Zambelis Spyros
Παλαιό Μέλος
Michaelides, Solon
(b Nicosia, 12 Nov 1905; d Athens, 9 Sept 1979). Greek composer. He studied at Trinity College, London (1927–30), where he was made an honorary fellow in 1952. In Paris he was a pupil of Boulanger (harmony, counterpoint and fugue) and of Maize and Cortot (piano) at the Ecole Normale de Musique (1930–34) and of Lioncourt (composition) and Labey (conducting) at the Schola Cantorum. He then took a leading part in promoting musical life and music education in Cyprus and Thessaloniki. He was director of the Limassol Conservatory (1934–56) and professor of music at the Lanitis Communal High School in that city (1941–56). On moving to Thessaloniki he was appointed director of the state conservatory (1957–70) and director-general and principal conductor of the state orchestra. He also appeared as a guest conductor in Europe and the USA, and lectured on Greek music for the BBC (1946–8) and at American universities (1963). A composer of the national school, he made use of modal cantilena and folk or Byzantine elements, soberly harmonized in a manner slightly suggestive of Franck, Fauré or Vaughan Williams. His orchestration includes Impressionist touches.
Writings
Synchroni angliki moussiki [Modern English music] (Nicosia, 1939)
I kypriaki laiki moussiki [Cypriot folk music] (Nicosia, 1944, 2/1956)
Harmonia tis synchronis moussikis [Modern harmony] (Limassol, 1945)
The Neo-Hellenic Folk-Music (Limassol, 1948)
I neo-elleniki moussiki [Modern Greek music] (Nicosia, 1952)
The Music of Ancient Greece: an Encyclopaedia (London, 1978; Gk. trans., 1982)
Articles on Greek composers in Grove5
Bibliography
A.S. Theodoropoulou: ‘Synchronoi ellenes moussikoi: 6. Solon Michaelides’, Angloelleniki epitheorissi, iii/6 (1947), 179–80
F. Anoyanakis: ‘I moussiki stin neoteri Ellada’ [Music in modern Greece], in K. Nef: Eisagogi eis tin mousikologian (Gk. trans., Athens, 1958), 598–9
G. Balta: Solon Michaelides (Thessaloniki, 1980)
S.D. Houliaris: Oi kantates tou Solona Michaelidi (1905–1979) [The cantatas of Solon Michaelides (1905–1979)] (diss., U. of Thessaloniki, 1994)
E. Lamari-Papadopoulou: Solon Michaelides, i zoi ke to érgo tou [Solon Michaelides, his life and work] (Nicosia, 1994)
George Leotsakos
Grove
(b Nicosia, 12 Nov 1905; d Athens, 9 Sept 1979). Greek composer. He studied at Trinity College, London (1927–30), where he was made an honorary fellow in 1952. In Paris he was a pupil of Boulanger (harmony, counterpoint and fugue) and of Maize and Cortot (piano) at the Ecole Normale de Musique (1930–34) and of Lioncourt (composition) and Labey (conducting) at the Schola Cantorum. He then took a leading part in promoting musical life and music education in Cyprus and Thessaloniki. He was director of the Limassol Conservatory (1934–56) and professor of music at the Lanitis Communal High School in that city (1941–56). On moving to Thessaloniki he was appointed director of the state conservatory (1957–70) and director-general and principal conductor of the state orchestra. He also appeared as a guest conductor in Europe and the USA, and lectured on Greek music for the BBC (1946–8) and at American universities (1963). A composer of the national school, he made use of modal cantilena and folk or Byzantine elements, soberly harmonized in a manner slightly suggestive of Franck, Fauré or Vaughan Williams. His orchestration includes Impressionist touches.
Writings
Synchroni angliki moussiki [Modern English music] (Nicosia, 1939)
I kypriaki laiki moussiki [Cypriot folk music] (Nicosia, 1944, 2/1956)
Harmonia tis synchronis moussikis [Modern harmony] (Limassol, 1945)
The Neo-Hellenic Folk-Music (Limassol, 1948)
I neo-elleniki moussiki [Modern Greek music] (Nicosia, 1952)
The Music of Ancient Greece: an Encyclopaedia (London, 1978; Gk. trans., 1982)
Articles on Greek composers in Grove5
Bibliography
A.S. Theodoropoulou: ‘Synchronoi ellenes moussikoi: 6. Solon Michaelides’, Angloelleniki epitheorissi, iii/6 (1947), 179–80
F. Anoyanakis: ‘I moussiki stin neoteri Ellada’ [Music in modern Greece], in K. Nef: Eisagogi eis tin mousikologian (Gk. trans., Athens, 1958), 598–9
G. Balta: Solon Michaelides (Thessaloniki, 1980)
S.D. Houliaris: Oi kantates tou Solona Michaelidi (1905–1979) [The cantatas of Solon Michaelides (1905–1979)] (diss., U. of Thessaloniki, 1994)
E. Lamari-Papadopoulou: Solon Michaelides, i zoi ke to érgo tou [Solon Michaelides, his life and work] (Nicosia, 1994)
George Leotsakos
Grove