The Greek symphony (1900‐1950): oscillating between Greek nationalism and Western art‐music tradition

Abstract or Summary:

The reformation of Athens Conservatory in 1891, followed by significant aesthetic and cultural changes as regards the indigenous perception of western‐European music, and the formation of the first orchestral ensembles contributed to an inceptive promotion of symphonic music in Greece between 1890‐1910. However, it was due to the continuous efforts of Dimitri Mitropoulos, mainly between 1924 and 1939, to establish a steady full orchestral ensemble and expand the repertory of performed works that brought the Athenian audience closer to the Western‐European symphonic repertory. Important Greek symphonic works had already emerged after the second half of the 19th century (i.e. by Dionysios Rodotheatos and Demetrios Lialios), while the preceding sinfonias by Mantzaros, Padovanis, Metaxas and other Ionian composers were more related to the pattern of the Italian overture. The Greek symphony, originating from 1920 onwards, combined romantic aesthetics and ideals (mainly of Austrian–German orientation), (neo)classical structural features and indigenous characteristics of musical folklorism, national identity and tradition (initially modelled after 19th-century European national schools). Manolis Kalomiris and Petros Petridis comprised prime symphonists, followed by an important number of composers more or less attached to the ideals of the Greek National School. While examining the existing repertory of Greek symphonies during the first half of the 20th century, both historically and analytically, this paper also aims to correlate landmark works and composers to important social, political and even military events in Greece, up until World War II. The invasion of modernism after 1950 in Greek art music and its repercussions on the production of post‐war Greek symphonies will also be commented upon.