Nikos Skalkottas Archive was taken over by the Music Library of Greece "Lilian Voudouri" in June 2018 after an agreement between Emilios Chourmouzios - Marika Papaioannou Foundation and The Friends of Music Society. The archive consists of Skalkottas own manuscripts as well as documents that G.G.Papaioannou gathered after Skalkottas death.
The archive, impressive in size and thematic variety, includes manuscript scores and texts, press cuttings, posters, programmes, audio-visual material, dissertations – studies, photographs, medals and various publications.
The unique collection of Greek songs of the Music Library numbers more than six thousand titles. It covers a wide range of Greek songs and embodies both art and popular music expression, given that this compositional style addressed to a wider audience, which had no special music education.
The programmes collection of the Music Library of Greece ‘Lilian Voudouri’ amounts to about 2.160 programmes. The oldest one dates back to 1882. This collection includes primarily concert programmes of chamber and symphonic music and secondarily programmes of operas, operettas and revues despite the popularity of the latter during the first half of the 20th century in Athens.
The Greek music journals of the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century represent for researchers one of the main sources of information on the development of the Greek traditional and art music.
The Music Library owns a large collection of books on Byzantine and post-byzantine music, as this music forms an important and integral part of Greek tradition and civilization.
The Research Programme on the “Recording, study and promotion of the Thracian and East Macedonian heritage in music and dance” was conducted between 1995 and 2003. During this period, recordings were made of over 2,500 songs, instrumental tunes and speech samples. In addition, visual material was collected on video of approximately 400 hours duration, and 12,000 photographs.
Nileas Kamarados (1847-1922) lived most of his life in Constantinople (Istanbul) where he studied psalmody, music theory and European music. As a researcher of Byzantine Music he published many studies, mostly on rhythm and the Byzantine tonal system. His Archive includes ecclesiastical chants and texts written between the end of the 18th and the middle of the 20th century.
Frank Choisy (1872-1966), was born in Switzerland. He was a distinguished violinist, pianist, composer, conductor and teacher who worked in Greece in the early 20th century. His Archive includes manuscript compositions and arrangements of other composers’ works, writings on music theory and education, posters and concert programmes.
Dimitrios Lialios was born in Patras in November 1869. From a young age he started violin and piano lessons in his home town with the Italian tutor August Tiveri. Most of his compositions reflect the spirit of the German romanticism in the style of J. Brahms and F. Liszt. His Archive mainly consists of autograph manuscripts and a few publications.
Εmilios Riadis (1880-1935) was born and grew up in Thessaloniki. Both a composer and poet, he is considered as one of the most significant representatives of the Greek National School of Music. His Archive includes manuscript scores and texts, press cuttings, various publications and photographs.
George Poniridis (1892-1982) was born in Chalkidona, Constantinople (Istanbul). He had a low profile as a musician in the area of scholarly Greek music. Today he is well known for his symphonic works, his works for piano and his songs. His Archive includes manuscript scores and texts, press cuttings, various publications and photographs.
A collection of manuscripts that includes works by Greek composers.
Α new research repository that focuses on Byzantine Music Instruments, revealing a rather unknown facet of the Byzantine Music long-standing tradition.
The record collection of the Music Library ‘Lilian Voudouri’ amounts to over 2.500 titles. The digitized greek records collection contains vinyl records of 33 r.p.m. which, until now, have not been released in CD format.