ΩΔΗ ΣΤΗ ΣΕΛΗΝΗ – SIX-PART CHOIR

Program Notes
In Greek mythology Σελήνη (Selene) was the goddess of the moon, often regarded as the personification of the moon itself.

Ωδή στη Σελήνη (Ode to Selene) has many programmatic elements. The piece opens with a solo melody representing the moon, followed by scattered entrances of the voices representing the stars all around it. The transpositions that follow in cyclical fashion represent the roundness of the full-orbed moon, while the ascending melodic lines in the final climactic moment depict the rising of the moon to its high throne.

To capture the natural beauty and simplicity of the moon, but also a sense of awe and wonder, most of the melodic and harmonic materials of the piece are derived from the diatonic scale and the acoustic scale.

Text
ΩΔΗ ΣΤΗ ΣΕΛΗΝΗ
by Sappho (translation in modern Greek by Odysseus Elytis)

Οσ’ άστρα γύρω βρίσκονται
στην έκπαγλη σελήνη
το φωτεινό τους πρόσωπο
κρύβουν κάθε φορά που εκείνη
ολόγιομη καταλάμπει τη γη
ανεβαίνοντας
ασημοκαπνισμένη, ασημοκαπνισμένη.

ODE TO SELENE
The gleaming stars all about the shining moon
hide their bright faces
when full-orbed and splendid ιn the sky she floats
flooding the earth with clear silver light.