Maurice Ravel, Mady Mesplé, Tripatos, greek folksong

Tripatos is a greek folk dance from the island of Chios. It means three steps. In the beginning of the 20th century two important collections of melodies d´Orient were presented in France: the collection of Bourgault-Ducoudray and the wax cylinders of hellenist Hubert Pernot in the Institut du Grec Moderne in the Sorbonne. This song comes from the Pernot collection. The transcription in notes was made by composer Paul Le Flem. The translation of the poem from greek to french by musicologist of greek origin M.D. Calvocoressi (friend of Ravel). Maurice Ravel, 1875-1937, translated this song into his musical idiom in 1909. The spectacular french soprano Mady Mesple interprets it, in excellent greek. Pianist Dalton Baldwin heartily participates in this feast. The illustrations are details from paintings by greek naive painter Theophilos, born in Lesbos . He travelled throughout Greece creating frescos in cafés and rich houses, creating paintings in canvases and wooden sur