SONGS FOR VOICE AND PIANO
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FROM THE LUTE AND STICK
Poems by Alexandros Pallis.
1908
1. Girl from Molyvos
2. Girl from Missiri
3. Girl from Roumeli
4. Aphrodite
5. Haide Hourde
6. Come, Little One
7. On the Epopa (vernacular: Pop!)
Publication:
Breitkopf & Haertel, Leipzig n.d.
Gaetanos, Athens n.d. (the whole cycle, excluding No. 7 [“On the Epopa”], with minor alterations).
* The song “Haide Hourde” also exists in a version for voice and orchestra. (See the corresponding category of works)
Pallis, Alexandros (1851 – 1935), fervent believer in the cause of the Demotic language movement, mostly known for his translation (the Iliad and the New Testament among others, plays of Euripides, Shakespeare, etc.). The collection Lute and Stick (1907) [Apo ton tamboura kai kopano]* contains lyric and satirical poems.
*(Tambouras: A lute-like instrument similar to the bouzouki but with a mellower sound; kopanos: stick, beater)
Molyvos, the ancient Methymna, city on the northern coast of the island Lesbos.
Haide Hourde, from the Albanian vernacular spoken in some parts of Greece. The expression’s exact meaning could not be ascertained; it is used however, to convey the meaning: “get lost”, get out of my hair”, etc. (according to information provided by Nikos Venetsanos, retired merchant marine captain from Salamis, where this vernacular is still in use).
Epopa, satirical form of the word pop. As Pallis explains it in his title, μαλλιαρικά Ποπ! (in coarse vernacular, pop!)
[Notes by Maria Voelker-Kamarinea]