Dimitri Terzakis ( el, Δημήτρης Τερζάκης; born March 12, 1938 in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. His father was the author

Angelos Terzakis Angelos Terzakis ( el, Άγγελος Τερζάκης; 16 February 1907 – 3 August 1979) was a Greek writer of the "Generation of the '30s". He wrote short stories, novels and plays. Life He was born in Nafplion in 1907 and lived there until 19 ...

. From 1959–1964 Terzakis studied

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

with Yannis Papaioannou at the Athens Hellenic Conservatory, followed by five years spent at the

Hochschule für Musik A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

where he studied composition with

Bernd Alois Zimmermann Bernd Alois Zimmermann (20 March 1918 – 10 August 1970) was a German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera ''Die Soldaten'', which is regarded as one of the most important German operas of the 20th century, after those of Berg. As a ...

and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

with

Herbert Eimert Herbert Eimert (8 April 1897 – 15 December 1972) was a German music theorist, musicologist, journalist, music critic, editor, radio producer, and composer. Education Herbert Eimert was born in Bad Kreuznach. He studied music theory and compo ...

. Works by Terzakis have been performed at the International Society for Contemporary Music Festival in

Basle , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

(1970), the

Darmstadt Artists' Colony The Darmstadt Artists’ Colony refers both to a group of Jugendstil artists as well as to the buildings in Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt in which these artists lived and worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The artists were largely fi ...

summer courses (1970) and the

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Das Neue Werk series (1972). He taught

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

and

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

(1974–94) and

Byzantine music Byzantine music (Greek: Βυζαντινή μουσική) is the music of the Byzantine Empire. Originally it consisted of songs and hymns composed to Greek texts used for courtly ceremonials, during festivals, or as paraliturgical and liturgical ...

and composition (1989–94) at the Musikhochschule, Düsseldorf. In 1980 he began to organize summer courses in Western and south-eastern European music in

Nafplion Nafplio ( ell, Ναύπλιο) is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece and it is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important touristic destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the ...

. In 1985–6 he was guest professor of composition at the

Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

. From 1994 to his retirement he held the chair for composition at the Leipzig

Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and Theatre The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

. He has been a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

citizen since 1985 and is living and composing in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, Germany, and

, Greece.

Compositions

As a composer, Terzakis' music began with an expanded tonality (''Prelude'' (1961) and ''Legend'' (1964)) moving to 12-note serialism (e.g. the ''Sinfonietta'' (1965)) and then to a fruitful exploration of micro-intervals and glissandi, principally in his melody, based on Byzantine music. In recent years, Terzakis's view of Western harmony, polyphony and the tempered system as constituting only an extended episode in the evolution of music has increasingly led him to an essentially monophonic output. In this he has drawn example from Greek traditional music, as well as from other parts of the Mediterranean and the Near East. Terzakis has written numerous

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

works,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

pieces, vocal art songs, and choral pieces such as ''Kassandra'' after

Aischylos Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, wikt:Αἰσχύλος, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre be ...

for the

ensemble amarcord amarcord is a German male classical vocal ensemble based in Leipzig, founded in 1992 by five former members of the Thomanerchor. They primarily perform Medieval music, Renaissance music as well as collaborating with contemporary composers. Unt ...

. He has also written three

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

: ''Circus Universal'' (1975), ''Thomas Torquemada'' (1976), and ''Hermes'' (1984).

Sources

*George Leotsakos. The '' New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', edited by Stanley Sadie (1992). and

External links

Official Web Site

Biography and interview at the Music Library of Greece
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terzakis, Dimitri 1938 births 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Greek classical composers Greek opera composers Living people Male classical composers Male opera composers Musicians from Athens 20th-century male musicians 21st-century male musicians