Nikos Skalkottas facts for kids
Nikos Skalkottas (Greek: Νίκος Σκαλκώτας; born March 21, 1904 – died September 19, 1949) was an important Greek composer. He created classical music in the 20th century. He was part of a group called the Second Viennese School, which was known for new ways of composing.
Skalkottas was inspired by both traditional classical music and the rich Greek musical heritage. Later in his life, he also wrote many pieces that used more traditional melodies and harmonies.
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His Life Story
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Nikos Skalkottas was born in Chalcis, a city on the island of Euboea in Greece. He started learning to play the violin when he was just five years old. His father and uncle, Kostas Skalkottas, were his first teachers. His family moved to Athens when he was eight.
He continued his violin studies at the Athens Conservatory and graduated with high honors in 1920. The next year, he received a scholarship that allowed him to study music in other countries.
From 1921 to 1933, Skalkottas lived in Berlin, Germany. He first took violin lessons there. In 1923, he decided to become a composer instead of a violinist. He studied composition with several famous teachers, including Kurt Weill. From 1927 to 1932, he was a student of Arnold Schoenberg, a very important composer, at the Academy of Arts. Other students in Schoenberg's class included Marc Blitzstein.
Skalkottas faced some difficult times in Berlin. He tried to have his music performed in Athens, but people didn't understand it well. Even in Berlin, his few performances didn't gain much attention. In 1931, he went through a personal and artistic challenge. He stopped composing for at least two years.
In March 1933, Skalkottas had to return to Athens because he was struggling financially. He planned to stay only a few months, but he ended up staying in Greece for the rest of his life. Many of his music papers were lost or destroyed when he left Berlin.
In Athens, Skalkottas tried to find ways to support himself through music. However, he was disappointed with the music scene there. He earned a living by playing the violin in orchestras, including the Athens Conservatory and the Radio and Opera orchestras. In the mid-1930s, he also helped to write down Greek folk songs for a music expert named Melpo Merlier.
Skalkottas worked on his compositions mostly by himself. He wrote a lot of music in his own unique style, which was very modern and not easily understood by the Greek music world at the time. Some of his pieces, especially his Greek Dances, were performed, but most of his music was not heard until after his death.
During the German occupation of Greece, he faced difficulties. In 1946, he married the pianist Maria Pangali. They had two sons. In 1949, Nikos Skalkottas passed away at the age of 45. He left behind many completed works, some of which were performed for the first time after his death.
His Music
Many of Skalkottas's early works from his time in Berlin are now lost. The oldest pieces we have today are from 1922–1924. These include piano compositions and an orchestral piece. His works from Berlin also include a sonata for solo violin, piano pieces, and chamber music.
After a break, Skalkottas started composing again in Athens and continued until his death. He wrote many different types of music. These included large orchestral works like the 36 Greek Dances and the ballet The Maiden and Death. He also wrote chamber music, vocal pieces, and instrumental works, including a huge collection of 32 Piano Pieces.
Besides composing, Skalkottas also wrote important books about music. These included "musical articles" and a Treatise on Orchestration. He quickly developed his own special way of writing music. His teachers' influences were used in a creative way, making his style very personal and easy to recognize.
Skalkottas always believed in the ideas of "absolute music." This means music that is just for its own sake, without a story or picture. He was interested in jazz music. He also developed his own way of using the twelve-tone method, which was a new way to organize notes. He would use several different sets of twelve notes in one piece.
Like Schoenberg, he often used traditional musical forms such as sonata and variations. His music includes pieces that are atonal (without a clear key), twelve-tone, and tonal (with clear keys). He used all three styles throughout his career.
One of the most famous examples of his connection to Greek folk music is the 36 Greek Dances. He composed these for orchestra between 1931 and 1936. About two-thirds of these dances are based on real Greek folk tunes from different parts of Greece. The other dances use melodies that Skalkottas created in a folk style.
Another important tonal work from this time is his ballet suite The Maiden and Death (1938). This piece is based on a well-known Greek folk story. It tells of a young man who tries to bring his dead love back from the land of the dead. Music critics have praised this work, calling it "drop-dead gorgeous."
Around 1945, Skalkottas started writing some works in a more traditional tonal style. Even so, his music still had a lot of interesting harmonies. His most impressive tonal works from this later period include his Classical Symphony in A (1947). Also notable are the beautiful ballet suite The Sea (1948-1949) and the Sinfonietta in B Flat Major (1948).
After His Death
It was only after Nikos Skalkottas passed away that his music began to be widely played, published, and recognized. This was partly thanks to the efforts of his friends and students, like John G. Papaioannou.
In 1988, a short film about his life and work was made. It received funding from his hometown and the Greek Ministry of Culture.
Between 1998 and 2008, a Swedish record company called BIS records released many recordings of his musical works.
See also
In Spanish: Nikolaos Skalkottas para niños
