Epitafios No. 4

Composer: Mikis Theodorakis 🇬🇷

This is a miniature whose exoticism and raw energy have captivated me for years. The Epitafios by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, originally for voice and bouzouki (Anatolian mandolin) are based on the homonymous poem by Yannis Ritsos. The poem was inspired by a dramatic photograph in the newspaper, showing a mother grieving the loss of her son, killed by the police during a workers’ strike in May 1936. Written immediatly after the event and published 2 days after, Epitafios has become one of Ritsos’ most trascencental works.

My son, what Fate was decreeing for you, what Fate had decreed for me
to ignite such grief, such fire in my breast?

You awoke early in the morning and washed your body and your hair,
before the bell-ringer far away tolled the dawn.

You’d look from the window again and again to see if it had dawned,
and you were hurrying as if you were going to a festival.

You kept your eyes dark, your jaw tight,
and in your boldness you were sweet, both a bull and a nightingale.

And I, poor and neglectful, and I, crazy and mad,
was cooking your sage, and my pale glance would kiss

Your charms one by one, my dear, and your gleaming aspect,
and I’d revel and laugh like a tender girl.

Not even for a moment did I imagine the worst, nor did I run from behind
to put my chest in front to catch the bullets.

And I arrived late. Oh, that such an hour had never come!
Oh, it were better that the whole country collapse on my skull !