MUSIC SATURDAY - GREEK ELEGY

Μοναχή το δρόμο επήρες,

εξανάλθες μοναχή.

δεν είν’ εύκολες οι θύρες,

εάν η χρεία τες κουρταλεί.

Άλλος σου έκλαψε εις τα στήθια,

Αλλ’ ανάσαση καμιά.

Άλλος σου έταξε βοήθεια

και σε γέλασε φριχτά.

Alone you went on the road,

And you came back alone.

Doors don’t open easily

When need knocks on them.

Someone cried on your breast

But no relief was forthcoming.

Someone else promised to help you

But betrayed you terribly.

                  From “Hymn to Liberty” by Dionysios Solomós

Alexis Tsipras, Greece’s left wing prime minister has called a referendum on the 5th of July for Greek voters to decide whether to accept a bailout deal offered by international creditors. The PM made it clear he was against the “unbearable” bailout plan, which would further demoralise the already wretched populace and worsen the economic crisis faced by the country.

Greek Parliament is debating whether to ratify the vote, and internal bickering divides further the destabilised political scene. Eurozone finance ministers are meeting to discuss the crisis, and to decide whether to give Greece an extension of the bailout until after the vote. The current bailout expires on Tuesday, the same day Greece’s IMF debt is due. It is unclear what would happen if Greece does not get a temporary extension. Without a deal on the bailout, there are fears Greece’s economy could collapse.

Iceland’s debt default and financial crisis of 2008-11 comes to mind. The country faced difficulties after it defaulted its debts, but the world did not end and recovery occurred. Greece can perhaps do the same, if only all Greeks united and presented a strong, single voice of opposition to untenable and harsh economic conditions imposed by the external bodies (both European and International).

Aptly then today for Music Saturday, some music by a Greek Woman composer, Eleni Karaindrou. Eleni Karaindrou (Greek: Ελένη Καραΐνδρου; born 1941) is a Greek composer, born in the village of Teichio in Phocis, Central Greece, on November 25, 1941. She is best known for scoring the films of Greek director Theo Angelopoulos.

When she was eight, Karaindrou moved with her family to Athens, and she subsequently studied piano and theory at the Hellenic Conservatory. She also attended history and archaeology classes at the university. With the advent of the Greek military junta (in power 1967–1974) she moved to Paris in 1967, where she studied Ethnomusicology and Orchestration, and improvised with Jazz musicians. Then she began to compose popular songs.

In 1974 she returned to Athens where she established a laboratory for traditional instruments and collaborated with the department of Ethnomusicology of the National Radio. In 1976 she collaborated with ECM Records, and appreciated the creative freedom offered by the label. This was a period of high productivity for her; she was also introduced to music for the theatre and the cinema.

Karaindrou has stated that her own personal style emerged in working on soundtracks, and that the relationship between images and movements created a new space for her to express emotions. Her first soundtrack album was released in 1979 for the movie “Periplanisi” by Hristoforos Hristofis. In 1982 she won an award at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and was noticed by Theo Angelopoulos, who was serving as president of the jury. Karaindrou collaborated with Angelopoulos on his last eight films, over the period 1984 to 2008.

Karaindrou is very prolific. By 2008 she had composed music for 18 full-length movies, 35 theatrical productions and 11 TV series and television movies. Among the screen directors she has worked with are Chris Marker, Jules Dassin and Margarethe von Trotta. In 1992 she received the Premio Fellini award.