My three friends: for string quartet

Abstract

This work, long overdue, was completed on New Year’s Day of 2009 at the urging of Giorgos Demertzis of the New Hellenic Quartet for the premiere on April 6, 2009 in Athens. It includes portraits of my three late friends, Dimitris Polemis, Giorgos Poumbourides and Kostas Sarafianos. All of them were music lovers and very dear and important to my own life. I met Dimitris Polemis in New York in the late 50’s when we were students, at Columbia University and Juilliard School respectively. Our friendship lasted throughout the following years. Dimitris, a Ph. D. recipient in Byzantine history, spent most of his life on his native island Andros working on books on its history and that on the Hellenic culture in general, specializing in its Byzantine era. Giorgos Poumbourides and I were both members of the Athens State Orchestra during the early 50s and remained very closed friends until his passing. Kostas Sarafianos, (or Kostaros, as we called him), was a continuous friend of mine since our teen age years in Greece and later in America. Kostas, an eye doctor by profession, was a music lover from birth. All three friends and I were bound by our love of music. We used to get together frequently, when I was in Athens and through telephone calls and correspondence, to discuss all the matters of life from art, to politics, history, philosophy, and life in general. All three friends had different personalities. Polemis with his tendency to examine historical events also had an irresistible wry sense of humor. Poumbourides tended to be philosophical with weighty pronouncements. Sarafianos was always jubilant and eager to share any artistic experience. All three were great persons and all are very much missed by me. I dedicate this work to their memory and their great friendship.