Spyridon-Filiskos Samaras () (29 November 1861 - 7 April 1917) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

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 def ...

particularly admired for his

operas Opera is a form of Western 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 li ...

. His compositions were praised worldwide during his lifetime and he is arguably the most important composer of the Ionian School. Among his best-known works are the operas '' Flora mirabilis'' (1886) and '' Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle'' (1905). He also composed the music for the

Olympic Hymn The Olympic Hymn (, ), also known as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras (1861–1917), with Demotic Greek lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. Both poet and composer were the choice of the Greek Deme ...

Biography

Samaras was born in

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

. His mother was from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and his father, Skarlatos Samaras, was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to a Greek family originally from

Siatista Siatista () is a town and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Kozani (regional unit), Kozani regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Voio (muni ...

. As a young man, he studied with Spyridon Xyndas (Σπυρίδων Ξύνδας). From 1875 to 1882 he studied at the Athens Conservatory with Federico Bolognini, Angelo Mascheroni and Enrico Stancampiano. His first

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

''Torpillae'' (now lost) was premiered in Athens in 1879. He went to Paris in 1882 to study at the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

and became a favorite of

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

. His other instructors included

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and French opera, operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and ''Sylvia (b ...

Théodore Dubois Clément François Théodore Dubois (; 24 August 1837 – 11 June 1924) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, organist, and music teacher. After study at the Paris Conservatoire, Dubois won France's premier musical prize, the Prix de Ro ...

, and

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

. He worked successfully as a composer in Paris for three years and then migrated to Italy in 1885. Samaras quickly became an important figure in the opera scene in Italy. His opera '' Flora mirabilis'' première in Milan in 1886 and in 1888 '' Medgé'' was successfully staged at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome with French opera star Emma Calvé in the title role. He became closely associated with Edoardo Sonzogno, a Milanese publisher. Sonzogno founded the Teatro Lirico Internazionale and chose Samaras' '' La martire'' for the theater's opening on 22 September 1894. The opera had premiered previously that year in Naples and is based on a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Luigi Illica Luigi Illica (9 May 1857 – 16 December 1919) was an Italian librettist who wrote for Giacomo Puccini (usually with Giuseppe Giacosa), Pietro Mascagni, Alfredo Catalani, Umberto Giordano, Baron Alberto Franchetti and other important Italian ...

with many naturalistic elements, which gave space to Samaras' musical personality for an equal treatment. Samaras' works enjoyed wide distribution; his operas were staged in Paris, Monte Carlo, Cologne, Berlin, Vienna, Malta, Bucharest, Constantinople, Smyrna, Alexandria, Cairo, Greece and Italy. He wrote fifteen stage works, the last three on texts by

Paul Milliet Paul Milliet (14 February 1848 – 21 November 1924) was a French playwright and librettist of the Parisian Belle Époque. His opera librettos include Jules Massenet's ''Hérodiade'' (1881) and ''Werther'' (1892), Alfred Bruneau's ''Kérim'' ( ...

; ''Storia d'amore o La biondinetta'' (1903), ''Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle'' (1905) and '' Rhea'' (1908). The overture for Rhea used the opening fanfare of the Olympic Hymn. He returned to Greece in 1911,believing that he would be appointed director of the Athens Conservatoire . However he was not, partly because of the "National School controversy". The composers of the so-called "National School" considered the composers of the Ionian School, like Samaras, too much Italian influenced. He supported himself by composing operettas aiming at satisfying a variety of audiences, rather than continuing in his usual creative vein. His last opera, ''Tigra'', although started about this time and containing some of his best music, was never finished. Samaras was chosen by Demetrius Vikelas for composing the

Olympic Anthem The Olympic Hymn (, ), also known as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras (1861–1917), with Demotic Greek lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. Both poet and composer were the choice of the Greek Deme ...

. The lyrics were written by

Kostis Palamas Kostis Palamas (; ; – 27 February 1943) was a Greek poet who wrote the words to the Olympic Hymn. He was a central figure of the Greek literary generation of the 1880s and one of the cofounders of the so-called New Athenian School (or Pala ...

. The anthem was first performed during the opening ceremony of the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad () and commonly known as Athens 1896 (), were the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), wh ...

, the first modern

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. However it was largely forgotten by the Olympic movement for the next 50 years. In the 1950s there was a contest to find an alternative. However many considered the work chosen to be unsatisfactory. In 1958, at the International Olympic Committee Session in Tokyo it was performed once more. Ryōtarō Azuma, IOC member in Japan and Governor of Tokyo had been sent the score by Jean Ketseas in Greece. At the urging of Prince Axel of Denmark, it was declared the official anthem of the Olympic movement by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

in 1958 and has been used at every opening ceremony since the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Valley ...

. Samaras died, aged 55, in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and is interred in the National Cemetery close to the stadium where the 1896 Games took place. A bust of Samaras was toppled in Corfu in August 2020.

Compositions

Complete stage works

Opera

* ''Torpillae'', incidental music for a play, words by Gavziilidis and K. Triandafyllos, Athens, 1879. * ''Olas'', opera in 4 Acts, libretto by Fravassili, now lost, 1882. * ''Flora mirabilis'', opera in 3 Acts, libretto by Ferdinando Fontana,

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was a church). The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's ''Europa r ...

, Milan, 1886. * ''Medge'', opera in 4 Acts, libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, Teatro Constanzi, Rome, 1888. * ''Messidor'', opera after

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

' novel '' Le Chevalier de Maison-Rouge'', written before 1891, now lost. * ''Lionella'', opera in 3 Acts, libretto by Fontana, lost except for ''Hungarian Rhapsody, orch'',

, Milan, 4 April 1891. * ''La martire'', opera in 3 Acts, libretto by

, Teatro Lirico Internazionale, Milan, 1894. * ''La furia domata'', opera in 3 Acts, libretto by E. A. Butti and G. Macchi after

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

'', Teatro Lirico Internazionale, Milan, 1895. * ''Storia d’amore o La biondinetta'', opera in 3 Acts, libretto by

, Teatro Lirico Internazionale, Milan, 1903. * ''Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle'', opera in 4 Acts, French libretto by

after the play by Dumas, in Italian at Teatro Politeama, Genoa, 1905. * ''Rhea'', opera in 3 Acts, libretto by Paul Milliet, Teatro Verdi, Florence, 1908. * ''Tigra'', opera in 3 Acts unfinished, libretto R. Simoni, 1911, only Act 1 exists.

Operetta

* ''Pólemos en polémo'', operetta in 3 Acts, libretto by G. Tsokopoulos and I. Delikaterinis, Athens, 10 April 1914. * ''I pringípissa tis Sassónos'', operetta in 3 Acts, libretto by N.I. Laskaris and P. Dimitrakopoulos, Athens, 21 Jan 1915. * ''I Kritikopoúla'', operetta in 3 Acts, libretto by Laskaris and Dimitrakopoulos, Athens, 30 March 1916.

Selected piano music

* ''Scènes Orientales, Quatre Suites caractéristiques'', Paris, 1882 * ''Bohémienne'', 1888

References

*George Leotsakos. The ''

New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...

'', edited by Stanley Sadie (1992), and

External links

* * *
Piano reduction of «Mademoiselle de Belle Isle» (Harvard University)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samaras, Spyridon 1861 births 1917 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Greek male musicians 20th-century Greek classical composers 20th-century Greek male musicians Conservatoire de Paris alumni Greek opera composers Ionian school (music) Greek male opera composers Musicians from Corfu Operetta composers Pupils of Léo Delibes Romantic composers 19th-century Greek musicians 20th-century Greek musicians United States of the Ionian Islands people Greek classical composers