Suite for Two Pianos

Abstract

Suite for Two Pianos is extracted from the incidental music written for the Greek play “Diakos,” performed in New York City by the “Lemos Theater” in 1961. This play deals with the life of the Greek hero Athanassios Diakos whose courageous actions inspired his compatriots in the early stages of the Greek revolution for freedom against Turkey in 1921. The music, which employs Greek rhythms and modal tunes, was meant to portray the character of rural Greece.

There is a version of the work called “Diakos Suite for Orchestra.” The composer has also written another setting called “Four Greek Songs” for soprano and piano that employs the same musical ideas set to poetry by four different Greek poets.