Mikis Theodorakis - Cyclades Minor (And Four Other Songs With Sou...

During the summer of 1963, Theodorakis made an appeal to the poets to create original poetic works which could subsequently be set to music by composers. [Note that "Epitaphios" and "Epiphany" which had been set to music, formed part of poetic collections that had already been published; they were not created exclusively to be set to music.]
Odysseus Elytis, the celebrated poet and Nobel Prize winner, responded almost immediately to that appeal. Besides, Theodorakis had already set to music a poem by Odysseus Elytis written exclusively for that purpose. The poem was entitled "Between Syros and Kia". By Theodorakis' request, the poet wrote the lyrics of seven songs, full of vivacity, inriocence and joy, lending nature an anthropomorphic substance and treating the subject of love in a naturalistic way. These songs formed part of a series entitled "Cyclades Minor".
The seven songs comprised in "Cyclades Minor" were set to music by Mikis Theodorakis soon after, and were first performed in October 1963 at the boite "Symposium" by Dora Yannakopoulou (singer) and Notis Mavroudis (guitar accompaniment).
A year later, "Cyclades Minor" was recorded and released in two separate versions; one with Dora Yiannakopoulou and another with Soula Birbili, The production of the later version was supervised by George Katsaros who also conducted the orchestra. (From the Liner Notes)