Mikis Theodorakis

Melos

This work is based on two song cycles, 'Lyrikotera' (to poems by Dionysis Karatzas, 1995) and 'Lyrikotata' (to poems by Yiannis Theodorakis, 1996). The composer created the final version for piano in collaboration with the two pianists Themis Simvoulopoulos and Tatiana Papageorgiou. The titles of the two cycles indicate that these works were created during the composer's lyrical period which led to him designating his entire output from 1986 onwards as part of his 'interior lyrical experience'. During this period he composed his three most significant recent works, the lyrical tragedies (Operas) Medea, Electra, and Antigone. His 12 'Melos' for Piano are both tribute and homage to Melos, the mythological figure of melody.Whereas the musical language in the piano part of the Préludes is characterized by sobriety and restraint, Melos - where the musical ideas are ornamented with cascades of chords and rhythms - signifies the return of the composer to the pianistic language of the Romantic period.