Charilaos Perpessas

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Charilaos Perpessas ( Greek Χαριλάος Περπέσσας or Περπέσας , also Harilaos or Perpessa ; * May 10, 1907 in Leipzig ; † October 19, 1995 in Sharon , Massachusetts , USA ) was a Greek composer of classical music . Despite his minimal surviving estate, he is one of the most important Greek symphonic composers of early New Music, alongside Nikos Skalkottas and Dimitri Mitropoulos, in contrast to the conservative Greek National School , which determined music creation in Greece until after the Second World War .

Life

Perpessas was born in Leipzig as the son of the fur trader Konstantinos Perpessas (1869-1949) and his wife Agnis Moustafa (1880-1945), both of whom came from Siatista . Here he attended the König-Albert-Gymnasium from Easter 1917 . He developed the basics of the composition as an autodidact. He studied political science in Berlin from 1926 to 1931 and for a short time (1926 to 1927) took part in Arnold Schönberg's master class there , whose twelve-tone technique he - unlike his fellow student and friend Skalkottas - never appropriated himself.

After the National Socialists came to power, Perpessas first went to Athens, where in 1934 and 1935 some orchestral and concert compositions were performed by him at the local conservatory, the Athens Odion , among others under Dimitri Mitropoulos. Here he also met his wife, the singer and musicologist Eleni Malafeka-Perpessa (Ελένη Μαλαφέκα-Περπέσσα). He also worked as a pianist. During the Battle of Athens in 1944, he was injured on the left hand while trying to escape after being arrested for violating a ban on going out by a British soldier, which made it impossible for him to play the piano.

In 1948 Perpessas moved to the United States, where he stayed in various cities, including New York City , Los Angeles , Philadelphia and Cambridge . In the USA he lived on grants and artist pensions without appearing in the public eye to any great extent. Correspondence between Perpessas in the late 1940s and the meanwhile in California resident Schönberg, which Perpessas asked for a letter of recommendation, is evidence of Schönberg's memory of a talented student who composed in Stravinsky's style .

Dimitri Mitropoulos played Perpessas' 1936–37, 1948–50 revised Second Symphony with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra , entitled Christ, which was inspired by Wagner's book Religion and Art . In response to public inquiries, the work was repeated a month later and performed six years later by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra , and a concert by the New York Philharmonic under Mitropoulos includes a prelude and fugue for orchestra. In addition, Perpessas dealt with the music of Bach and Beethoven : He orchestrated Bach's Art of Fugue and Beethoven's String Quartet op. 127 and composed “Symphonic Variations” on Beethoven's Eighth .

Throughout his life, Perpessas remained attached to tonality as the basis of his music. Influences on his work can be seen in the compositions of Wagner, Strauss , Mahler , Debussy and Ravel . Perpessas himself destroyed many of the earlier works from his time in Athens, but also from the period after 1955 - a considerable part of his work is thus lost.

Selection of preserved works

  • Dithyrambos of Dionysus (Greek Dithyrambos tou Dionysou Διθύραμβος του Διονύσου) for piano and orchestra, 1934
  • Symphony No. 1 (1934)
  • Ecce homo (Greek Ide o anthropos Ίδε ο άνθρωπος) for orchestra (1935)
  • Prelude and Fugue in C major for orchestra (1935)
  • Symphony No. 2 (1936–37, revision as Christ 1948–50)
  • Symphonic variations on Beethoven's 8th Symphony (Greek Symfonikes parallages stin 8i Symfonia tou Betoven Συμφωνικές παραλλαγές στην 8η Συμφωνία του Μπετόβεν)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Directory of teachers and students 1921–22 . König-Albert-Gymnasium Leipzig, Leipzig 1922, p. 10
personal data
SURNAME Perpessas, Charilaos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Perpessa, Harilaos; Περπέσσας, Χαριλάος; Περπέσας, Χαριλάος
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek composer
DATE OF BIRTH May 10, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH October 19, 1995
Place of death Sharon , Massachusetts, USA