Ornithes (1964)

Manos Chatzidakis's orchestral reworking of his music for The Birds. A version of the score he originally composed in 1959 for Karolos Koun's cancelled production (see production 580). In 1960 Chatzidakis recorded a four-instrument version used by Koun for his 1960 touring version of the play (see production 427, 1086, 814, 815, 7656). In 1964 (this production) Chatzidakis revised the music, orchestrated, and recorded it, with the assistance of Giorgos Moutsios, Elli Nikolaidou, and Yannis Trifyllis. In 1964 the work was also performed as a cantata by the Experimental Orchestra at the Athens Festival (see production 14338). In 1965 the music was staged as a ballet-opera at the Brussels Opera by Maurice Bejart (see production 14337, with Chatzidakis conducting).