Small Lemon Tree for Woodwind Quintet

"Small Lemon Tree" is a folk song from Epirus, a small, mountainous province in northwestern Greece. Greek folk songs are traditionally accompanied by violin, clarinet, and lute.

The title, "Small Lemon Tree", has a symbolic meaning, for as the juice of the lemon is sour, so is the love of the one portrayed in the song. A simple emotional appeal is achieved through the simplest of musical means—a melody of only four pitches, constantly repeated.