The third song of the cycle Three Songs on Poems by Sappho, Anaktoria now exists as a stand-alone composition for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, viola, cello, piano. This work may also be performed by a countertenor instead of mezzo-soprano.
Anaktoria was written in the summer of 1990 during Hatzis' brief stay on Mount Pelion, Magnesia, Greece which overlooks the Gulf of Pagasae.
In the trilogy, the three songs represent three different aspects of Sappho's creative personality. The first, Invocation to Aphrodite, is a calling on goddess Aphrodite for her help in attracting a lover. The second song, The Marriage of Hector and Andromache, is an outpouring of joy and panache with little regard for musical sophistication or overall structure. The third song, Anaktoria, is the most reflective of the three. In contrast to the naive and occasionally sinister desire for possession of the first song or the frivolity of the second – where the citizens of Troy seem more impressed with Andromache's dowry than with the ominous implications this union has for their city, Anaktoria is about opting for the simple things in life – love being one of them – rather than the larger-than-life heroic acts that bring people and countries to their ruin.
