Jani Christou

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Jani Christou ( Greek Γιάννης Χρήστου ; born January 8, 1926 in Heliopolis , † January 8, 1970 in Athens ) was an important Greek composer .

Christou was born in Heliopolis, Egypt to Greek parents. As a child he attended the English School in Alexandria and took piano lessons from the great Greek pianist Gina Bachauer . He later studied philosophy at the University of Cambridge with Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell . In 1948 he graduated from Cambridge. While studying philosophy, he also studied music with Hans Ferdinand Redlich and Roberto Gerhard . In 1949 Christou traveled to Rome to study orchestration with Angelo Francesco Lavagnino . For a while he also took lessons from Carl Gustav Jung in Zurich. In 1951 he returned to Alexandria. In 1961 he married Theresia Horemi. Christou died on his 44th birthday in a traffic accident in Athens.

Christou's work is divided into three main phases. The first phase falls between 1948 and 1958. Christou himself described this phase as atonal. During his second artistic phase, Christou developed compositions that he called meta-surrealism and that are characterized by polyphony and rhythmic dynamics. In his third compositional phase from 1964 until his death in 1970 he increasingly emphasized the improvisational element.

Major works

  • Phoenix Music (for orchestra) - 1949
  • First symphony - 1949/50
  • Missa Latina - 1953
  • Six TS Eliot Songs (for piano, orchestra and mezzo-soprano) - 1955 (piano) / 1957 (orchestra)
  • Symphony No. 2 - 1957/58
  • Toccata for piano and orchestra - 1962
  • Tongues of Fire - 1964
  • Persai (music for Aeschylus' drama) - 1965
  • Agamemnon - 1965
  • Persians - 1965
  • Mysterion - 1965/66
  • Enantiodromia - 1965/68
  • The frogs - 1966
  • Mysterion (for orchestra, choir and soloists) - 1966
  • Praxis for 12 (for 11 string instruments and 1 piano) - 1966
  • Anaparastasis II - 1967
  • Anaparastasis I - 1968
  • Anaparastasis III - 1968
  • Anaparastasis IV - 1968
  • Oedipus Rex - 1969
  • Orestia (unfinished) 1967/70

literature

  • Klaus Angermann (Ed.): Jani Christou. Sing in the dark. Wolke, Hofheim 1993, ISBN 3-923997-58-2
  • Anna-Martine Lucciano: Jani Christou, Works and Personality of a Greek composer of our era. Harwood Academic, Amsterdam a. a. 2000, ISBN 9057021587
  • Berno Odo Polzer: News from the past. On the forgotten music concept of Jani Christou. In: Berno Odo Polzer & Thomas Schäfer (eds.): Catalog Wien Modern 2003. Pfau, Saarbrücken 2003, ISBN 3-89727-246-6 , pp. 19-25

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Christou, Jani
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Χρήστου, Γιάννης
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek composer
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Heliopolis
DATE OF DEATH January 8, 1970
Place of death Athens