Never On Sunday: A Song History
"Never on Sunday" is a song by the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis, heard in Jules Dassin's film of the same name.[1] The film shows the Piraeus of its day, and in it Melina Mercouri, playing Ilya, sings the song on screen; its Greek title, "Ta Paidia tou Piraia," means "The Children of Piraeus."[1][2] Mercouri gained an international reputation from the 1960 film.[3]
Frederic Edwin Church, The Aegean Sea, oil on canvas, ca. 1877. A Greek seascape, shown for the sea around Piraeus; it has no connection to the song or the film.
At the 33rd Academy Awards, held on April 17, 1961, the song won the Oscar for Best Song, with both music and lyrics credited to Hadjidakis; the film also drew nominations for Mercouri, for Dassin's direction and screenplay, and for its black-and-white costume design.[4] The Greek newspaper To Vima describes the award as a first for a Greek composer, a point the Greek press also made in 1961, in coverage the paper quotes.[1] In the United States, Billboard lists a recording by Don Costa and His Orchestra and Chorus as reaching No. 19 on the Hot 100.[5] The Municipality of Piraeus's official tourism site goes further: "No other Greek film song has been able to surpass it in international success."[2]
Larry Conger includes it in Twice As Nice: Mountain Dulcimer Duets, a Fingers Of Steel book of thirteen pieces, each given melody and harmony parts for two standard dulcimers in DAD tuning, with an MP3 recording of every song.[6]
Sources
- To Vima: "The Day Greek Music Was Heard Worldwide".
- Destination Piraeus: "Piraeus in the cinema".
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: "Melina Mercouri".
- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: "The 33rd Academy Awards, 1961".
- Billboard: "Oscar Winners On The Hot 100".
- Fingers Of Steel: "Larry Conger, Twice As Nice: Mountain Dulcimer Duets".
- Image: Frederic Edwin Church, The Aegean Sea, oil on canvas, ca. 1877. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.