Three Songs on Poems by Sappho shares the same instrumentation and is related stylistically to two other of Hatzis' song cycles, Erotikos Logos and Arcana.
The seeds of Three Songs on Poems by Sappho date back to 1990 when a Greek singer, Nena Venetsanou, requested a song setting of classical Greek texts for her voice. An earlier version of Anaktoria, the third song of the present cycle, came into being as a result of that request. A few years later I heard the voice of Aris Christofellis, an amazing countertenor whose upper register extends to that of a full fledged mezzo. Christofelis expressed a keen interest in my music – he was particularly attracted to my song cycle Erotikos Logos, a setting of poems by George Seferis. I decided that an extended cycle which would belong in the same family with Erotikos Logos and Anaktoria was in order. As it turned out, besides style the two cycles share the same instrumentation. An earlier song cycle, Arcana, set on poems by Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen, also joins this family to form a trilogy.
The three songs I chose to set to music represent, I think, 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 panache regard for musical sophistication or overall structure … just like a Greek wedding party after its first hour or so. 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 Andromeche's dowery 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.
Despite most of the texts being Greek and indecipherable prior to reading the translations, the songs pack a serious emotional punch. Hatzis is a deft melodist and a master of form. His sense of proportion ensures that few of his ideas outstay their welcome or disappoint the listener with premature resolution.
Hatzis' craftsmanship is superb to the point of transparency. It gives tremendous support and integrity to lines that appear and disappear with the spontaneity of improvisation.
