Konstantinos Kardamis | Ionian University (original) (raw)

Papers by Konstantinos Kardamis

Περιέχει το πλήρες κείμενοΗ συγκεκριμένη εργασία παρουσιάζει μια προσπάθεια που ξεκίνησε στο Τμήμ... more Περιέχει το πλήρες κείμενοΗ συγκεκριμένη εργασία παρουσιάζει μια προσπάθεια που ξεκίνησε στο Τμήμα Μουσικών Σπουδών (ΤΜΣ) του Ιονίου Πανεπιστημίου (ΙΠ) από το 2010, στο πλαίσιο εκσυγχρονισμού της Βιβλιοθήκης του ΙΠ. Η δράση γίνεται σε συνεργασία με το ΤΜΣ και το Εργαστήριο Ελληνικής Μουσικής του ΤΜΣ, καθώς και με το Τμήμα Αρχειονομίας-Βιβλιοθηκονομίας (ΤΑΒ) του ΙΠ. Για την πραγματοποίησή της εργάζεται 4μελής επιστημονική ομάδα αποτελούμενη από 3 μέλη ΔΕΠ (2 από το ΤΜΣ, 1 από το ΤΑΒ) και έναν μουσικό βιβλιοθηκονόμο από το προσωπικό της Βιβλιοθήκης του ΙΠ. Στην παρούσα εργασία θα παρουσιαστούν τα στάδια, τα αντικείμενα και οι στόχοι της δράσης. Πιο αναλυτικά, η δράση έχει τα εξής αντικείμενα: Θεματική ανάλυση (έλεγχος-εμπλουτισμός-ανάπτυξη αρχείων καθιερωμένων όρων, θεμάτων και ονομάτων). Μετάφραση-απόδοση των καθιερωμένων όρων της Βιβλιοθήκης του Κονγκρέσου (Library of Congress) που σχετίζονται με τη μουσική γενικά και την ελληνική μουσική ειδικότερα. Τη διάκριση της ελληνικής μουσικ...

Nineteenth-Century Music Review, 2011

Πρακτικά του 10ου Διατμηματικού Μουσικολογικού Συνέδριο υπό την αιγίδα της Ελληνικής Μουσικολογικής Εταιρείας (Κέρκυρα, 26-28.10.2018) / Proceedings of the 10th Interdepartmental Musicological Conference under the auspices of the Hellenic Musicological Society (Corfu, 26-28.10.2018), 2019

The chapter investigates aspects of the ways music and musicians were involved in Corfu’s masonic... more The chapter investigates aspects of the ways music and musicians were involved in Corfu’s masonic lodges during the 19th century. After observing the absence of any professional musicians in the earliest active lodge during that period (“Beneficenza e Filogenia Riunite”), it underlines the presence of military musicians in the “columns of harmony” of the “Saint Napoleon” lodge (under Grand Orient of France, active between 1808 and 1814). The participation of Joseph Klosé, father of the Corfu born innovator of the clarinet Hyacinthe Eléonore Klosé, is particularly mentioned. Regarding the “Most Serene Grand Orient of Greece” (active between 1816 and 1857 as the development of “Beneficenza e Filogenia Riunite”) the membership, among others, of the violonist and conductor Marco Battagel and of the philosopher and politician Petros Vrailas Armenis is particularly observed. The latter is also the writer of a detailed essay on music in Greek (1856). The activities of the “Grand Orient of Greece” offer us also some information regarding the participation of (not initiated) bandsmen of the newly established Corfu Philharmonic Society during the Saint John feast. The “Pythagoras” n. 654 lodge (under UGLE, established in 1838) had also musicians among its members, the vast majority of them being military bandmasters of the British Army. Particular mention is given to Dionyssios Rodotheatos, who, apart from being an opera and symphonic music composer, was one of the few Greeks to be initiated (1874) in the aforementioned lodge (also serving as its organist). Among the military bandmasters and freemasons, the presence of Gaetano De Angelis and Niccoló Olivieri is particularly interesting, since they continued their studies in Corfu by the side of Nikolaos Mantzaros and offered their musical experience both in the opera theatre and to the emerging civic bands’ activity in Corfu and Cefalonia. Finally, the music and the musicians presence is also traced in the “Phoenix” lodge during the period under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of France (1843-1929). Some musicians that were members of this, still active, lodge include the composers Spiros Xindas, Spiros Samaras, Alexandros Grek, Gerasimos Rombotis and Spiros Doukakis, several bandmasters (both Greek and Italian) of the local civic bands, the military bandmaster and composer Andreas Seiler, and certain opera singers and musicians of Corfu’s theatre. The lodge’s minutes books offer also some glimpses into the actual musical practice during its meetings, i.e. the potential engagement of dilettant members to sing during certain ceremonies, the instrumental role of people such as Xindas in the activity’s coordination, the use of a portable organ during ceremonies and initiations and the participation of bandsmen of the Corfu Philharmonic Society in the lodge’s early solstice feasts. Finally, particular observations are dedicated to the opera The Parliamentary Candidate (1867), the first full-scale opera in Greek, since it can be described as “an opera of freemasons”, since not only its composer (Spiros Xindas) and its librettist (Ioannis Rinopoulos) were freemasons, but also most of its organizers and certain of its singers. Masonic ideas may also be traced in parts of its libretto.

Opera and the Greek World during the Nineteenth Century. Published by the Ionian University and the Corfu Philharmonic Society, 2019

This chapter attempts to offer some new approaches and information regarding the life and the wor... more This chapter attempts to offer some new approaches and information regarding the life and the work of Domenikos Padovas (1817-1892), which possibly underline an unexpected original contribution to the mid-19th century opera, as formulated within the era’s multileveled cultural environment.
In this respect the collaboration of Padovanis with the Italian patriot and man of letters, Severiano Fogacci (1803-1885) is of particular importance. Fogacci was self-exiled in Corfu between 1831 and 1846 and was, among others, the librettist of Padovas’s two known operas, namely the one-act “comica” Il ciarlatano preso per principe (Carnival 1840) and the “seria” Dirce (February 1857, but libretto written in 1835 and published in 1843). The initial publication of Dirce’s libretto includes an introductory text, which is virtually a concise manifesto of Fogacci’s views on the ideal musical setting of his work. Fogacci’s libretto is based on Vincenzo Monti’s 1786 five-act tragedy Aristodemo and possibly this choice is not coincidental, since the subject of the plot is related both to the notion of ancient Greece as symbol of pure classicism, and its reflection in European literature through authors like Monti. Moreover, Monti’s work both in its original form and in its translation in Greek was very popular within the theatrical activities of nineteenth-century Greece.
Padovas’s connection with Fogacci’s thought is made clear in the way that the composer responded musically in both of the above-mentioned operatic works. Despite Fogacci’s manifesto being omitted in Dirce’s 1857 libretto, Padovas clearly follows the aesthetic objectives that the writer proposed in 1843 and at the same time demonstrates a very good understanding of music and its use within an operatic setting.

Ionian Islands due to their geographical position and social history, became a privileged crossro... more Ionian Islands due to their geographical position and social history, became a privileged crossroad between the co-called “East” and “West”. Their long and almost constant Western administration, most of which under Venice, contributed to the facilitation of these cultural interactions, especially since Corfu was both the Islands’ administrative centre and their step into the Adriatic Sea. Ιt is becoming gradually apparent that the aforementioned factors created a receptive environment that eventually facilitated the amalgamation of these seemingly opposite “cultural realms”. Music was undeniably part of this “shared world” and, as a cultural manifestation that concerned all social classes, is particularly characterized by convergences and divergences that were closely related to the cultural migrations of the Adriatic Sea.
This chapter investigates the migratory patterns related to the Ionian Islands as a geographical place that received immigrants related to music in peaceful or in turbulent times and as the birthplace of musicians and creativity that migrated outside the western Greek archipelago. The importance of the opera troupes, the music teachers, the travelling virtuosos and other aspects of musical entrepreneurship is particularly stressed. The ways that this migratory dynamics formulated the basis of the Islands’ art music is also discussed. A short overview regarding the political exiles during 19th-century, the birth of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1916) and the practices of the Fascist occupation (1941-1943) is also approached through music and as manifestations of forced immigrations of people and ideas. The indigenous composers and their creations, as well as the music institutions, are also approached in the same manner, offering this way a dynamic idea on the ways that the movement of people and ideas interacted in Ionian Islands since 18th century.

A contract regarding the 1818-19 opera season of the San Giacomo Theatre of Corfu (General State ... more A contract regarding the 1818-19 opera season of the San Giacomo Theatre of Corfu (General State Archives of Corfu) offers the opportunity for an "insider's look" into the conditions and the people of the endeavour. This contract is of particular importance, since it marks a new start in the operatic activities of the theatre after a turbulent period culminating with the "falimento" of the impressario Giovanni Battista Negrini. The new impressario (a personal choice, as it seems, of the British Lord High Commissioner), the dancer Lorenzo Banti, made a successful reconciliation between realism and the wishes of the audience. The article includes an extensive commendary of the contract and in the appendix presents its original Italian text.

«‘They are my instruments the Council, the Police, the Lord High Commissioner and the Senate’: A ... more «‘They are my instruments the Council, the Police, the Lord High Commissioner and the Senate’: A ‘parliamentary candidate’ criticises the pre-Unification and post-Unification Corfu», paper presented in the 10th International Panionian Conference (Corfu, 30/4-4/5/2014)
The comic opera O ypopsifios [The Parliamentary Candidate] by Spyros Xyndas and Ioannis Rinopoulos was premiered in 1867 in Corfu and is acknowledged as the earliest full-scale opera in Greek. Nonetheless, under its seemingly comic plot its creators launch a severe social critic, which despite being temporally dispositioned during the British Administration's period (1814-1864, and more precisely in 1857), it remained a reality also during the post-unification years. This critic had two main directions, namely the tantalizing agrarian issue of Corfu and the politicians' immorality. The present essay underlines and comments on these issues based on the 1867 premiere's libretto.

"The music identities of the Ionian Islands; Remarks and revisions through recent research". Paper in the IX International Panionian Conference (Paxos, 26–30/5/2010), published in the Proceedings of the Conference (Paxos: Society for Paxian Studies, 2014), vol. 2, p. 231-261 (in Greek)

The music identities of the Ionian Islands; Remarks and revisions through recent research Music ... more The music identities of the Ionian Islands; Remarks and revisions through recent research
Music is considered as one of the Ionian Islands’ distinctive emblems. However, our knowledge has almost been exclusively confined to the secular music of the Ionian urban centres, which today is largely synonymous to the activities of the local wind bands. Ionian music has also been categorized as “italianated” and thus its autonomous character has been denied. This paper challenges these rather simplistic approaches and attempts to present the “musics” of the Ionian Islands, their diverse musical identities and their interaction, as these have been revisited through the outcomes of the recent research.
The Ionian “musics” have followed the developments of the “West” without denying those elements that characterized their distinctive identity. The diverse social classes of the Ionian urban centers have formulated different musical expressions, which at the same time interacted between the “learned” and the “popular”. The original musical production of the Septinsular composers only recently has begun to reveal itself and to testify to its importance regarding art music in Greece. The same applies to the Ionians’ contribution in the aesthetics of music already since late 18th century. Local traditional music has also been an aspect of these identities that has been largely neglected by the research, despite its unique characteristics, because these could not conform to the “canons” of the 19th-century Greek folkorism. Finally, the co-existence in the islands of a religious mosaic (Orthodox, Catholics, Anglicans and Jews) offered the occasion for important developments and several levels of interaction also in the sacred music of the Ionians.

The earliest known aria in Greek was heard in Corfu in January 1827, was composed by Nikolaos Hal... more The earliest known aria in Greek was heard in Corfu in January 1827, was composed by Nikolaos Halikiopoulos Mantzaros and -predictably enough- was entitled Aria Greca. It was performed by an Italian singer during her beneficial night and its characteristic was that in its score the Greek verses were written with letters of the Latin alphabet, in order to facilitate the soloist. Until recently it was believed that the aforementioned composition was a unicum and that the absence of professional Greek-speaking singers (especially those of the “fair sex”) was a factor that prevented the composition of vocal works of the operatic genre in Greek language. Nonetheless, the last few years research revealed several references to arias and other brief works of operatic character “in Greek idiom”, both original and translations of standard repertory works. Most of these compositions were once more performed during beneficial performances or charity galas. The paper will attempt to investigate the archival references and the works themselves (were available), will raise some questions regarding the practical use of such compositions from the Italian singers perspective, and will commend on the need for works related to the operatic genre in Greek in the Ionian theatres of the British Administration especially in a period, during which even the slightest reference to the Greek language was considered an emblem of national (self)determination.

Η όπερα του Διονυσίου Ροδοθεάτου Oitona παρουσιάστηκε στη μονόπρακτη εκδοχή της στην Κέρκυρα τον ... more Η όπερα του Διονυσίου Ροδοθεάτου Oitona παρουσιάστηκε στη μονόπρακτη εκδοχή της στην Κέρκυρα τον Ιανουάριο του 1876 ενθουσιάζοντας το κοινό. Η υπόθεσή της βασιζόταν στο ομότιτλο έργο που αποδίδεται στον «Όμηρο του Βορρά», τον εξίσου μυθικό ποιητή Ossian. Το όνομα του Κέλτη ποιητή είχε καταστεί εμβληματικό κατά τη λεγόμενη «προ-Ρομαντική» και «πρωτό-Ρομαντική» περίοδο, και στα επόμενα χρόνια έφτασε να θεωρείται, όπως αναφέρει ο Carl Dahlhaus, «ο προστάτης άγιος της ρομαντικής μουσικής». Ωστόσο, φτάνουν τα δεδομένα αυτά για να αιτιολογηθεί πλήρως η επιλογή του Ροδοθεάτου το 1876; To κείμενο επιχειρεί να προσεγγίσει τη χρήση της κελτικής μυθολογικής πλοκής στην Ελλάδα υπό το φως της διάδοσης των βαγκνερικών έργων στην Ιταλία του 1870, των μελοδραματικών συνηθειών της εποχής, του αιτήματος για δημιουργία «ελληνικού μελοδράματος», της τεκτονικής δραστηριότητας του συνθέτη και διαφόρων νέων στοιχείων που αφορούν στη ζωή του Ροδοθεάτου και στη μετέπειτα πορεία του μελοδράματός του.

Nikolaos Halikiopoulos Mantzaros (1795–1872) was a noble from Corfu and is better known today as ... 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.

This article examines the changes that were brought to music in Ionian Islands due to the coming... more This article examines the changes that were brought to music in Ionian Islands due to the coming of the Revolutionary French Army (1797-1799), which heralded the fall of the aristogratic regime. Based on recently retrieved archival sources, details regarding the revolutionary 'fetes' in the Ionian Islands are reconstructed and the use of music as a propagandistic medium is underlined. From this point of view, of particular importance is the use of greek verse adapted on french revolutionary melodies, as it is designated by the archival material. It is also pointed out that the experience and the melodic rememberance of this politically orientated use of music remained, directly or not, vivid in the Ionian Islands during 19th century through the original (and sometimes 'monumental') patriotic anthems that were created by Ionian composers, who in this way expressed the romantic nationalism or the social struggles of their compatriots. It is also pointed out that french revolutionary melodies in greek verse constituted a significant part of the greek military music of the 1821 revolution in mainland Greece.

Nineteenth-Century Music Review, 2011

Opera and the Greek World during the Nineteenth Century. Published by the Ionian University and the Corfu Philharmonic Society, 2019

Balzan Programme in Musicology 2013-2017 “Towards a Global History of Music” “Bridging Musical C... more Balzan Programme in Musicology 2013-2017 “Towards a Global History of Music”
“Bridging Musical Cultures? The Eastern Mediterranean and Westren Asian Regions in the History of Music”, Oxford, 4-5.XI.2016
“The passionate genre, which oriental music always comes to be looked on as a Greek characteristic”. Orientalism in the Ionian Islands’ music.
Ionian Islands even today are considered as the social and cultural border of Greece between East and West. Nonetheless, as for every borderline, beside such manichean convictions there is also a multiplicity of approaches. This presentation will attempt to discuss the changing attitudes towards orientalism in the music of Ionian Islands. The use of music styled as “oriental” will be particularly presented both in connection to the 19th century aspirations of the Ionians for unification with the newly established Greek Kingdom and as a medium for the professional establishment of Ionian composers and performers in Greece’s mainland urban centres. It will also be discussed in relation to herderian ideas in mid-19th century Greece and as a central episode towards the “quest for Greek music” in late 19th and early 20th-century, as well as a stereotypical certainty for the shake of the postwar touristic industry.

In January 1876 Corfu’s newspapers made explicit references, not only to the performances in the ... more In January 1876 Corfu’s newspapers made explicit references, not only to the performances in the town’s Municipal Theatre of operas belonging to the standard Italian repertory (ranging from Verdi’s Macbeth and Rigoletto to Donizetti’s Lucia di Lamermoor and the Ricci brothers’ Crispino e la comare), but also to a new and original one-act opera by a local composer. Its title was Oitona, its composer was Dionisios Rodotheatos and its plot was based on the ossianic sagas.
Rodotheatos’s opera is the earliest recorded use of a Scottish subject by a Greek composer and raises some important questions regarding the creative use and reception of a plot of “Celtic origin”. The presentation of Macbeth and Lucia in 1876 in Corfu seems to have created a proper background related to operatic “Scottishness” as perceived in 19th-century Italy. However, this does not seem to be the only cause that led Rodotheatos to set to music an ossianic subject. In 1876 the 27-years-old Rodotheatos was already acknowledged as the most prominent champion of Wagnerism in Greece. The bardic qualities of Oitona seem to constitute one more link in a series of Rodotheatos’s compositions that aimed to introduce “Germanic music” in 19th-century Greece. After all, ossianic poetry and J. Macpherson’s involvement was extremely important for “German Romanticism”, whereas since 18th century the ossianic connotations were also known in Italy, where Rodotheatos studied during early 1870s. Moreover, the importance of the introduction of “Nordic fogginess” in 19th-century Greek opera through a Scottish subject will be discussed both in view of the Greek political and social endeavours of that time and in relation to the British Administration of Corfu, which ended in 1864. If not anything else, Oitona was not described by the press as a “foreign opera” because of its setting in Scottish Highlands, but exclusively because of its Italian libretto.

Based on archival material, such as dowry contracts, laws, accounts from travelers, polemic artic... more Based on archival material, such as dowry contracts, laws, accounts from travelers, polemic articles in newspapers and scores, the paper attempts to shed some light into the importance of the piano in the everyday life of the Ionian "daughters, mothers and wives".
The paper discusses especially the place of the pianoforte in the bourgeois and noble houses of the Ionian Islands, its repertory, its instruction in the girl boarding schools of Corfu, Zante and Cefalonia, as well as the almost exclusive attribution of its playing to the female members of the family.
Particular reference is being made to the musical archives of Amalia Braila and the Boulgari family, as well as to some Ionian women composers, such as Franesca Coraggio, Susanna Nerantzi (or Narantzi), Anna and Maria Gironci-Dixon and Parthenope Barker. All these 'victorian maids' constitute examples of some exceptional talent that could not resist the pressure of the era's social prerequisites.

The impact of Enlightenment regarding music in Ionian Islands is usually associated with the brie... more The impact of Enlightenment regarding music in Ionian Islands is usually associated with the brief treatise on music, which was written in Russia in 1772 by Eugenios Voulgaris. Ancient world, orthodoxy and the emerging aesthetics of music are clearly illustrated and predispose for their future dynamic discussion. Nonetheless, 18th century music and its trends were also evident in the Ionian Islands themselves. Opera was performed in Corfu already since 1733 and the melodramas presented there in late 18th century both fullfilled the triptych of the didactic, pastoral and neo-classical subtexts that characterized the period and familiarized the audience with the metastasian conventions. The preference to comic opera is one more indication that the aesthetics and the social messages of the 18th-century melodrama have also reached the shores of the Heptanese. The coming of the Republican French in 1797 not only retained the didactic character of the opera and the conviction of theatre's positive effect on the virtue of the people, but also abolished the ancient regime and brought forward the ideal of citizenship. This was also expressed through the 'musics' of the Revolution that echoed around the Islands even after the departure of the French. The relation with the 'ancient and glorious past' was also a characteristic of the period; Francesco Zulatti from Cefalonia in his 1787 treatise on the power of music makes explicit reference to the Ancient world and relates it to his contemporary music and medicine. Nonetheless, the first operatic work by a Greek composer, Mantzaros's 'Don Crepuscolo' (1815), is a satyre against the mania for the classical antiquity that dominated the 18th century, whereas in his cantata 'Ulisse agli Elisi' (1820) the connection of Corfu with the legendary islands of Phaeaceans was obvious. However, Mantzaros, as well as other composers of the Ionian Islands, turned towards the spoken language and musical simplicity in order to express the national demands of their compatriots. This decision brought them in the common ground between the ideas of Enlightenment and those of the emerging 19th century. This paper will attempt to make an overview of the relation of Enlightenment with music as it was expressed in the Ionian Islands and discuss the ways that these factors contibuted to the formulation of the cultural and national identities of the Ionians during a most turbulent period.

The rediscovery and reinterpretation of Antiquity (particularly that of Greece and Rome) were mai... more The rediscovery and reinterpretation of Antiquity (particularly that of Greece and Rome) were main poles of the European Renaissance and Enlightenment, and the resulting convictions led to the projection of the “Classical Antiquity” as “global cultural inheritance”. Meanwhile, the same convictions, either forged or real, formulated in the West certain stereotypes regarding the Greek regions, which reflected ideas that were connected to idealized mirages of ancient philosophy, literature, historiography and art. These reflections, torn between exoticism and the archeological vogue, played crucial role on the perception of “Greekness” by the “West”. At the same time, 18th-century Greeks adopted these, often distorted and idealized, views in order to self-determine the characteristics of their emerging national identity and as a way to acquire a place beside the “Enlightened European States”.
19th-century Ionian Islands were not left unaffected by this double (“western” and “indigenous-through-West”) observation of “Greekness”. The historical and social conditions in the region further facilitated the direct interaction between these two approaches. In regard to music, beside the numerous “cosmopolitan” or “patriotic” compositions of the time, there are certain works that “evoke the glory of Classical Antiquity”, or, even, use ancient Greek in their versification. Some of these compositions also reflect certain presuppositions of the “West” towards Classical Antiquity. This paper attempts to give an overview of the Ionians’ creative involvement with their, invented or not, past beginning with Eugenios Voulgaris’s treatise On music (1772) and the satirical ideas criticizing the archaeological vogue in Nikolaos Mantzaros’s Don Crepuscolo (1815), and reaching the symbolistic use of Antiquity in Spiros Samaras’s Rhea (1908). Then, it will discuss whether this creative output constituted an attempt to re-establish contact with the achievements of the Classical past as integral part of the region’s cultural identity or a safe and tested way to “legitimize” in front of the European nations the place of the emerging Greek Kingdom as birthplace of a common European cultural matrix.

This lecture examines the activities of Dimitri Mitropoulos as composer, performer and conductor ... more This lecture examines the activities of Dimitri Mitropoulos as composer, performer and conductor in Athens between 1924 and 1937 and demonstrates the ways that he contributed to the early development of 'new music' in Greece.

This paper will attempt to shed some new light in the so-called 'dark period' of the San Giacomo ... more This paper will attempt to shed some new light in the so-called 'dark period' of the San Giacomo theatre, namely that of 1799 to 1823. Until recently the evidence regarding the melodramatic life of this transitory era were extremely scarce. Nonetheless, several recently spotted archival sources clearly demonstrate a most vivid operatic and musical life, which -among other things- contributed to the emergence of local composers, performers and musical works in the years that followed.

The lectures consist of two subject areas: a) 'The music relations between German speaking coun... more The lectures consist of two subject areas:
a) 'The music relations between German speaking countries and Greek art music'. The development of art music in Greece is usually attributed to its connection with Italy. Nonetheless, recent research has proved that the (direct or not) relation with the music and aesthetics of German speaking countries played also a significant role. An overview of these relations is presented, beginning with Fragkiskos Leondaritis (1518-1572) and his career in Munich and extenting as late as 1960s and the German contribution for the cultivation of contemporary music in Greece.
b) 'The development of opera in Greece'. An overview of the significance of opera in Greece from mid-18th century until late-1930s is presented. Both the social issues and the original operatic creations and reflections by Greek composers are given special consideration.

Programme Notes "Myriella", 2019

Προγραμματικές σημειώσεις (άνευ περικοπών) για την αναβίωση της οπερέτας του Αλέξανδρου Γκρεκ "Μυ... more Προγραμματικές σημειώσεις (άνευ περικοπών) για την αναβίωση της οπερέτας του Αλέξανδρου Γκρεκ "Μυριέλλα" (Αλεξάνδρεια, 1932). Κέρκυρα, 6, 7 και 8 Δεκεμβρίου 2019. Παραγωγή: Φιλαρμονική Εταιρεία Κερκύρας.
Programme notes (non-pruned version) for the revival of Alexandros Grek's operetta "Myriella" (Alexandria, 1932). Corfu, 6, 7 kai 8 December 2019. Produced by the Vorfu Philharmonic Society.

2017 marks for opera in Greece four anniversaries: the centenary since the passing of Spiros Sama... more 2017 marks for opera in Greece four anniversaries: the centenary since the passing of Spiros Samaras (1861-1917), the bicentenary since the birth of two important Greek opera composers, Spiridon Xyndas (1817-1896) and Domenikos Padovas (1817-1892), as well as the 150 years since the premiere of the opera O ypopsifios [The Parliamentary Candidate] (1867, music by Xyndas and libretto by Ioannis Rinopoulos), which was both the first full-scale opera in Greek and the pivotal point for the emergence of opera in Greek language.
The Hellenic Music Research Lab of the Music Department of the Ionian University and Corfu Philharmonic Society on the occasion of the aforementioned anniversaries organize the international conference entitled Opera and the Greek World during Nineteenth Century, which is going to take place in Corfu, Greece, on 17, 18 and 19 November 2017.
Corfu, the seat of the Ionian University, was the birthplace of the three aforementioned composers. The San Giacomo theatre of Corfu, the earliest theatrical stage of the region, hosted opera performances already since 1733, contributing decisively to the dissemination of opera within the Greek world during 19th century. Moreover, Xyndas, Padovas and Samaras presented in the same theatre their operas. Xyndas in 1840 was also one of the initial founders and professors of the Corfu Philharmonic Society and he dedicated to it certain of his operas. Padovas also taught harmony and music theory in the Philharmonic, in 1857 he dedicated to it his opera Dirce and since 1884 he was appointed the Society’s artistic director. Samaras, a student of Xyndas during his early music training, had multiple connections with the Philharmonic Society and had been its honorary artistic director since 1889.
Given the above, the conference will not be confined solely to the lives and the works of the aforementioned composers, but it will focus on matters regarding the place, the reception, the importance and the formative factors of the operatic activity within the Greek world during the “long nineteenth century”. With these in mind, some indicative themes of the conference are proposed to be;

· Spiros Samaras: life and work
· Spiridon Xindas: life and work
· Domenikos Padovas: life and work
· The activities of the Italian opera troupes in the Greek areas (singers, musicians, impresarios, repertory etc)
· The activities of the French opera troupes in the Greek areas
· The activities of the Greek opera troupes
· Opera in the Greek communities of Diaspora (Trieste, Odessa, Alexandria, Smyrna, Constantinople etc)
· Opera in the Greek urban centres
· Institutions of operatic activity
· The reception of opera in the Greek world
· Subjects related to Greece in the 19th-century opera

The official languages of the opera are Greek, Italian and English.
Scholars and researchers interested to participate in the conference are asked to submit their abstracts (250 words) and short biographical notes (100 words) for papers of no more than 20 minutes. Themed sessions of 60 minutes can also be proposed (Abstract of 450 words and Bios of 100 words).
There are no fees for the participation or the attendance of the conference.
The final date for the proposals’ submission is 31 December 2016.
The abstracts and the biographical notes should be sent until the above date in the following email: operaconfcorfu2017@gmail.com
The conference’s official website is:
http://users.ionio.gr/~GreekMus/operaconf2017/
The conference’s programme will be finalized by 1 March 2017.

Programme Committee
Prof. Haris Xanthoudakis
Prof. Anastasia Siopsi
A. Prof. Panos Vlagopoulos
A. Professor Avra Xapapadakou

Organizing Committee
Spiridon Padovas
Kostas Kardamis
Kostas Sambanis
Stella Kourbana
Alexandros Charkiolakis
Gerasimos Martinis

In this session we will take a long tour in time and space in order to explore the various facets... more In this session we will take a long tour in time and space in order to explore the various facets of the Greek musical identity. Our aim will be to investigate the role of Greece in cultural transfers from the West to the East during the Ottoman occupation (15th-19th - or early 20th c. for certain areas). Greece acted as a natural bridge but also as a cultural cross-point where Occidentalism and Orientalism merged.
The papers included in the session will focus on the reception of Western cultural phenomena (particularly the performing arts) in the Balkan Peninsula and the Near East, the general tendency of the Eastern Mediterranean area towards urbanization and westernization, the establishment of urban cultural life in Greek-speaking centers and the expansion of western musical and theatrical habits.

by IRO CATSIOTI (ΗΡΩ ΚΑΤΣΙΩΤΗ), Mitsou Aria Elissavet, Michael Paschalis, Lambros Varelas, Vasiliki Patsiou, Άννα Σταυρακοπούλου, Michael Konaris, Ioannis Kyriakantonakis, Panagiotis Antonopoulos, Ourania Polycandrioti, Vasileios Pappas, Alexia Altouva, Nikos Mavrelos, Michalis Georgiou, Stessi Athini, Thanassis Agathos, Αλέξανδρος Κατσιγιάννης, Konstantinos Kardamis, Aristea Komninelli, Areti Vasiliou, and Θάλεια Ιερωνυμάκη / Thalia Ieronymaki

Αθήνα, ΕΙΕ, 14-17 Μαΐου 2015. Πρόγραμμα εργασιών

Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2022

Nikolaos Mantzaros (1795-1872) was the pre-eminent composer in the evolution of music according t... more Nikolaos Mantzaros (1795-1872) was the pre-eminent composer in the evolution of music according to the Western canon in modern Greece. This book is the first comprehensive study of his life and work to appear in English. It highlights the social and cultural context of Corfu (Mantzaros’ birthplace), its transition from the Venetian administration to a European cultural realm in constant movement, its experience under the British Protectorate (1815-1864), and its annexation to the state of Greece. Mantzaros’ central role as an educator and composer, his contribution to the musical use of Greek poetry and his development as a composer with strong initial affiliation to Italian musical thought are described in meticulous detail, while his reputation as the composer of Greece’s national anthem is contrasted with his more esoteric work as a theorist, philosopher and pedagogue and his influence on future generations of Greek composers. At the same time, a comprehensive overview is offered regarding a society, whose significant part after 1850s decisively distanced itself from the common cultural area between Adriatic and Ionian Seas and the Italian peninsula, in order to follow the new ideological routes that came from the newly established Greek state and its quest for social and historical unity.
See also:
https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-8279-8

The Athens Conservatoire's 'History of Music in Modern Greece' is a 3 volume edition, which attem... more The Athens Conservatoire's 'History of Music in Modern Greece' is a 3 volume edition, which attempts to make an overall presentation of the continuous tradition of Music Creation and Activity in Modern Greece, dating from 1453 until today. The edition contains the work of 12 scholars, includes 6 cds and is supported by KIKPE and Protovoulia 1821-2021. Volume 1 (1453-1864) is now available

Corfu Philharmonic Society / Ionian University-Music Department-Hellenic Music Research Lab, 2021

This volume presents the essays of the conference "Neohellenic Music. Issues of History and Hist... more This volume presents the essays of the conference "Neohellenic Music. Issues of History and Historiography" (organized by the Corfu Philharmonic Society and the Hellenic Music Research Lab of the Ionian University's Music Department). The conference pays a tribute to the pioneer Greek musicologist and musician of the Corfu P.S. Spiros Motsenigos (1911-1970) on the occasion of the 50 years since his passing away. Initially planned to take place in March 2020 the conference was cancelled due to the Covid19 pandemic. Nonetheless, its papers were gathered in this collective volume, which offers important and original contributions towards the understanding of art music in Modern Greece, ranging from the 16th to the 21st cent. Abstracts in English and an Index of names can be found in the uploaded pdf file.

The "History of Music in Modern Greece" by the Research and Documentation Centre of the Athens Co... more The "History of Music in Modern Greece" by the Research and Documentation Centre of the Athens Conservatory (KETOA) will be a landmark publication, aiming to fill a research gap: the overall presentation of the continuous tradition of modern Greek music life and production from the Fall of Constantinople until today. Utilizing the latest musicological research and the great wealth of archival sources, 3 illustrated volumes and 6 cds will illuminate unknown aspects of Greece’s music history. The publication, supervised by Haris Xanthoudakis, Panos Vlagopoulos, Kostas Kardamis and Stella Kourmpana, that will take place thanks to the kind support of KIKPE and the "Initiative for '21", as a tribute to the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution. Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/3w9srpz6

by Music Museum Corfu Philharmonic Society Μουσείο Μουσικής Φιλαρμονικής Εταιρείας Κερκύρας, Konstantinos Kardamis, OLGA PACHI, Anthi Kyrtsoglou, ΓΕΡΑΣΙΜΟΣ ΜΑΡΤΙΝΗΣ, Σπυρίδων Σκλαβενίτης, μυρτω φατουρου, George Monemvasitis, Renata Dalianoudi/ Ρενάτα Δαλιανούδη, Anna Chatziathanasiou, Maria Kapkidi, and Kostis Hassiotis

H μπάντα πνευστών στην Ελλάδα Ιστορία και Προοπτικές. Πρακτικά Συνεδρίου, 2020

<Summaries in English are included in the attached .pdf document> To έτος 2019 συνέπεσε με την ... more <Summaries in English are included in the attached .pdf document>

To έτος 2019 συνέπεσε με την επέτειο των 200 ετών από τη γέννηση του Ιωσήφ Λιμπεράλη (1819-1899), συνθέτη και αρχιμουσικού της μπάντας της Φιλαρμονικής Εταιρείας Κερκύρας (1842-1851). Επίσης, συνέπεσε και με τα 175 έτη από την έναρξη συμμετοχής μουσικών πνευστών της Φιλαρμονικής στην ορχήστρα του μελοδραματικού θεάτρου της Κέρκυρας, δραστηριότητα που ολοένα κλιμακούμενη υπό την εποπτεία του ιδρύματος διατηρήθηκε για έναν περίπου αιώνα.
Το Εργαστήριο Ελληνικής Μουσικής του Τμήματος Μουσικών Σπουδών του Ιονίου Πανεπιστημίου και η Φιλαρμονική Εταιρεία Κερκύρας με αφορμή τις παραπάνω επετείους συνδιοργάνωσαν το επιστημονικό συνέδριο με τίτλο Η μπάντα πνευστών στην Ελλάδα. Ιστορία και Προοπτικές (Κέρκυρα, 5-7 Απριλίου 2019). Η Φιλαρμονική Εταιρεία Κερκύρας (ΦΕΚ) συμπεριέλαβε εξ αρχής και αδιάκοπα στις πολυεπίπεδες δραστηριότητές της και τη λειτουργία μπάντας, η οποία δραστηροποιείτο πλήρως από το καλοκαίρι του 1841.
Με αυτό τον τρόπο, η μπάντα της ΦΕΚ έδρασε παραδειγματικά στη διάδοση του συγκεκριμένου μουσικού συνόλου, όχι μόνο στην Κέρκυρα, αλλά και σε άλλες πόλεις της Επτανήσου και της Ελλάδος, μέσω τόσο των επιδόσεών και της οργάνωσής της, όσο και της δραστηριότητας των προβεβλημένων μουσικών της. Επιπλέον, ήδη από το 1841, το ίδιο σύνολο με τις συνδρομητικές ή τις δημόσιες συναυλίες και εμφανίσεις του καθόρισε, με τον δικό του τρόπο, το πρότυπο της ευρύτερης διάδοσης της έντεχνης μουσικής στην ελληνική κοινωνία. Τέλος, έγινε φυτώριο μουσικών που ακολούθησαν επαγγελματική καριέρα στα μελοδραματικά θέατρα της Επτανήσου και της Ελλάδος, καθώς και σε διάφορα ορχηστρικά, μπαντιστικά και στρατιωτικά μουσικά σύνολα.
Με τα δεδομένα αυτά οι θεματικές του συνεδρίου δεν περιορίστηκαν σε ζητήματα που αφορούσαν αποκλειστικά τη δράση της μπάντας της ΦΕΚ. Αντιθέτως, οι δύο προαναφερθείσες επέτειοι αποτέλεσαν εφαλτήριο ευρύτερου και γόνιμου προβληματισμού σχετικά με την ιστορία, τη σύγχρονη θέση και τις μελλοντικές προοπτικές της μπάντας στον ελληνικό χώρο.
Ο παρών τόμος, ο οποίος περιλαμβάνει την πλειονότητα των πονημάτων που παρουσιάστηκαν στο συνέδριο, χαρακτηρίζεται από αυτές τις διευρυμένες θεματικές και την πεποίθηση, ότι η γνώση του παρελθόντος πρέπει να συνδυάζεται δυναμικά με τις προοπτικές του μέλλοντος. Άλλωστε, το πρώτο αποτελεί τη βάση, πάνω στην οποία μπορεί δομημένα να εκκινήσει η ουσιαστική διαμόρφωση των δράσεων του συγκεκριμένου μουσικού συνόλου στην Ελλάδα του 21ου αιώνα. Παράλληλα καταδεικνύεται, ότι, καίτοι η μπάντα αποτελεί το παλαιότερο και με συνεχή παρουσία στα μουσικά πράγματα της Ελλάδας μουσικό σύνολο, το ερευνητικό πεδίο συνεχίζει να είναι όχι μόνον συχνά παρεξηγημένο, αλλά και γοητευτικά άγνωστο.

Επετειακή Έκδοση της όπερας "Ο Υποψήφιος Βουλευτής" του Σπυρίδωνος Ξύνδα (150 χρόνια από την πρεμιέρα της, 1867-2017). The opera "The Parliamentary Candidate" by Spiridon Xindas: a publication honouring the 150 years since its premiere (1867-2017), 2017

The comic opera "The Parliamentary Candidate" is the earliest opera using libretto in Greek, as w... more The comic opera "The Parliamentary Candidate" is the earliest opera using libretto in Greek, as well as extensive material of rural music, both from Ionian Islands and the mainland. It was premiered in Corfu in 1867 and does not glorify the ancient or the recent historical past, but on the contrary offers a realistic view of its current social and political situation. Due to its political critic against the corrupted politicians and their supporters after 1888 the structure of the opera has changed considerably. This fact contributed to the total misunderstanding of its aims and ideas until today. The Corfu Philharmonic Society, honouring the 150 years since its premiere and the 200 years since the birth of its composer , published for the first time the original 1867 vocal score in a bilingual (Greek and English) volume. More information and subscriptions in:
http://www.fek.gr/the-news/anakoinos/65-nea/850-epeteioi-2017?lang=el

Opera and the Greek World during the Nineteenth Century (ebook) FULL ACCESS, 2019

Published by Ionian University-Music Department-Hellenic Music Research Lab and Corfu Philharmoni... more Published by Ionian University-Music Department-Hellenic Music Research Lab and Corfu Philharmonic Society (ISBN 978-960-7260-63-5).
2017 marked for opera in Greece four anniversaries: the centenary since the passing of Spiros Samaras (1861-1917), the bicentenary since the birth of two important Greek opera composers, Spiridon Xyndas (1817-1896) and Domenikos Padovàs (1817-1892), as well as the 150 years since the premiere of the opera O ypopsifios [The Parliamentary Candidate] (1867, music by Xyndas and libretto by Ioannis Rinopoulos), which was both the first full-scale opera in Greek and the pivotal point for the emergence of opera in Greek language. Actually, this opera was revived by the Corfu Philharmonic Society in November 2017 in its original version honouring thus both the birth of its composer and the anniversary of its premiere.
The Hellenic Music Research Lab of the Music Department of the Ionian University and Corfu Philharmonic Society on the occasion of the aforementioned anniversaries organized the international conference entitled Opera and the Greek World during Nineteenth Century, which took place in Corfu, Greece, on 17, 18 and 19 November 2017.
Corfu, the seat of the Ionian University, was the birthplace of the three aforementioned composers. The San Giacomo theatre of Corfu, the earliest theatrical stage of the region, hosted opera performances already since 1733, contributing decisively to the dissemination of opera within the Greek world during 19th century. Moreover, Xyndas, Padovàs and Samaras presented in the same theatre their operas. Xyndas in 1840 was also one of the initial founders and professors of the Corfu Philharmonic Society and he dedicated to it certain of his operas. Padovàs also taught harmony and music theory in the Philharmonic, in 1857 he dedicated to it his opera Dirce and since 1884 he was appointed the Society’s artistic director. Samaras, a student of Xyndas during his early music training, had multiple connections with the Philharmonic Society and had been its honorary artistic director since 1889.
Given the above, the conference was not confined solely to the lives and the works of the aforementioned composers, but focused on matters regarding the place, the reception, the importance and the formative factors of the operatic activity within the Greek world during the “long nineteenth century”. This volume includes sixteen selected contributions covering areas such diverse as opera in the Ionian Islands, Athens and the Greek diaspora, analytical approaches and matters of reception both in Greece and abroad, and offers to the readers a wealth of information regarding opera activity in such places as Ermoupolis (Syros) and Smyrna, as well as aspects of the operatic “micro-history” of the Greek world.
Most of the texts of this volume are in English, but for those that are in Greek, extended abstracts can be found in the “Summaries” section.

The Athens Conservatoire's 'History of Music in Modern Greece' is a 3 volume edition, which attem... more The Athens Conservatoire's 'History of Music in Modern Greece' is a 3 volume edition, which attempts to make an overall presentation of the continuous tradition of Music Creation and Activity in Modern Greece, dating from 1453 until today. The edition, that contains the work of 12 scholars, includes 6 cds and is supported by KIKPE and Protovoulia 1821-2021, will be presented on 26 February 2022, 19.00 at the Athens Conservatoire.