Greek Music

Μια πιο πρώιμη χρονολόγηση των επιδράσεων του ρεμπέτικου στο έργο του Μάνου Χατζιδάκι

by Manolis Seiragakis

Nea Hestia vol. 169, is. 1845, June 2011, pp. 1109-1124

Mikis Theodorakis – Manos Hadjidakis: Music and Politics in the Early Sixties in Greece

by Paris Konstantinidis

Master-Thesis (2011). Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Musicology Department.

It was written in German. Original Title: "Mikis Theodorakis - Manos Chatzidakis: Musik und Politik am Anfang der 1960er Jahre in Griechenland".

The Greek Popular Modes

by Nikos Ordoulidis

From popular to esoteric: Nikolaos Mantzaros and the development of his career as composer

by Konstantinos Kardamis

Published in 'Nineteenth-Century Music Review' 8 (2011), pp 101-126

Nikolaos Halikiopoulos Mantzaros (1795–1872) was a noble from Corfu and is better known today as the composer of the... more Nikolaos Halikiopoulos Mantzaros (1795–1872) was a noble from Corfu and is better known today as the composer of the Greek national anthem. However, recent research has proved his importance as a teacher and as one of the most learned composers of his generation, renowned, in Italy and France as well as Greece.
The aim of this article is to present Mantzaros’ developing relationship as dilettante composer to the emerging European nineteenth-century music and aesthetics, as featured through his existing works and writings. In his early works (1815–27) Mantzaros demonstrates a remarkable creative assimilation of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century operatic idioms, whereas his aristocratic social status allowed him an eclectic relationship with music in general. From the late 1820s, Mantzaros also began setting Greek poetry to music, in this way offering a viable solution to the demand for ‘national music’.
From the mid-1830s onwards, Mantzaros’ already existing interest in Romantic idealism was broadened, affecting his work and thoughts. He stopped composing opera-related works and demonstrated a dual attitude towards music. On the one hand he continued composing popular music for the needs of his social circle, but on the other he developed an esoteric creative relationship with music. The latter led him as early as the 1840s to denounce the ‘extremities of Romanticism’ and to seek the musical expression of the sublime through the creative use of ‘the noble art of counterpoint’. This way he attempted to propose a re-evaluation of nineteenth-century trends through an eclectic neoclassicism, without neglecting the importance of subjective inspiration and genius.

Η δισκογραφική καριέρα του Βασίλη Τσιτσάνη (1936-1983). Ανάλυση της μουσικής του μέσω των ηχογραφήσεων εμπορίου - Τέσσερα καίρια προβλήματα της έρευνας

by Nikos Ordoulidis

Greek Music Historiography Models

by Panos Vlagopoulos

This an English version -without notes and references- of the paper read at the Conference The Greek National Revolution: An European Event) which was organized by the History Department of the Ionian University at Corfu (3-5 May 2007, Ionian Academy). Published in: ed. P. Pizanias, The Greek Revolution of 1821: A European Event (Istanbul: Isis Press, 2011).

The very act that brought the Modern Greek state to life can be seen as being the origin of the distinction in Greek... more The very act that brought the Modern Greek state to life can be seen as being the origin of the distinction in Greek life between the two poles of ‘tradition’ and ‘progress’, the act itself being an act of progress (in other words, setting the scene for the distinction with one of its poles (‘progress’) already marked). Historical models -explicit or implicit; historiographical or personal- have been crucial, in defining the attitudes one should take towards Greek tradition and Western culture, on one hand, and in planning accordingly the future, on the other. Populism, a phenomenon extending to all aspects of culture and society -historically spanning from nineteenth-century russophile orthodoxy to leftist populism in the second half of the twentieth century- is largely responsible for the difficulty of the transformation of Greek society into a modern Western society, with the concrete characteristics, among others, of a variety of institutions and a clear distinction between folk/pop and individual art production. In that sense, the realization of the 1821-Revolution Project, the one that led to the birth of the Modern Greek state, remains unfinished.