Dimitry Levidis Papers: Electronic Catalog Available
The catalog for the musical scores of composer Dimitry Levidis (1886-1951), which were recently added to the Archives of the Gennadius Library, is now available electronically through the American School’s web page (http://www.ascsa.edu.gr/index.php/archives/dimitry-levidis-papers). Eleftheria Daleziou, our Reference Archivist, is responsible for the catalog. Born in Athens, Levidis spent the largest past of his life abroad, especially in France. By serving in the French army during WWI, Levidis acquired the French citizenship. During his staying in France his compositions were played widely. The famous conductor Serge Koussevitzky frequently included the works of Levidis in his so-called Concerts Koussevitzky, which he held in France from 1921 to 1929. Levidis also experimented with Maurice Martenot’s ondes musicales, an early electronic musical instrument. In fact, Levidis’ Poéme symphonique was presented on the first public appearance of the instrument at the Paris Opera in 1928. In 1932 Levidis, after many years abroad, decided to return to Greece. During his Greek years he produced music that can be characterized Greek, although always influenced by the French impressionism, and can be included in the Greek Classical Music. With a small part of his compositions deposited at the National Library of Greece, the rest of his work was thought until recently lost. The recently acquired works of Levidis at the Gennadius library include: De profundis (opus 46), L’Iliade (opus 62), Le gars et la mort (opus 64), Stances symphoniques (opus 49), Berceuse pour un gendarme (opus 65), Petite suite, Aria (opus 12), Impromptu (opus 32), Eolienne (opus 14), and others. We are grateful to his sister-in-law and renowned pianist, Rita Thompson Bouboulidi, for her decision to donate the Levidis papers to the Gennadius Library.