This is day 19 of the A-toZ Challenge in which I attempt to blog every day (excepting Sundays) during the month of April. During this month, I am curating a collection of “classical” music pieces, which are lesser known or by lesser known composers (to me at least). Today’s composer is Spyridon Samaras (1861-1917). Though he was famous for opera, here is a delightful little barcarolle (song for gondoliers) for piano.
Samaras was born in Corfu, where he studied music before going to Athens. There his reputation grew and he wrote several operas before moving to Paris where he studied at the Paris Conservatory with Jules Massenet. In Paris he continued to write and his operas were well received. Next he moved to Italy where he became a famous figure in the opera scene of the day. He championed the works of Puccini and his own works were performed in the opera houses of Rome, Milan, Berlin, Vienna as well as other major cities.
His most famous work gets played every four years. It is the “Olympic Hymn” which he was commissioned to write for the first modern Olympics, which games were resurrected in 1896.
Kurt Nemes' Classical Music Almanac 