Lorca drawing the young, too
Federico Garcia Lorca’s «Sonnets of Dark Love,» a book-and-CD release published by Mikri Arktos with six sonnets presented as songs, has already gone into a third edition in just six months. The lyrics were translated by Sotiris Trivizas, while the music was provided by a young and extremely melodic composer, Dimitris Maramis. Reflecting the interest generated by Trivizas’s translation of Lorca and the accompanying music by Maramis, the title’s third edition has already sold out. Maramis will present the music – enchanting, melodic, intensely atmospheric, fiery, as well as classical with a contemporary feel – in a performance tonight in Athens. «This cycle comprises 12 songs and four orchestrals, a total of 16 tracks,» pointed out the composer. «I completed it six months ago following the release of the book and CD and the warm response it got. We’re now going to present it for piano and vocals, but when it gets released as an album, which I hope won’t be too far off, it will be for orchestra and voice,» he added. In previous performances, Maramis has included just two or three of his songs from the «Lorca» project in the repertoire. «I think the time has come to present the material as a completed whole. There’s been the success of the book-CD, which has offered encouragement because it indicates that certain people have listened to the project, which, incidentally, was released in a year marking the 70th anniversary of Lorca’s death,» noted Maramis. When asked what attracted him to write music for these poems, Mamaris remarked: «I became acquainted with these poems right after Sotiris [Trivizas] had translated the first lot… They enchanted me, I started writing music for them and just carried on. We selected six compositions for the book’s accompanying CD and, after that, I completed the cycle.» The young composer said the rich tradition of music based on Lorca’s poetry did not frighten him. «I’ve studied and learned a lot from the projects of [Manos] Hadjidakis and [Mikis] Theodorakis, and I continue to study them,» said Maramis. «Now, I dared to say a few things too, based on an entirely new and contemporary translation. I believed that I stood firmly following the lessons I learned from the roots of all this, as well as my experience in music for theater.» Now 30 years old, Maramis has already spent a decade writing music for the theater. He gained his degree in piano here and then pursued his musical education further in the UK, where he took his first steps in composition for the theater. The Greek artist has continued working in this domain here, for esteemed theaters such as the National Theater and the National Theater of Northern Greece. For tonight’s performance, Maramis will play the piano, accompanying an emerging vocalist, Constantinos Klironomos. Tonight at 10 p.m., Alekton Theater (13 Sfaktirias & Plataion, Kerameikos), 10 euros. For further information, tel 210.346.4638, 6934.032.903.
