Diverging from an established Greek musical nationalism: Aspects of modernism in the works of Dimitri Mitropoulos, Nikos Skalkottas, Dimitrios Levidis and Harilaos Perpessas, during the 1920s and 30s

Abstract

The presence of many young talented composers outside Greece, studying in prominent European music centres during the 1920s and 30s, set them free from the ideological compulsions of Greek musical nationalism prevailing in Athenian musical life during the first decades of the 20th century. The creative approach and adoption of aspects of musical modernism, having been established around the same period in western music, are subsequently commented upon in the works, style and ideology of four different Greek composers: the pioneer of atonality and twelve-note technique in Greece, Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896-1960); the innovator and descendant of the Second Viennese School, Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949); the ardent supporter of timbral innovation into new instruments and ensembles, Dimitrios Levidis (1886-1951); and, finally, the ascetical and secluded Harilaos Perpessas (1907-1995), another pupil of Schoenberg in Berlin.

Keywords

• Dimitri Mitropoulos
• Nikos Skalkottas
• Dimitrios Levidis
• Harilaos Perpessas
• modernism