Jani Christou (, ''Giánnīs Chrī́stou''; 8 or 9 January 1926 – 8 January 1970) was a Greek composer.

Biography

There is some disagreement about Christou's birth, the date of which is given by some authorities as 8 January; while others state 9 January. Most sources agree that he was born in Heliopolis,

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, though one states he was born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, and it has recently been reported that a birth certificate has been found stating that the composer was born in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

, Cyprus, though this certificate is suspected of being a forgery. His parents were Eleutherios Christou, a Greek industrialist and chocolate manufacturer, and Lilika Tavernari, of Cypriot origin. 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 Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...

and

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. During that time he also studied music with Hans Redlich (then living at Letchworth) and in 1949 travelled to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to study orchestration with Angelo Francesco Lavagnino. He briefly attended lectures by

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. In 1951 he returned to Alexandria where he married Theresia Horemi in 1961. He died on or the day before his 44th birthday in a car accident 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 ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Main works

* ''Phoenix Music'' (for orchestra) – 1949 * Symphony No. 1 – 1949–50 * ''Latin Liturgy'' – 1953 * ''Six T. S. Eliot Songs'' (for piano or orchestra and mezzo-soprano) – 1955 (piano) / 1957 (orch.) * Symphony No. 2 – 1957–58 * '' Toccata for piano and orchestra'' – 1962 * ''Tongues of Fire (a Pentecost oratorio)'' – 1964 * ''

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

'' (Incidental music for Aeschylus' drama) – 1965 * '' Agamemnon'' – 1965 * '' Enantiodromia'' – 1965–68 * '' The Frogs'' – 1966 * '' Mysterion'' (for orchestra, tape, choir and soloists) – 1965–66 * '' Praxis for 12'' (for 11 string instruments and director-pianist) – 1966 * ''Anaparastasis I (The Baritone)'' – 1968 * ''Anaparastasis III (The Pianist)'' – 1968 * ''

Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to ...

'' – 1969 * '' Oresteia'' (unfinished) – 1967–70

Notes

References

External links

Jani Christou WebsiteJani Christou Website
(archive from 11 September 2017, accessed 7 December 2018)
A Jani Christou knol
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christou, Jani 1926 births 1970 deaths Greek classical composers Road incident deaths in Greece 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century Greek composers People from Cairo Governorate