| Work Title
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Comment II on the epitaph of Seikilos, for five performers
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| Alternative. Title
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| Composer
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Hatzimichelakis, George
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| Opus/Catalogue NumberOp./Cat. No.
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Op.49
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| Internal Reference NumberInternal Ref. No.
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None [force assignment]
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| Year/Date of CompositionY/D of Comp.
|
2002
|
| First Performance.
|
2003
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| First Publication.
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2026
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| Dedication
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in memoriam Dimitris Dragatakis
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| Average DurationAvg. Duration
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8 minutes
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| Composer Time PeriodComp. Period
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Modern
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| Piece Style
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Modern
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| Instrumentation
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mezzo soprano, foot-sestrum, whistling, hammered dulcimer (tsympaly), ancient Greek lyres, violin, viola
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| External Links
|
Performance in Goethe Institute, Athens, at spring, 2026
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| Extra Information
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This work was composed at the suggestion of Panagiotis Stefos in December 2002. The Epitaph of Seikilos, one of the most renowned monuments of ancient Greek music, beyond its musicological significance, stirs our reflection as a memorial that encapsulates, in epigrammatic form, the driving ideas of the ancient worldview regarding one’s stance toward life and death. The central idea of Comment II is a re‑imagining of the reactions of an ancient passerby who, wandering through the cemetery, encounters the stele. As was customary, he reads the inscription aloud, chants the text, and then meditates upon its poetic and musical ideas. The orchestration serves both the reference to the ancient world and the illumination of inner, personal sentiments. It happened that this work was written one year after the passing of the beloved composer and teacher Dimitris Dragatakis. This event, together with the spirit of the composition itself, led me to dedicate it to his memory.
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