Markopoulos composed the theme tune for the 1977 BBC television series Who Pays the Ferryman?, which topped the British charts for months and brought him international renown.
Composer Biography
Yannis Markopoulos, the composer, spent his childhood in Ierapetra, Crete, where his acoustic universe included Byzantine liturgy, Cretan traditional music, sea waves, and the detonation of land-mines from World War II.
Performer Biography
Marc Grauwels, the flautist, has inspired over a hundred composers worldwide to write for him, including Ennio Morricone and Astor Piazzolla.
Composer's Artistic Vision
In 1969, Markopoulos returned to Athens and founded a new musical ensemble, combining the piano with the lyre for the first time and adding instruments of his own invention, to create an original sound he termed 'Return to the Roots'.
Instruments
The lyre, a stringed instrument documented since the Byzantine period, is mostly played in Crete and is unique in that the player uses their nails to pluck the strings from the side, rather than fingertips.
Composition History
Markopoulos's Concerto-Rhapsody for Lyre and Symphony Orchestra was written to honor the lyre, the most representative instrument of his native Crete, and was premiered in 1987 in Irakleio, Crete, conducted by the composer.
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