Spyridon Xyndas

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Spyridon Xyndas

Spyridon Xyndas ( Greek Σπυρίδων Ξύνδας , also Italianized Spiridione Xinda , born June 8, 1812 in Corfu ; † November 25, 1896 in Athens ) was a Greek composer of classical music of the so-called Ionian School .

Xyndas began studying music theory with the composer Nikolaos Mantzaros-Chalkiopoulos at the age of eleven . He also trained as a guitarist. After finishing classes in Corfu, he continued his studies in Naples and Milan . In 1840 he and his fellow student with Mantzaros Andonios Liveralis were the only professional musicians to be founding members of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu, where Xyndas taught for several years.

In addition to numerous compositions for guitar , Xyndas' oeuvre mainly includes vocal music. Two of Xyndas' first operas ( Anna Winter 1855 after Dumas père , later in Greek as I tris somatofylakes Οι τρεις σωματοφύλακες “The Three Musketeers” and Il Conte Giuliano (1857)) followed the Italian tradition that dominated the musical life of the Ionian Islands .

As early as the 1840s, Xyndas began composing concert pieces and songs in the Dimotiki , the vernacular language of the Greeks. The composition of Greek texts finally culminated in Xyndas' first Greek-language opera, O ypopsifios vouleftis ( υ υποψήφιος , "The Candidate"), which was the first work in this genre by a Greek composer on a Greek libretto. The work based on a text by Ioannis Rinopoulos is a comical, socially critical reflection of the political conditions of the 19th century and their impact on the impoverished rural population and also uses elements of folk music from the Ionian Islands . Other, less successful operas were O neogambros (Ο νεόγαμπρος, “The newlyweds”, 1877) and I due pretendenti (1878).

The extraordinary success of his "candidate" at the premiere in Athens led Xyndas to move to the Greek capital, where he died impoverished without having completed his last opera Galatea . Numerous manuscripts of his works were lost in bombing raids on Corfu during the Second World War. His students include the composer and alleged son Xyndas' Spyros Samaras .

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personal data
SURNAME Xyndas, Spyridon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ξύνδας, Σπυρίδων (Greek); Xinda, Spiridione (Italianized)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek classical music composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1812
PLACE OF BIRTH Corfu
DATE OF DEATH November 25, 1896
Place of death Athens