The Great Erotic is a folk deity who lives in our imagination from the moment we are born until the day we die—beautiful, youthful, and endlessly alive. The Great Erotic does not wear picturesque local costumes. He wears garments of his own, woven from complex combinations of sounds, light colours, and poetic dreams. He contains no messages that can easily be washed away by the rain. He does not resist.
Let the song begin,
and upon its melodies
bow your heads together
and sing with me.
The order in which these poems by Greek poets appear forms an unbroken cycle of songs, a kind of liturgy for the Great Erotic—something like the vespers of saints in distant hermit chapels, with the participation of imaginary angels, lovers, virgins, and youths. It is a curious procession, yet entirely natural within our inner and hidden life.
The Great Erotic is a series of popular songs written, above all, so that I myself might communicate with all the Greek figures I deeply love—those I have known, those I will come to know, and those I will never be able to know. Through them, I also sought to unite with the soul of my homeland in a timeless ritual—erotic and profoundly Greek.
“Vespers,” for me, signifies the reverence of the sun as it gently moves through the city, filled with the memories of the years, before finally leaning aside to fall asleep, leaving around it echoes of light, revelatory moods, and the faintest fragrance of love. With the Fifteen Vespers, I gather my scattered sensitivity and offer it to you as it was born, upon its true foundation—where merchants cannot spoil its appearance. All the Vespers are dedicated to my son, who is now beginning to measure the world.
Manos Hadjidakis
CO-PRODUCTION
Panik Records
Megaron the Athens Concert Hall
The poster photograph is from the “Manos Hatzidakis” Archive © Giorgos Hatzidakis.
The visual artwork features Yannis Moralis’s work The Great Erotic.
