Giannis Christou
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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He was born in Heliopolis, Egypt, of Greek parents. He was educated at the English School in Alexandria and he took his first piano lessons from various teachers and from the important Greek pianist Gina Bachauer. In 1948 he gained an MA in philosophy after having studied with Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell in Cambridge.
During that time he also studied music with Hans Redlich and in 1949 travelled to Rome to study orchestration with F. Lavagnino. He briefly attended lectures by Carl Jung in Zurich. In 1951 he returned to Alexandria where he married Theresia Horemi in 1961. He died in 1970 in a car accident in Athens, Greece.
Christou's work is often thought to fall into three broad periods. The works of the first period (1948-58) have been described by Christou himself as freely atonal. In his second phase (1960-64) Christou developed what he called "meta-serialism" whose main emphasis is on polyphony, rhythmic dynamism and instrumental colours. During his third period (1964-70) Christou developed his own notation and he increasingly stressed the improvisatory element.
Main works
- Phoenix Music (for orchestra) - 1949
- First Symphony - 1949-50
- Latin Liturgy - 1953
- Six T.S. Elliot Songs (for piano or orchestra & mezzosoprano) - 1955 (piano) / 1957 (orch.)
- Symphony no.2 - 1957-8
- Toccata for piano and orchestra - 1962
- Tongues of Fire (a Pentecost oratorio) - 1964
- Persai (Incidental music for Aeschylus' drama) - 1965
- Agamemnon - 1965
- Persians - 1965
- Mysterion - 1965-6
- Enantiodromia - 1965-8
- The Frogs 1966
- Mysterion (for orchestra, choir & soloists) - 1966
- Praxis for 12 (for 11 string instruments & director-pianist) - 1966
- Anaparastasis II - 1967
- Anaparastasis I - 1968
- Anaparastasis III - 1968
- Anaparastasis IV - 1968
- Anaparastasis I - 1968
- Anaparastasis III - 1968
- Oedipus Rex - 1969
- Oresteia (unfinished) - 1967-70
