

And which works from his catalogue did the composer consider turning points in his career? As he told the MIC.PT in the interview from April 2014: ‘I believe that “Passion and Resurrection” (1992) was highly significant for affirming my musical language, length, and depth. Then, “Endechas y Canciones” (1996), a cycle written for the Hilliard Ensemble, opened a new path in terms of harmonic language and the possibilities of traditional music. The “Akáthistos Hymn” (1998) was also very important in that it is a work – for a cappella choir, lasting 90 minutes (!) – completely organised according to a liturgical structure, but incorporating different aspects of my compositional language. With “Canon for Theophany” in 2002, I think I managed to create a large-scale structure that brought together my creative instincts and the liturgical imperative for the first time. In the following year, “Linnunlaulu” for piano and orchestra, commissioned by OrchestrUtopica, was also a point of consolidation, but in this case, in terms of instruments, and it was also a starting point in the use of heterophony. “Passione Popolare” (2005) and “Ossetian Requiem” (2006) were important in different ways. The former connected the liturgical with the instrumental and the folk (in this case, the Magna Graecia of Byzantium and Italy) in a completely integrated fashion. I was very proud that it was premiered beautifully by an Italian ensemble at an Italian festival. The latter was an instinctive reaction to the tragedy in Beslan, and I was terrified of getting into politics, but with a commission for a short requiem, I found a way of dealing with the subject. In 2008, I wrote “Stabat Mater” for choir and string quartet, which was also a meeting between East and West, bringing together texts and musical languages of Greek, Russian, Sardinian and English inspiration. Since then, I have tried to deepen and intensify these linguistic meetings in musical terms.’ ⁸

In 2014, Alexandra Coghlan wrote in the Gramophone about the recording of Ivan Moody’s 2012 work “Simeron” by the Goeyvaerts String Trio and the singers Zsuzsi Tóth, Barnabás Hegyi and Olivier Berten (ed. Challenge Classics). In the review, the music critic and journalists tried to catch the influences within Ivan Moody’s music, here and elsewhere. Alexandra Coghlan described “Simeron” as ‘typical of the composer’s recent works – a distillation and crystallisation of a style that has become ever cleaner and more texturally refined. Setting the Greek text of the Byzantine Holy Week Rite and a sermon by Bishop Melito of Sardis, the work finds a harmonic astringency to balance its yielding, unbending instinct to melody. Chant meets human cries; ecstatic chorales break through scuttling chromatics in a performance whose precision and restraint only heighten its intensity.’ ⁹

Regarding the process underlying his composition practice, Ivan Moody often referred to Stravinsky, who thought having some limits for a given piece to awaken creativity was better. ‘I think it’s much more difficult when it’s not there when there is no frame for the work that can challenge the composer.’ ¹⁰. At the beginning of the process Ivan Moody needed to understand the ‘work’s whyand raison d’être’ ¹¹. Then, he passed through a chaotic and disorganised phase until he comprehended the work. Typically, it came ‘as a fragment of melody, a chord, or something vaguer, a sound image coloured but not defined’ ¹². Having this done, the composer began writing the notes and designing the form. However, all this could still change in the process of composition. ‘The work gains its own life, taking upon unexpected shapes. It’s a kind of dialogue between the work and me.’ ¹³

The proximity and the strong relation Ivan Moody had with Portugal and the Portuguese music environment had its expression and concretisation in his stance towards the phenomenon proclaimed by some as the ‘Second Renaissance of Portuguese Music’. In this sense, not only Ivan Moody’s activity as a musicologist and text and academic works author was significant, but also his involvement in initiatives of a more activist nature, for example, representing the GIMC – Contemporary Music Research Group (CESEM) in the framework of the riZoma – Portuguese Platform for Intervention and Research in New Music. Regarding the situation of new music creation in Portugal, in 2014, Ivan Moody told the MIC.PT: ‘I think there is huge compositional talent in Portugal, especially among young composers. I think this comes precisely from the contradiction of the Mediterranean on the periphery. What there isn’t, as we all know, is opportunities. A friend recently told me that when he went to the website of Finnish Radio, Sibelius was almost always playing. Imagine if, when you went to the Portuguese radio website, you almost always heard Freitas Branco or Vianna da Motta. The presence of Portuguese music in concert is practically limited to overtures, followed by the great works from the centre. Consequently, one treats living composers in the same way as a kind of necessary evil. But I still insist that there is huge compositional talent in Portugal and that certain institutions, usually private or semiprivate, have the vision to support these efforts.’ ¹⁴

Ivan Moody disappeared prematurely at the beginning of this year. If he hadn’t, on June 11^th, 2024, he would have celebrated his 60^th anniversary. How did this composer, academic researcher, and musicologist see the future of art music? ‘With optimism, which is the only thing that can dispel pessimism.’ ¹⁵

July, 2024 · © MIC.PT

FOOTNOTES

¹ Ivan Moody in the MIC.PT interview from April, 2014: LINK
² Ibidem.
³ Ibidem.
⁴ Ibidem.
⁵ Ibidem.
⁶ Ibidem.
⁷ Ivan Moody in the synopsis to his book, “Modernism and Orthodox Spirituality in Contemporary Music” (ISOCM & SANU 2014).
⁸ Ivan Moody in the MIC.PT interview from April, 2014: LINK
⁹ Alexandra Coghlan, “PÄRT Stabat Mater MOODY Simeron”, Gramophone, 2014.
¹⁰ Ivan Moody in the MIC.PT interview from April, 2014: LINK
¹¹ Ibidem.
¹² Ibidem.
¹³ Ibidem.
¹⁴ Ibidem.
¹⁵ Ibidem.

Ivan Moody · Playlist