- Yiannis Papaioannou
Yiannis Papaioannou (Greek: Ιωάννης Παπαιωάννου) (1910-1989) was a Greek composer and teacher of the
Modern Era . He studied piano withMarika Laspopoulou and composition withAlekos Kontis at theHellenic Conservatory in,Athens (1922–34), as well as the piano and orchestration withRiadis inThessaloniki (1928–9). In 1949, he visited the major European music centres on aUNESCO grant and he become familiar with new compositional developments. In particular, in Paris he attendedArthur Honegger 's class. Between 1951 and 1961 he taught music at an Athens high-School and from 1953 he was professor ofcounterpoint and composition at theHellenic Conservatory . He was the first president of both the Greek section of theISCM (1964–75) and theHellenic Association for Contemporary Music (1965–75).Papaioannou was the first musician to systematically teach atonal, 12-note and serial techniques before 1970. His students included
Adamis ,Antoniou ,Aperghis ,Kounadis andTezzakis . His compositional career falls into three main phases: acknowledged: Early Impressionist (1932–8), National School (1939–43), Hindemithian neo-classicism combined with elementsfrom Byzantine music (1944-1952), 12-note period (1953–1966) and the last period (1966-1989) in which he developed an entirely personal technique.Works
*Stage: Agnos (dramatic idyll, 1937); Sklavas lytrossi [Liberation of a Slave Woman] (choreographic tableau, 1945); Pirates (ballet, 1952); Himoniatiki fantasia [Winter Fantasy] (ballet, 1951); Antigone (ballet, 1965) etc.
*Orchestral: 5 Symphonies.: 1946, 1947, 1953, 1963, 1964; Idhyllio [Idyll] , 1938; O koursaros [The Corsair] , 1939; Choreographic Prelude, 1940; 3 Piano Concertos, 1940, 1952, 1989; Poiema tou dhasous [Forest Poem] , 1942; Vassilis Arvanitis, 1945; Triptych, str, 1947; Orthros ton psychon [Matin of Souls] , 1947; Pygmalion, 1950; Hellas (P.B. Shelley), nar, orch, 1956; Images d’Asie, suite, 1961; India, suite, 1961; Meteorissi [Suspended in the Air] , vc, orch, 1979 etc
*Vocal: Dafnis ke Chloi (G. Drossinis), chorus, orch/pf, 1933; I kidheia tou Sarpidhonos [The Funeral of Sarpedon] (cant., C. Cavafy), 1966; O fotofraktis [The Aperture] (A. Embeirikos: Octana), 1982; Encomium (Kotsiras), 1984–5; I logosteméni psychi [The Exhausted Soul] (O. Votsi), 1986; 2 Songs (G. Byron), 1989 etc.
*Chamber and Solo instrumentalNocturno, 1935; Burlesca, 1936; I parlata tou Arlekinou (La parlata d’Arlecchino) [the Harlequin's Speech] , tuba, 1971; Halkografia [Engraving] , hn, pf, 1977; Dioyssiakon [Dionysiac] , db, 1978; Erotiki exomologhissi tou Minotavrou [Love Confession of the Minotaur] , tuba, pf, 1978; Aétoma, 1987; Caryatid, 1987; Sonata, 1988 etc
ources
#"The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians"
*B. Schiffer: ‘Neue griechische Musik’, Orbis musicae, i (1971–2), 193–201, esp. 198–9
*G. Leotsakos: ‘Papaïoannou, Yannis Andréou’, Universal biographical dictionary, viii (Athens, 1988), 141–2
*A.S. Theodoropoulou: ‘Contemporary Greek composers: 7. Yannis Papaioannou’, British-Greek Review, iii (1947), 213–4
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