SKU: A0.533911

Concert Note:
The Five Poems of Melissanthi, in the English translation of Diana Maynard,
comprise a complete vocal cycle of five poems set to music as a posthumous
tribute by the composer to the Athenian poet Melissanthi (1910-1991),
in the manner of the old tombeaux of the Baroque era, a
tradition also used by many composers of the first half of the 20th century.
This composer confirms, with reference to his own experience of Melissanthi's
poetry these five from among her many poems have made a such a great impact
on my composing that I felt the need to dedicate these musical pages to her.
The evocative poetic expressions of Melissanthi, whose real name was
Eve Chougia-Skandalaki, and the mysterious atmospheres invoked
by David Solomons' music introduce the listener to an ethereal and
metaphysical dimension, allowing us a glimpse into the unknown and the intangible.
A recurring theme, which unites the five lyrics by an invisible thread, is
an incessant fluctuation between the real and the unreal, between the known
and the unknown and between reality and unreality.
The inevitable abandonment of the mind to the seductive charms of the
surreal creates an extraordinary parallelism with lines from a great poet of the past
…così tra questa/immensità s'annega il pensier mio:/e il naufragar m'è dolce
in questo mare
[…so in this/immensity my thoughts drown:/ and to be shipwrecked is sweet
for me in this sea.]
(Giacomo Leopardi, L'Infinito, 1819).
Both the performance and the enjoyment of the Five Poems therefore
require particular emotional involvement, in an overall picture where every
single note is a tiny but essential constituent of a larger and more complex
musical architecture. The harmonic structure of the five compositions presents
a substantial homogenity of formulation even within the various rhythmical
solutions selected, with their repeated returns to themes and chords.
This creates an indissoluble unity, such that it would spoil the completeness
of the whole cycle of compositions if it were broken.
Alessandro Balsimini
Translation by David W. Solomons