“Song of Songs”: Music and a Relational Aesthetic

Artistic creativity is a full circle. It begins (as an idea, impression, climate, tradition) among the people and the times; it passes through the sensitivity of the creator, who gives it his own expression in form, and continues on to attain completion there where he began, that is amidst the people and the times. If this circle is interrupted or if a segment is missing, then we cannot have a true and viable artistic work.

THE LAST HERO OF THE GREEKS ENTERS THE ANCIENT HERODION Atticus amphitheater at the southern slope of the Acropolis on the evening of September 29, 2007. He is guided slowly and carefully by aides across the large semicircle area between the front of the stage and the first row of seats. He is tentative in his steps but confident of purpose. The audience of 5,000 gives him a standing ovation for once again coming to the aid of the Greeks with his music. He is raising funds to help the victims of the devastating summer fires in the historic Peloponnesus region. As he struggles to guide his tall, failing 82-year-old body onto the front-row marble seat, he acknowledges the Hellenes by raising his right hand over his unruly white mane of hair and smiles as if to say, “Together, we will triumph over tragedy.” The Athenians applaud wildly as they have done hundreds, maybe thousands