Skalkottas: Ballet Music for Piano

Featuring

Lorenda Ramou
Nikos Skalkottas

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Compositional Technique

In "Echo," the musical material derived from the first chord is repeated in imitation of the acoustic phenomenon of echo, a technique popular among Baroque composers.

Performer Biography

Pianist Lorenda Ramou has collaborated with notable composers like Maurice Ohana, George Crumb, and Mauricio Kagel, and has performed internationally.

Compositional Technique

In "The Maiden and Death," Nikos Skalkottas uses symbolic musical elements as leitmotifs, such as an elegant European-style waltz for the Maiden and a manly Greek folk dance (tsamikos) for the hero.

Composition History

The ballet suite "The Land and the Sea of Greece" (1948) by Nikos Skalkottas was commissioned in 1947 and resulted from his collaboration with pianist and ballet school founder Polyxeni Mathéy.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Nikos Skalkottas's work uniquely combines both tonal and atonal writing, alongside an idiosyncratic use of classical forms.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Skalkottas's musical treasure is largely based on Greek tradition, through authentic melodies, folk-like themes inspired by Béla Bartók, and Greek subject matter for stage works.

Composition History

"Island Images" (1943) by Nikos Skalkottas was specifically written for the diploma exams of Aleka Mazaraki-Katseli, a student at the Koula Pratsika School, for which candidates had to present their own choreography.