Six Fantastic Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 54 (1993)

Description:

The Six Fantastic Pieces for Orchestra, inspired by an equal number of poems by C.P. Cavafy, were written in Athens in 1993, following a commission by the Friends of Music Society of the Athens Concert Hall Organisation (OMMA) on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the poet’s death (1863-1919).

The music, except in isolated instances, does not have a descriptive character but rather records the emotions or reflections evoked by reading the poetic text.

The poems, in the order they appear, are as follows: “Walls,” “Waiting for the Barbarians,” “Voices,” “Candles,” “God Forsakes Antony,” and “In the Month of Hathor.”

Each piece maintains its independence. However, all together they share a common feature that links them: namely, that although each in a different way, they all revolve around the description of emotional loneliness—a theme particularly dear to Cavafy and, as it seems, with deeper implications throughout his entire poetic oeuvre.

The Six Pieces are to be performed for the first time worldwide (7-4-1994).

-This is a near-verbatim translation of Sicilianos’s Greek text.