Jani Christou

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

Christou was born in the Egyptian Heliopolis, the son of Greek parents. As a child, he attended the British School of Alexandria and took piano lessons from the great Greek pianist Gina Bachauer. Later, he studied philosophy at the University of Cambridge with Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell. In 1948 he made his degree in Cambridge. During his studies, he studied philosophy at Hans Ferdinand Redlich by the way music and Roberto Gerhard. Christou 1949 traveled to Rome to study orchestration with Angelo Francesco Lavagnino. For a time he also took lessons from Carl Gustav Jung in Zurich. In 1951 he returned to Alexandria. In 1961, he married Theresa Horemi. Christou died on his 44th birthday in a road accident in Athens.

Chris Tous work will be divided into three main phases. The first phase occurs during the period 1948 until 1958. This phase designated Christou himself as atonal. During his second artistic phase Christou developed compositions, which were described by him as a meta- Surrealism and are characterized by polyphony and rhythmic momentum. In his third compositional period from 1964 to his death in 1970 he emphasized in an increasing way, 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' ) - 1965
  • Agamemnon - 1965
  • Persians - 1965
  • Mysterion - 1965/66
  • Enantiodromia - 1965/68
  • The Frogs - 1966
  • Mysterion ( for orchestra, choir and soloists) - 1966
  • Practice for 12 ( for 11 string instruments and piano 1 ) - 1966
  • Anaparastasis II - 1967
  • Anaparastasis I - 1968
  • Anaparastasis III - 1968
  • Anaparastasis IV - 1968
  • Oedipus Rex - 1969
  • Orestia (unfinished) 1967/70
Heliopolis (Cairo suburb) Greece Integrated Authority File
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