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Demertzis Georgios
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These compositions were not "discovered", as was the case with the string quartets. With the exception of the Kommatia gia ton Dekemvri (December Pieces), which, it seems, were ignored entirely following their historical premiere at the Hellenic-Soviet Association in the Spring of 1946, these are the most well-known chamber music works by Mikis Theodorakis.
This is especially true of the first Sonatina, which succeeded, thanks to Tatsis Apostolidis, as well as to its artistic merit and the daring it expressed in difficult times, in becoming a "repertory piece". This success is doubtless due to its taut form and the candor of its thematic material, but it is also of unexpected instrumental interest. One wonders how a composer who did not play the violin himself — and let us not forget that Skalkottas was a virtuoso — managed to write so skillfully, and so demandingly, for strings.
The second Sonatina with its four movements and two cadenzas is even more demanding — and in this case, the term "Sonatina" is presumably a personal statement of humility, as well as of humor, on the part of this boundless composer.
All of these works have established a unique place for themselves in the corresponding Greek repertory.
The Trio, alongside those by Kalomiris, Skalkottas, or even by Sisilianos, to name a more recent work, expresses a wholly personal idiom and reminds us of no one else. The same is true of the Sonatinas.
The December Pieces, on the other hand, express the composer's emotional tension during the outbreak of the Greek Civil War, and show us how he "celebrated" Christmas and the New Year in 1945-46, by giving us a gift of three exceedingly useful works, full of immense ideas, lyricism and action. It took us all of 60 years to unwrap these gifts. Better late than never...
Georgios Demertzis
Excerpts of the booklet with "Chamber Works" (II) by Mikis Theodorakis
LEGEND CLASSICS 2201655972
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