Michaelides, Solon

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Michaelides, Solon

Michaelides, Solon, Greek conductor, musicologist, and composer; b. Nicosia, Nov. 25, 1905; d. Athens, Sept. 9, 1979. He studied at London’s Trinity Coll. of Music (1927–30) before pursuing his training in Paris with Boulanger (harmony, counterpoint, and fugue) and Maize and Cortot (piano) at the École Normale de Musique (1930–34), and with Labey (conducting) and Lioncourt (composition) at the Schola Cantorum. In 1934 he founded the Limassol Cons, in Cyprus, for which he served as director until 1956. He also taught music at its Lanitis Communal H.S. (1941–56). From 1957 to 1970 he was director of the Salonica State Cons. He also was director-general and principal conductor of the Salonica State Orch. from 1959 to 1970. As a guest conductor, he appeared in Europe and the U.S.

Writings

Synchroni angliki moussiki (Modern English Music; Nicosia, 1939); I kypriaki laiki moussiki (Cypriot Folk Music; Nicosia, 1944; 2^nd ed., 1956); Harmonia tis synchronis moussikis (Harmony of Contemporary Music; Limassol, 1945); The Neo-Hellenic Folk-Music (Limassol, 1948); I neo-elleniki moussiki (Neo-Hellenic Music; Nicosia, 1952); The Music of Ancient Greece: An Encyclopedia (London, 1978).

Works

dramatic:Nausicaa, ballet (1950); Ulysses, opera (1951; rev. 1972–73); incidental music for Greek tragedies. orch.:De profundis (1933; rev. 1949); 2 Byzantine Sketches for Strings (1934); Cypriot Wedding for Flute and Strings (1935); 2 Greek Symphonic Pictures (1936); Byzantine Offering for Strings (1944); Archaic Suite for Flute, Oboe, Harp, and Strings (1954); Kypriaka eleftheria (To Cypriot Freedom; 1959); Piano Concerto (1966); In memoriam for Strings (1974; based on the Piano Sonata, 1934). chamber: String Quartet (1934); Piano Sonata (1934); Piano Trio (1946); many piano pieces. VOCAL: O táfos (The Tomb) for Mezzo-soprano, Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1936); I eleftheroi poliorkimenoi (The Free Besieged) for Soprano, Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1955); Hymnos stin eleftheria (Hymn to Freedom), the Cypriot national anthem; songs.