Eroi(s)ca

A musician trained in electric guitar, Nicholas Ryan is a composer whose musical vision centers on personal expression and the pursuit of new sounds.

His approach involves transforming sound material to render it unrecognizable, while altering it as little as possible. This results in subtle shifts within blurred textures, a hallmark of many of his works.

Eroi(s)ca is a contemporary reinterpretation of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, the Eroica. Inspired by the concept of the sublime, which fuses beauty and terror, Nicholas Ryan explores this duality to address contemporary challenges. The title merges “Eros,” the Greek god of love, with Eroica, reflecting the tension between love and conflict, much like Beethoven’s ambivalent admiration for Napoleon Bonaparte.

One of the inspirations for Eroi(s)ca was bpNichol’s poem Easter Pome, which influenced the structure of the piece. Prior to composing, Ryan noted, “chord 1 + chord 2 = atonal chord?”, offering a glimpse into his thought process.

Musically, Eroi(s)ca draws on motifs from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, such as a central chromatic line (E-flat, D, C-sharp) and prominent use of timpani, evoking the military connotations of the original work. The piece highlights an orchestral fusion where consonance and dissonance, modality and atonality blend to create an evolving sound texture. This approach allows Eroi(s)ca to subtly reinvent Beethoven’s legacy, maintaining a profound dialogue between past and present.