Polifonia in Due

The repertoire of the unique Duo Goliardi, founded in 2003 by the flautist Dimitris Kountouras and the accordionist Konstantinos Raptis, extends from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. Their aim: to perform works from the past in a new-sounding way by combining the capabilities of their instruments. Elegant transcriptions in which the role of other instruments, and sometimes of the human voice, are allocated to their flute and accordion, create a unique soundworld, though their interpretations remain true both to the text and to authentic performance practice. The Duo Goliardi also premiere works written for them by contemporary composers.

In “Polifonia in Due”, the artists exhaustively explore the seemingly limited polyphonic potential of combined flute and accordion. The concert program constitutes a musical journey into the history of European polyphony since the 14th century, from the “virelai” of Guillaume de Machaut to works by contemporary Greek composers. A polyphonic reworking by Agricola of a very well-known early Renaissance chanson, Ghizeghem’s “De tous biens playne”, provides a historical parallel and confirmation of their creative conception of transcription as the Duo Goliardi re-examine the possibility of adapting it to their particular combination of instruments. Transcriptions of works by JS Bach—a sonata for church organ, a prelude and fugue from the “Well-Tempered Clavier” and a sonata for flute and harpsichord—take pride of place in the program as the apogee of 400 years of Western European polyphony.