Thread and Needle, by Martha Mavroidi

Thread and Needle

by Martha Mavroidi

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1.	Little Sea 04:08	lyrics
Little Sea Become a sea, my bird, and I’ll become a shore So I can come in waves to your embrace I smashed open an almond shell and inside it I painted your picture Leaving is painful and farewells make me dizzy Welcomes are a great joy I smashed open an almond shell and inside it I painted your picture Water drop after water drop pierces though marble A love not reciprocated is not worth loving Salt water of the sea, I cannot be angry with you Based on Manolaros, a traditional song from the island of Skyros, and on an earlier arrangement of the same tune by Antonis Apergis Vocals: Martha Mavroidi, Tasos Poulios
2.	Martha Mavroidi, Eva Quartet, Maria Melachroinou, Irini Derebei - Alexandris 02:45	lyrics
Young Alexander Little Mary and young Alexander go secretly out in the yard Neighbours see them and gossip, Mary’s mother sees them and complains Little Mary, I told you not to go secretely out in the yard Beat me up, mother, if you wish; I still will go out in the yard to see young Alexander A white flower in bloom at the girl’s window The girl watered it in the morning, the boy cut it in the evening Says the girl to the boy, “If you don’t know how to love, why do you get us in trouble?” Traditional song from the region of Thrace. Arranged by Martha Mavroidi Vocals: Irini Derembei, Maria Melachrinou, Martha Mavroidi Eva Quartet: Gergana Dimitrova, Sofia Kovacheva, Evelina Christova, Daniela Stoichkova
3.	Daughter are you asleep 02:00	lyrics
Daughter are you asleep Daughter if you’re asleep wake up and if you are sitting inside go out And lighta candle, daughter, put it in the lantern And hold it so that I can get on the boat A boat needs rowing, a sailing ship needs wind A girl needs kisses before the dawn breaks She needs kisses on eyes and brows. Traditional carols from Monasteri in Eastern Romylia Arranged by Martha Mavroidi Vocals: Martha Mavroidi
4.	Jasmin 03:06	lyrics
Jasmin Oh my jasmin, the wings of angels embrace me in caresses Oh my jasmin, a little bird in the wind meets its partner Wind blows humbly and the sail is full Sighs are like waves and know no end in this world Fly out, my soul, like a bird to catch the day Come and rest next to your little jasmin Music-Lyrics: Martha Mavroidi Yasemi Quartet: Irini Derembei, Maria Melachrinou. Martha Mavroidi, Tasos Poulios
5.	Romanian Melody 03:47	info
6.	Yerevan 02:57	lyrics
Yerevan There he is, coming like a little white cloud in an emerald sky He is whirling in my hands and asks me to sing a song Golden is his hair, he is wrapped in dew His knees are scratched, he plays, weeps and sings He looks up to the sky, its dew is trickling, my flower quickly blooms And a hand snatches the song from my mouth.
7.	Dafkos and Lefka 03:16	lyrics
Dafkos and Lefka I was a little rose in a perfumed garden At Lefka’s window and in the heartbeat Dafko Oh that could become a little rose once again So I can spread my perfume in the turbulence of your youth Dafko, Dafko come here It’s a wild beast hiding in a remote lair Far from the world the hand that forged the iron and hugged your waist He is now trembling like a leaf before he leaps into the fire My young doe I know I’ll never see you again This curse cannot be lifted but tell me how it’s possible To speak to you sweetly in the moonlight My little rose, May will bring you Once again the flower of youth and step by step In an immortal meadow I shall hold your hand My young doe Dafko Remembering the dance of a grandfather with his granddaughter. Characters borrowed from Zyranna Zateli’s book Passion A Thousand Times Over. Music-Lyrics: Martha Mavroidi Vocals: Argyris Bakirtzis, Martha Mavroidi, Tasos Poulios
8.	Haiku 01:42	info
9.	Crazy Rabbit 03:48	lyrics
Crazy Rabbit Little Kiki, the crazy rabbit, went out shopping in the open air market White spools, red buttons, she spreads a thread all over the neighbourhood The thread is long and the tailor is mad A white kitten is in the courtyard, one eye is green, the other sky-blue Bring out the measure tape, measure the thread and tell me how long it is, my little Kiki Hold the needle steady, lick the end of the thread Another kitten, just like the white one will come next year, but the crazy rabbit will be in the yard no longer. Music-Lyrics: Martha Mavroidi For Kiki K. who taught me how to pass the thread through the eye of the needle.
10.	The Lover 03:28	lyrics
The Lover Oh Christ may the dream I saw tonight become clear I saw my lover as hunter, my husband as a beast Oh Christ may the hunter kill the beast Bring it home where I would hang it from a pole Split open its chest, take his heart out And dye my hair with blood from its heart Traditional Cretan rizitiko song. Arranged: Martha Mavroidi Jasmin Quartet: Irini Derembei, Maria Melachrinou Martha Mavroidi, Tasos Poulios
11.	Garip 05:53	info
12.	Stani Pando 03:36	lyrics
Stani Pando Get up Pando, get up my soul, the sun has risen / Get up Pando to go to a dewy garden In the garden sits a beautiful girl/ She peaks picks flowers, she sings songs / For Pando to listen Music-Lyrics: Martha Mavroidi Vocals: Martha Mavroidi
13.	Moon 02:45	lyrics
Moon The Moon, a world dead, travels fully rounded in emerald latitudes. All faces turn upwards and see it. N. G. Pentzikis, Pragmatognosia He was glad when he lost his way and ended up risking his life clambered on a cliff. There in a crevice he found two flowers. They were monocotyledons belonging to the lily family. He would identify them precisely later at the shelter. He was overjoyed, however, by a detail: one featured a pistil composed of 6 carpels whereas the other had a pistil composed of merely 5 carpels. Correspondingly, the number of stamens was reduced from 6 to 5 but this did not mar the common features of their form. It was one and the same plant but a specimen for reasons unknown deviated from the standard rule a few inches away from the healthy one in the same crevice. This particular and objective observation satisfied his mind dispelling any restlessness of body or soul. Nicos Gabriel Pentzikis, Andreas Dimakoudis Music: Martha Mavroidi Vocals: Gabriel Nicos Pentzikis, Martha Mavroidi, Tasos Poulios
14.	Nursery Rhyme 00:31	lyrics
Nursery rhyme I wish I had a thousand ships so I could fulfil all your desires But I only have a small boat and the clothes I wear. Traditional nursery rhyme from Kranidi in Argolis.

about

"Thread and Needle" is an a cappella album that pays tribute to the vocal traditions of Greece. Folk songs from different parts of Greece arranged for vocal ensemble, and new a cappella compositions make up a musical mosaic that celebrates human voice and its role in the music of the Balkans.
Martha Mavroidi uses her voice to create multiple musical layers, simulating an entire orchestra by means of vocal sounds. In this album she has collaborated with ECM artist Savina Yannatou, the Bulgarian vocal ensemble Eva Quartet, the new Greek a cappella group Yasemi Quartet, the frontman of the 30-year old group Heimerinoi Kolymvites, Argyris Bakirtzis, and Irini Derebei, singer in the projects of Jordi Savall.
Apart from the singers, she has invited two outstanding musicians, world-class percussionist Vangelis Karipis (with collaborations with Ara Dinkjian, Theodosii Spassov and Omar Faruk Tekbilek) and extraordinary qanun player Tasos Poulios, asking them to use their voice as an instrument, and "translate" their musical experience of their respective instruments onto the voice.
In addition to professional musicians, the album features author Gabriel Pentzikis reciting a text by his father Nicos Pentzikis, one of Greece's most mystical authors, a choir of amateur singers, and a baby experimenting with his voice.
The album reads like a tale of two characters: a child playing with her voice, and a professional musician "playing" the voice.
Released by Violins Productions 2017.