About Life…
Song · digital release
A setting of Nazım Hikmet’s poem in Yannis Ritsos’s Greek translation. It focuses on the first part, with lines inserted from the second, bringing forward the determination, responsibility and hope with which the poet approaches life and the future.
Work details
Programme note
Nâzım Hikmet wrote On Living in prison, in the tenth year of his twenty-eight-year sentence. This deeply moving three-part poem presents the seriousness of life through simple, everyday images. The musical setting focuses on the first part, with interpolated lines from the second. With determination, Hikmet stresses the importance of life and our obligation to take it seriously, working towards a better future that we may never see. He is not merely optimistic: he is certain that the most beautiful days are still ahead. These words give him the strength to remain faithful to his values and ideals, willing to make sacrifices without expecting anything in return, so that people whose faces he will never see can live.
Credits
Tracks & movements
- For Life