ΟΔΥΣΣΕΙΑ – ORCHESTRA

Program Notes
The inspiration of  Οδύσσεια came from Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. Odyssey or Οδύσσεια is a poem which focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus, and his journey home after the ten-year Trojan war. Through his journey to Ithaca which lasted ten long years, Odysseus encountered many dangerous creatures such as the Lotus Eaters, the Cyclops and the giant son of Poseidon Polyphemus, the witch-goddess Circe, the cannibalistic Laestrygonians, the Sirens who lured sailors to their death with their enchanting music, the sea monster Scylla and the deadly whirlpool Charybdis, and others.

Οδύσσεια is a monothematic composition where all the melodic and harmonic materials develop out of the opening motive which appears in the first oboe. The motive symbolizes the hero and his adventurous journey to his homeland. In the composition, I wanted to capture the essence of Odysseus’s wandering through hostile environments, and bring to life his struggles and triumphs. To achieve this, I used various changing textures, styles, techniques, and alternating sections of contrasting material. Throughout the piece, the listener can hear the influence of romanticism mixed with neoclassic textures, sound mass, and contemporary musical language. In general, the composition favors dark colors with dissonant harmonies; all finally leading to a climax of an epic character. Οδύσσεια concludes with a final failing attempt of the woodwinds to play the theme in its entirety. The incomplete appearance of the theme at the end of the piece symbolizes the successful return of Odysseus to Ithaca, but its fragmentary nature suggests that the hero returned home transformed; a changed man.