With his compositions, Theodorakis did much to draw international attention to the finest examples of Greek poetry. His »Symphony No.3«, ist based on verse by Dionysios Solomos (1798-1837). In 1823, the poet wrote his »Hymn to Freedom«, the first stanza being later adopted as the Greek national anthem. At the age of 14, (…) Theodorakis had set to music several parts of Solomos' poem »The Demented Mother«. »Foreign occupation, the national resistance and EPONB opened up a new way for me. The tragic mood of pessimism and Romanticism gave way to a feeling of protest and a desire to act. Those were the circumstances surrounding the writing of the aria 'We will pick a few flowers to-morrow.« The composer repeatedly revised his work, all previous versions finally merging into the Third Symphony in 1981. The aria mentioned above formed the concluding part. By incorporating the »Byzantine Hymn for Petros of EPON« as the third movement, Theodorakis brought his threnody up to date. As a humanist with a universal message he cut across epochs and genres, combining ecclesiastic with secular features and fusing the present and the past. The whole Symphony, with its recurrent bell chimes and revolving themes, is en extended ritual. The expression of grief successively takes the form of an elegy (first movement), a state of agitation (second movement), a commemorative tribute (third movement) and a feeling of bewilderment (fourth movement). In
the closing movement, the aimless repetitions and the Largo melody, ascending
in feeble, subdued tones, evoke the sense of loneliness that pervades
the late works of Shostakovitch, which also reflect on the meaning of
death. © Albrecht Dümling, translated by Bernd Zöllner (Intertext) in the leaflet to: Mikis Theodorakis. Sinfonie Nr.3 und Liturgie Nr.2. BERLIN CLASSICS (1 CD - 0011282BC) |
Dionysios Solomos