Manolis Kalomiris

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Category: Music

Published on Friday, 14 June 2019 14:43

Do you like classical music? Then I bet you will enjoy the compositions of the artist I would like to present you today: Manolis Kalomiris, one of the most famous classical composers in Greece.

Kalomiris was born on the 14^th December 1883 in Smyrna, and started his musical education in Athens and Constantinople, where he attended school. Later on, he moved to Vienna, a hotspot for classical music. There, he studied piano and composition from 1901 to 1906. Afterwards, he spent four years in the city Kharkov, being a piano teacher until 1910. After those experiences abroad, Manolis Kalomiris returned to Greece and settled down in Athens where he died on 3^rd of April 1962.

Kalomiris is one of the most famous and important Greek composers, as he founded the Greek National School of Music as well as the Hellenic Conservatory and the National Conservatoire. Additionally, he is also cofounder of the Union of Greek Composers and served as director of the National Opera. Manolis Kalomiris was also the first musician to be elected member of the AthensAcademy, the Greek national academy and highest research establishment in the country.

His life goal was to establish a Greek national school of music, modeled on the ideas of National Russian composers, western musical achievements and modern Greek folk music, poetry and myth. During his lifetime he composed three symphonies, five operas and hundreds of songs.

His work was influenced by Richard Wagner, a German composer well known for his operas, Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov, a Russian master of orchestra, Kostis Palamas, the Greek poet who wrote the Olympic hymn and Nikos Kazantzakis, a Greek writer.

Even though Kalomiris dedicated his whole life to music, his compositions remained relatively unknown. His two most popular works are his Symphony Nr. 1 ‘Leventia’ and his opera ‘The Mother’s Ring’.

I invite you to listen to a live performance from the Kharkiv Philharmonic of Ukraine, playing the 3^rd movement of the Symphony Nr. 1 during a tribute concert to Greek music and the music of Manolis Kalomiris.