Island Songs is a three movement work which draws inspiration from certain styles of Greek dance. Rather than seeking to produce musical representations of these dance styles, Psathas regards Island Songs as being illustrative of his reaction to the unique energy inherent within them.
An alternate arrangement of this work for piano trio (PE075) was created in 1999 at the request of the Ogen Trio.
The first movement involves a number of styles and reflects what I perceive as the latent energy in much of this music – although here this energy only surfaces from time to time. The second is a reaction to the great strength of the zeibekiko dance, which is in 9/4 time, and often extremely slow. While not cast in the same time frame as a true zeibekiko, this movement does dwell upon the uncertainty of the downbeat and the intensely focused emotional content of this dance. The third movement is much in the style of the sirto dance, whose energy is always lively and unfailingly contagious.
