On Ivan, the Portuguese Slav

Abstract

Ivan Moody was a man of many places. Ivan’s connection to Portugal started through musical performance and continued through both musicology and composition; he was welcomed as warmly as he was warm himself. This paper will give an aperçu of his professional ties with the country he chose to live in, before and after he became a member of CESEM at NOVA University Lisbon. His artistic identity was nonetheless firmly grounded on his previous experience of Russian music, his close ties with John Tavener and his continuous involvement with Slavic orthodox chant. A small choral work performed at CESEM’s anniversary ceremony in 2012, Vecheri Tvoeia, a setting of an Offertory for Maundy Thursday, and the miniature Ao desconcerto do mundo, based on a poem by Luís Vaz de Camões, will illustrate some of the typical traits found in his music.