In his own analysis of the Byzantine prototype, Theodorakis admires the opening phrase of the melody and the way important notes are stressed by the melodic line.
In "I Adelphi mas Athina" he has reduced melody to a skeletal fragment which is stressed by constant repetition. The accompaniment is as spare as the melody. It is either a tremolo on D or an open fifth chord with a bass of D. The melody is reiterated in octave piano chords following each line of verse until it is imprinted on the ear like the basic pattern of a Javanese gamelan piece and when the singer begins to expand the melody with uneven groups of triplets and an oriental sounding scale, the effect is of spontaneous improvisation.
The extension of the melody underlines the dramatic image of the doomed Athina who has received the oranges, and with them, the courage to face death:
At the corner of her cell
Death had crouched like a terrified dog
And she'd called out "Tiger, Here Black! Here Jack!"
trying to find his cur's name "Come here so I can show you the tracks of Truth! Come here, and smell the oranges I have in my breast!"
For the final drama of the execution, Theodorakis reverts to the recitative of the opening lines, but, before then, the first three notes sound again.
By now they have acquired the quality of a leitmotiv for Athina and it seems fitting that they should sound before the rifle shots of the firing squad.
© Gail Holst
I ADELFI MAS ATHINA (OUR SISTER ATHINA), AST 185
Composition: 15.5.1968 in Vrachati
Mouvements
1. Andante
2. Piu lento
3. Tempo primo
Creation: 1976 in Athens
Maria Farantouri, Orchestra, Mikis Theodorakis
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